구글 앱스, MS에 도전장

Published : Aug 2, 2013 - 17:52 Updated : Aug 2, 2013 - 17:52

세계 최대의 검색 엔진 구글은 빠르게 변화하는 비즈니스 생태계에서 유연한 작업환경을 제공 하기 위해 “구글 앱스 (구글 온라인 비즈니스 어플리케이션)의 단점을 꾸준히 보안할 것,”이라고 밝혔다.

2일 코엑스에서 열린 ‘구글 앱스 컨퍼런스’에서 구글 엔터프라이즈 김선일 상무는 “1957년 회사의 평균 생명은 75년이었지만 2013년 현재는 10년이다,” 고 밝히며 “15년 전만 해도 없던 구글이라는 기업이 15년 뒤에도 가장 혁신적인 기업으로 남아 있을 것인가에 대한 고민을 하는 끊임 없이 하는 중,”이라고 말했다.

이는 구글이 온라인 오피스 소프트웨어 시장에서의 시장 지배력을 늘리고, 리더십을 유지하고자 하는 의지를 비춘 것으로 해석된다.

행사에 참여한 구글 클라인터는 “구글 앱스가 마이크로소프트 오피스를 위협하는 존재로 급부상 할 것,” 이라고 말했다.

구글 앱스를 회사 차원에서 이용해오고 있는 국내 의약 회사 부광 약품의 권순일 마케팅 이사는 “1년 사용해본 결과 구글 앱스는 ‘공유혁명’ 이라는 이름을 붙일 만하다,”고 말하며, 구글 앱스의 실용적이고 효율적인 서비스가 상명 하복의 보수적인 회사 문화를 “협동하고 소통하는 수평적으로 바꾸었다,”고 덧붙였다.

하지만, 구글 앱스가 온라인 상에서만 이용 가능하다는 것, 마이크로 소프트 오피스와의 제한적인 호환은 구글이 보완해나가야 할 점이라고 꼬집었다.

(코리아헤럴드 김영원 기자)

<관련영문기사>

Google office suite ups ante against MS

Google appeared set for further improvements to make up for the shortfalls of its online office applications to challenge Microsoft in providing a more flexible working environment in the fast-changing business era.

Participating at the Google Apps Conference 2013 in Seoul on Friday, Google Enterprise manager Kim Seon-il said, “Google will create an office environment in which people can work anytime and anywhere.”

Google provides around 70 Web-based applications including Google Drive, Google Docs and Google Sites, available for a yearly fee of $50 per account.

It has more than 5 million business customers worldwide including The New York Times and POSCO, the largest steel maker in Korea.

“Now many individuals bring their own digital devices to their office since companies hardly provide state-of-the-art gadgets for work,” said Kim, emphasizing the importance of converging and recreating knowledge and promoting teamwork at a time when workers trot around the world for business.

High ranking officials of firms currently using Google Apps said they were highly satisfied with the services.

“After a year of Bukwang Parma using the office apps, ‘sharing innovation,’ a keyword much talked about in the business field, seems to fit Google’s online services,” said Kwon Soon-il, a director of Bukwang Pharm, a pharmaceutical firm.

“A top-down and military-like company culture, prevalent in the drug business sector, has somehow changed to one that is more horizontal or democratic with increased communication and cooperation among workers,” Kwon said.

In fact, an official at a client firm for Google said Google’s web-based office suite will likely pose “an immense challenge” against Microsoft Office, which dominates 80 percent of the desktop office application market in Korea.

In April, consultancy Gartner, noting Google’s aggressive expansion in the cloud office market, had already predicted that Microsoft Office‘s reign as the dominant productivity suite is under threat from Google Apps.

Around 30 resellers are in operation for the Google apps, giving educational lectures, and usage tips for Korean customers.

The Google apps, however, is not without shortcomings.

Some participants at the event pointed out that there were difficulties in converting widely-used Microsoft documents to Google-based ones and that users should always be online to use the applications.

In addition, Google does not run a customer service center or have a direct contact channel to the internet giant in Korea in regard to Google Apps services.

“Google may have to nurture more third-party firms to do the conversion works or make its services more compatible with the Microsoft software,” said David Shin, managing director of Sonova, a Zurich-based hearing aid maker.

Regarding security issues which make potential business customers hesitate to sign up for the Google services, Kim Ji-young, an official at the human resources department of Google, said “since Google tracks all access of users to the office apps, it is easier to manage information security for businesses than other measures such as USB flash drives or paper documents.”(wone0102@heraldcorp.com)