I can’t say this is a surprise, and not just because I got a copy of the release yesterday, but Google’s desktop search for the enterprise is nonetheless interesting to me. My colleague’s got his own take on it from an IBM perspective, but what’s got my attention is what it means vis a vis the Big G.
Back in June of last year, I was speculating about the potential for Google office services, and it may be that this is the first of a number of forthcoming offers that will target enterprise users rather than consumers. For all that Google currently services enterprise employess, either with its standard search product or the specialized search appliances it sells, it has yet to make a major play for the business desktop. Google Desktop Search for the Enterprise is hardly a Notes/Exchange killer, but then it doesn’t need to be. By providing access to their information stores, Google at once deemphasizes the importance of their respective UIs and furthers the Google = information branding, all while building barriers to entry to competing search products. And is it remotely conceivable that Google Desktop is a stalking horse for an enterprise version of its Gmail service? I think it’s possible.
Even if it’s just a stand alone play, the Notes tie-in is interesting. But if it’s more than that, well, how’s that playbook go? Embrace, extend…?
