Back Page Will Google's Enterprise Unit? hmm...

After the decision on the ground trembling with Google to change CEOs, the company should explain to customers and partners as soon as its plans for the company will evolve after Larry Page takes over in April by Eric Schmidt.

Google's enterprise unit is aimed at an audience of CIOs, IT directors, business managers, resellers and consultants, who demand clarity, consistency and long-term product road maps from their suppliers and partners.

As you move into top management of any tech company can be a concern for business customers, the problem may be seen as a bigger than Google, whose company contributes a small piece of his total income.

In addition, the company main product this year from Google, the Google Apps suite, will face much tougher competition from several players, including Microsoft with its upcoming release of Office 365.

The business units may well rank lower than other priorities for the page, such as strengthening the shaky position of Google's Social-networking, pursuing with ruthless Android mobile market, doubling down on the next Chrome for OS and growing revenue view, not to mention support Google's dominance in search advertising.

"If push comes to shove and management decides to jettison the less strategic initiatives, Google Apps could be in trouble," Gartner analyst Tom Austin said via e-mail.

It does not help that Schmidt, former CEO of Novell and CTO of Sun Microsystems, has much more experience and probably the knowledge of software for businesses of Page. Schmidt once described as the unit of enterprise backup plan if the bottom of Google never fallen out of the online advertising market.

.. "Page has less experience in business enterprise Schmidt has deeper roots company means that they back down on their business investments in Google Apps do not know but I would be surprised if you do not get up? - O re-Raise - that the question," said Austin.

Google declined to comment on this page first phase of plans for the business unit. However, a source familiar with the strategy said Page has always been a strong advocate for business and is expected to remain a point for the company and a continuum of investment.

Douglas Menefee, CIO of a pharmaceutical company of Schumacher Group, is optimistic about meeting the page, but the hope is articulated his vision for the unity of business quickly.

"With every change in a senior organization that I have concerns about the products and services. I will be monitoring our service delivery throughout the transition," he said via e-mail.

The Schumacher Group has 2,500 users of Google Apps for Business, the paid version of the suite, in addition to 3,500 users of Google's Postini Message Security and storage service. In addition, the Lafayette, Louisiana-based company plans to start using the Google Search Appliance enterprise.

It gives you confidence that the Google Enterprise products are in demand enough to generate enough revenue to Google and that the freezing of investments in them would be illogical. "My hope and expectation is that Google will continue to commit resources to the enterprise solutions," said Menefee.

That said, he would not be surprised if sales slow to Google Apps page explains his plans for the company. "However, I do not expect a knee-jerk reaction by the CIO community to come out of existing contracts. After all, we continue to have value from the solutions," said Menefee.

Industry analyst Michael Osterman from Osterman Research believes that when Schmidt assumes his new role as executive chairman, which will focus on external relations with customers, partners and government agencies may have to spend more time advocating for Google Apps on the market.

"Google certainly needs to focus on the enterprise market as strong push from Microsoft Office with 365," he said via e-mail. "Consequently, there is a great window of opportunity for Google in the space business hours in advance of Office 365."

Cloud Sherpas, a reseller of Google Apps and your service provider, has no worries about the switch CEO, said the founder and vice president of marketing Michael Cohn.

"We are sad to see Eric for his resignation. It 'been a strong supporter of Google Enterprise," Cohn said in a telephone interview. "But we have no fear with regard to Larry."

However, Cohn is also looking forward to hearing what Enterprise Strategy Page intends to pursue, in particular its plans for the channel partners of Google Apps.

For the analyst Rebecca Wettemann to Nucleus Research, Page has a lot of work to do to shore up corporate business from Google.

"While Eric was a good spokesperson, Google still struggling between the aspirations of companies and the smartest-kid-in mentality-the-room. Not surprisingly, Eric was challenged in the real driving business success of Google. At Novell, his skill was brilliant in research and development, not necessarily interesting in bringing products to the enterprise market, "he said via e-mail.

Page needs to take over running the business beyond product innovation, including street maps of reliable, enterprise-class customer support and service, and a stronger commitment to business needs and the protection of data, he said. "I'm not sure Page is up to the challenge, but Eric has not left huge shoes to fill," said Wettemann.

IDC analyst Al Hilwe is also skeptical of Google's long-term commitment to the enterprise market. "It is not clear what Google really wants to play there. They talked the talk, but I'm not sure they are walking the walk," he said via e-mail.

Currently, Google Apps has more than 30 million users, including millions of its Apps paid version for businesses. In 2010, more than 1 million businesses adopted Apps, bringing the total to more than 3 million businesses, according to Google. Recent customer wins include the U.S. General Services Administration, Virgin America and a large food retailer Ahold.

Chris Abraham, Abraham Harrison president of digital marketing and social media agency, is also confident in his company's investment in Google Apps for Business. "If Google had led to an outsider, there might be more of a concern, but the fact that it is a co-founder to take the reins is reassuring," he said in a telephone interview.