This week, The Pennell Group has ‘Gone Google’.  That means we converted to using Google’s Software as a Service (SaaS) cloud computing solutions for our integrated email, calendar, documents, collaboration, Intranet, ERP and Project Management tools.  And best of all it was free!  Nada, Zilch, Zip.

All you need is a device with a browser and your set.  No servers to setup and manage, no hosting fees, no technical support, no software updates.

One of the best things about this service is that third parties have created a wide array of software solutions which are integrated with the Google Apps environment, and most have a ‘free’ version with either some reduced functionality of limitation on number of users.   So we were able to find an ERP software package to handle the full lifecycle of business processes from CRM for sales and customer manangement, financials, employee management, reporting, tracking projects etc. etc.

myERP.com is the name of the company and the software for ERP tools.

The other package we looked at was Gravity project planning and management tools.

So far, we have not spent a penny and it when the time comes to add the premium features, we are talking in the order of $50-$100 a year for each users.

Here’s what we did.

1. Set-up an account online with Google Apps
2. Updated the hosting account DNS MX records to deliver my mail to Google
3. Setup additional CN DNS records for other services so I can use names like ‘http://docs.pennellgroup.com’ as my entry to Google Docs for example
4. Configured the basics and created user profiles
5. Configured the myERP tool to get started
6. Create an Intranet collaboration site for employees and partners
7. That’s it, it all took about 3 hours spread over a week

Innovator’s Dilemma / Distruptive Innovation as it applies to SaaS / Cloud Computing / Android / Google Apps

This new technology has all the hall marks of disruptive innovation and therefore has the potential to threaten even the most prevalent and powerful software companies - Microsoft, Oracle and IBM come to mind.  While the capabilities are a far cry from what’s available with the latest installed software, in many ways these packages have bloated features which add relatively little value for most organizations and users.

Conversely, Google’s tools cover all the bases quite well and offer a few new twists that differentiate them from their competitors.  For example, the integration and provision of Google Android applications as an extension of the browser.

With a price tag of $0.00 and a lot of features and capabilities, it’s no wonder that over 3 million companies are already using the software and thousands are joining every day.  With Google’s deep pockets and blistering track record for delivering innovative new products, it’s very likely that in a few years, this solution will become a serious contender to the major software companies, squeezing margins and forcing them into higher and higher niches in search of premium customers willing to pay high margins.

Add to that the entrenched resentment many CIOs have to the major software companies for their pricing and support policies and it’s not hard to see why companies would like to move to another solution.  In addition, there is some cachet in simply abandoning their products as a form of protest against years of customer abuse.  There’s certainly a ‘hip factor’ in aligning with Google and becoming completely web-based.

In a few years, the concept of owning a data-center may seem quite quaint.  At the end of the day, these are composed of commodity components and plumbing with no strategic value for most companies.  The goal should be to consolidate and outsource to the lowest cost provider and that may ultimately be a few mega-companies that can invest in massive shared (cloud based) data centers complying with all the regulatory standards such as PCI and implementing common best practices like ITIL.  At this stage, it’s surprizing that so many companies can justify and continue to support tiny data-centers with their own little Lieberts, transfer switches, generators, battery farms, FM-200, raised floor, fibre management etc. etc.  For some, The Industrial Revolution has not reached corporate data centers yet and these cottage industries are still alive and well.

So we are going to jump in and participate in the evolution of Cloud Computing and SaaS and hope to learn how to effectively apply these technologies to solve real business problems for our customers.

At the end of the day, it’s another way to eat your own cooking and stay on the leading edge technology and business innovation.

http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/business/spreadtheword.html

http://www.myerp.com/ - Manage your business in the cloud with myERP

http://www.google.com/enterprise/marketplace/viewVendorListings?vendorId=4689 - Agile Project Management Tools in the Cloud

http://www.claytonchristensen.com/ - Innovator’s Dilemma, Disruptive Technology

It’s nothing new for companies to threaten Microsoft’s business model and in particular its dominance of the desktop operating systems where it has over 90% control. The line of prior contenders include IBM’s OS/2, mis-marketed and mispriced, Apple’s early operating systems, too expensive and incompatible, Linux and Open Source, to geeky and incomplete, Sun’s Java, never gained critical mass on the desktop outside browsing.

But things have changed a lot over the last 20 years and this time it looks like Google may have enough pieces of the puzzle, ready to assemble and at arm’s length, to create a real threat. The growth of the Internet has standardized and commoditized network access (TCP/IP), information sharing (XML/SOA), content presentation and many elements of data storage and functionality (HTML, JavaScript, XML, Flash etc). Google has critical mass in the information aggregation and search market, has a decent installed browser (Chrome) and the financial strength to fight a lengthy and costly battle with the most successful technology company of all time.

Google has already stated that they plan to start with cheap Internet ready laptops a market segment where low cost, low features products can expect to gain more and more traction and have all the hall marks of disruptive technology. But it’s been tried before with other low cost, low function desktop appliances and alternatives and everyone but Citrix’s technology has effectively failed. It’s also an area where traditional market players are less likely to focus and presents an opportunity to gain a competitive foothold from which to grow a business.

These changes will present exciting new opportunities for companies with the strategic vision and execution ability who can get in front of this opportunity. What does that mean? We think it means starting to talk to Google about how to become an app vendor for this new platform, much as companies have done with Apple’s iPhone platform. There’s a huge opportunity for early adopters to get a free ride on Google’s marketing and distribution machine and as one of the first players, you’re going to stand out in the market before the rush of ‘me too’ competitors get there to.

From a technology perspective, we already know that it’s going to be an open- source (Linux kernel), web-based platform that most likely builds on the capabilities of the Chrome Browser and Android handheld platform. From here we can only speculate that Google will start building more network enabled operating systems drivers and features into this code base as it quickly grows to become a true Internet oriented operating system. What are the APIs and features going to look like, we don’t know yet, but start by taking a close look at Chrome and Google’s other software and it may provide clues for the future.

Our best guess is that Google Chrome OS 1.0 will look something like this…  Take the Chrome Browser as it appears today and include a series of enhancements aimed at improving the capabilities of Google’s existing ‘Science Project’ technology.  Add some client side improvements for Gmail, Calendar, Search, Images, GoogleDocs, Mapsand make them run very fast.  Expect that the new OS will start-up really fast, I’m thinking in a few seconds vs. a few minutes for Windows.  Image a basic series of file system, print, sharing and collaboration built into a series of browser pages.   Then a series of new third party and Google applications as they look for a ‘killer application’ which they need to drive excitement and rapid adoption for some niche of new customers.

If you want to capitalize on this oppurtunity, start a strategic planning discussion around what this opportunity means for you and how you can effectively position your products and services to take advantage of Google multi-billion dollar machine.  Is your product or service, something that would work well on a light-weight, low cost, web enabled lap-top with a fast, new browser based operating system?  If so, keep a watch for Google’s announcement for third party app providers and be ready for some late nights!

Latest update 7/12/09:

With a post to the official Chrome blog Wednesday afternoon, the Mountain View Chocolate Factory said its hardware partners include Acer, Asus, Freescale, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, and Toshiba.

Googe are going to Open Source the software later this year, which will drive adoption and support.

The price is going to be free.  Expect to see something 2H 2010.

An good article on the topic from HBR Google’s Chrome OS: A ‘Nuclear Bomb’ or Just Noise?