I have just finished reading 10 reasons to be wary of Google in business from Tech Republic and I feel what they have to say is unfairly focused on Google as it lends itself to many other companies within the industry. This could be an incrimination of the whole tech industry but not just Google.
Some of what they say may also be improperly focused.
I have place a link to the article here and my comments are below.
10 reasons to be wary of Google in business
Takeaway: Google caters well to consumers, but it falls short of meeting the business needs of larger organizations. Here are the biggest areas of concern.
via www.techrepublic.com
My response.
1. Customer support is not their forte
This is not just Google, don’t single them out, it is indigenous to the whole technology industry. Norton is not any better and neither is Microsoft, as well as many others. Some do not feel they have the need to. It is unfair to focus this on Google.
2. Leadership has questionable views on privacy
I actually find this one actually funny in today’s world. Our Government has questionable views on privacy as well as Facebook. My search for privacy issues did not show Google as a concern. Privacy and Security are issues raised when IT does not understand what it is they are dealing with. In my opinion (and it is all my opinion) Google has less issues than others.
3. It makes a living by leveraging information about you
So when did this become a concern? That happens to be what many other organizations in today’s world do (Amazon, Apple, just to start the list alphabetically). We have allowed the credit reporting industry to do this for years. Personally I feel better with Google than with some of the credit reporting systems.
4. It is to willing to yank products and API’s
OK, now here I have to agree. The comment that “….Google’s threshold for failure feels a lot lower” I buy into.
I thought that Wave was pulled way too soon. Look at Microsoft’s push into SharePoint, it is ongoing because someone still thinks it is right. Personally Wave had more to offer. It was a ‘true’ collaboration tool whereas SharePoint has become a glorious shared drive (in some cases).
There are other tools that Google has pulled recently. I think Larry Page trying to imprint Google with his plan and maybe (?) that is a good thing (with the exception of Wave).
5. Quality is sometimes lacking
This is edgy. I find that I don’t have a problem with the Beta as life to me is in Beta, and that we are all subject to change on a constant basis. Not everything works the first time out, antenna's in cell phones comes to mind. Anyone that is constantly trying to make their products better on a quick turn around is my kind of company.
I will buy the last line in the article as a potential problem:
Google seems to currently view its target audience as consumers or small businesses for whom its applications are not mission critical.
If I thought for one minute that Google felt that consumers or small businesses did not use these applications on a ‘mission critical’ basis I would not be using Google.
Google does tend to think of the world as a testing universe, or at least it would appear that way, and I adjust to that. However Google wants it all to work even if it is not finished. I am not a finished product – at least I hope not.
6. It has minimal contact with real-world users
I tend to agree with this one however I have to also admit that since I have never been asked for my opinion (by Google – or for that matter anyone else) I really cannot comment on it. I do know that IT does not like consumer/user input for reasons stated in the article. Perhaps Google, like IT, think they are better and “know” how we “should” be using the products. If I don’t agree I won’t use them. I am in charge and Google may not realize that. At the moment they are doing well however that could change. Power to the people.
7. There are not SLA’s
This is a non-issue. Service Level Agreements (SLA’s) do not enter into anything at this point.
8. It has a consumer focus for features
One of the big reasons why Google has done so well is that its solutions cater well to consumers, and by extension, small businesses.
GOOGLE GETS IT! YES! The world is run by consumers, we are prime. It is the consumer that is bringing to the enterprise the products that they will be using in the next few years. The biggest market in the world is the consumer. Microsoft does not get this, nor do many others.
Consumer support (#1 above) may not be their forte however they are building for the consumer. They are doing it different than Apple so we now have choices. At this point they, Google and Apple, are the only two, of the major entities in technology, building for the consumer. The enterprise be dammed.
Why do we talk about the FAB Four? Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google. They build for the consumer.
9. You are not important to Google
Not sure that this reason makes any sense. This appears to be some of a re-cap of prior complaints (the list needed 10). Yes it is a consumer business (8.) and yes it is collecting the statistics (3.)
10. Google does not cater to business expectations
This one is also repetitious. Business defined here is big business and big business has IT which does not like the way Google wants to take away some of their territory. In this respect Google is like Apple, who apparently does not need enterprise to make itself valuable.
OK I got up this morning with something else to write about and got side tracked. I will have to restart.
