Google and Microsoft Still Battling for Fed Cloud Contract
When it comes to cloud productivity apps, Microsoft and Google have relatively the same lineup -- at least on the surface. They both provide productivity basics such as word processing and spreadsheets, e-mail and some form of collaboration. On the server side, Microsoft has a bit more with SQL Server supported by Azure and Sharepoint services. The overlap puts the two at odds when it comes to big cloud contracts. That is exactly what is happening with the U.S. Interior Department.
Initially, Microsoft won the contract that could reach up to 80,000 seats, but Google wasn't even allowed to bid (sounds more like the fault of government bureaucrats than aggressive Microsoft sales folk). Google cried foul over the non-competitive contract, and got a judge to reopen the bidding.
Interior was just looking at Microsoft because that is what they already used on-premise. While it may be an easier route to the cloud, it is not exactly the free enterprise way.
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Posted by Doug Barney on 01/13/2011 at 12:47 PM