2009 has been a tipping point, witnessing wide adoption of software-as-a-service by the corporate sector. But now requirements have moved to the next level. The final frontier in business software is SaaS solutions which integrate all the essential tools for teamwork - communication, collaboration and web conferencing. The biggest names in software, including Google Apps and Microsoft BPOS, have plunged into the arena, each trying to outdo the other.

Google vs. Microsoft - The Epic Battle

Even as the larger "Google vs. Microsoft" is waged on multiple fronts, both companies have identified integrated online collaboration as an area of critical strategic importance. Here's a lowdown.

Google Apps

Google's product in the integrated productivity arena was recently brought out of perpetual beta. Backing Google Apps is a massive advertising campaign targeted against Microsoft. Google hopes to replicate its success with consumer web apps in the business market.

Microsoft BPOS

Microsoft has entered the market with Business Productivity Online Suite, a refurbished SaaS version of its on-premise productivity software, and is aggressively trying to rope in channel partners to promote and resell BPOS to businesses.

As the battle gets meaner, we cut through the big talk, and bring an objective, feature to feature comparison of Microsoft BPOS and Google Apps. Also included is HyperOffice, a specialist in collaboration software with more experience in business SaaS than both Google and Microsoft, having served SMBs for the last 10 years.

The comparison has been made with the needs of companies with less than 100 employees in mind - light weight, quick to set up, easy to use, yet comprehensive solutions.



Concurrent document editing Shows who made what edits Offline access	Offline access Integrated with online Wordprocessing RSS feeds Templates	Drag and drop into web folders without having to upload or download Interlink relevant files with emails, projects, and events Store any file type Change notifications
Limited on file types for storage, so moving folders can cause problems No drag and drop Size limits	No concurrent document editing	No concurrent document editing

	Manage project workflow through SharePoint Shared tasks	Dedicated shared project management system Groups & subgroups; Shared tasks Gantt charts; Timelines Assigning; Notifications
A personal To-Do list in Gmail is not a project management system	May be too much for simpler projects & SMBs

Generous mailbox storage Google search engine Groups reply threads Built-in chat/video Undo send	Familiarity with Outlook Push email to mobile	Web folders Tightly integrated with other modules by interlinking relevant documents, projects, and events
No push email to mobiles	Outlook Web Access only offers a small subset of the Outlook desktop version	No push email to mobiles

Can group contacts Syncs with Outlook, Thunderbird, iCal Shareable Mailing lists	Syncs with Outlook & Entourage Shareable	Dedicated shared contact management system Group contacts Customizable contact fields Outlook synchronization
No dedicated contact management system Does not support Entourage		Doesn't sync with Entourage, iCal, or Sunbird

Good calendar overlay feature Automatic reminders Mobile phone notifications Syncs with Outlook, iCal, & Sunbird Offline access	Drag-and-drop events Calendars overlay with color coding	Permission-controlled shared group calendars Calendar overlay Multiple calendar views Public calendars Events can be associated with relevant documents & emails
Doesn't allow dedicated calendars for specific groups or departments		Doesn't sync with Entourage, iCal, or Sunbird

	Syncs with Microsoft Access	Robust databases and web forms Use on any web page Automatically collects & organizes data
	Costly and complicated to setup
	(It's an MS product, after all)
Email, Calendar, & Contacts	Support for Outlook 2007, Outlook Anywhere, and Outlook Web Access	Email, Calendar, Contacts, & Tasks
No task syncing

	Video conferencing Whiteboard	Share desktops Record session Very easy to join meeting Presenter switching
Google Video is not conferencing	Requires proprietary download so joining can be cumbersome	Single-video output No whiteboard

Concurrent document editing
Does not work well with MS Office environments Does not import Office 2007 files

G.Talk Mobile support	Highly secure Encrypted communications	Integrated with Skype with voice capabilities
	Hard for admin to setup

Easy and straightforward web page editor with some wiki features	Allows for deep customization Very comprehensive features-wise	Simple and customizable in terms of layout, color, content, brand Can easily and deeply integrate other modules with intranet pages
Integration with other modules is somewhat shoddy	Overkill for small companies Very complex to create and customize


Setup Costs	$50 (avg. setup package) + $500 (minimum cost of customization per group site)	One partner made $167 per user in implementation and consultation fees	$49.99
Who Implements	Self or Google Implementation Partner	Microsoft certified partner	Simple enough for client to implement
Encryption ($)	Free	$1.99/user/month	$199/year
Phone Support	Free, however only for "service unusable" issues	Free, however only for "critical issues." End users cannot receive direct support	Free for any issue, for admins and end users
Training Costs	$99/user (minimum in person training package)	Included above in a typical end to end implementation package	Free live training
Term of Service	Minimum 1 year upfront	Minimum 1 year upfront	Monthly or Annually
$/user	$50/user/year	Starts @ $15/user/month	Starts @ $7.50/user/month
Total Cost for 25 users (with above costs, for the first year)	$5,225*	$9,272*	$2,503
	*assuming 3 group sites were customized	*plus implementation


Degree of Integration	Different modules are well integrated, but overall solution structure is not seamless, since the modules are also individual products	Different parts of the solution (Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, LiveMeeting) are complex software in their own right. Integration is superficial and ad-hoc	HyperOffice has always been developed as a single solution targeted towards small businesses. Solution structure is seamless, and different modules well integrated
Ease of Navigation	Confusing (tasks and contacts are within Gmail)	Complex and Confusing (all the three modules have consoles with different designs, and can be pulled up from a single sign on device)	Great (simple single click left navigation between all modules)
Trials	On your own until purchase	On your own until purchase	Free training and support

With 10 years of experience delivering online collaboration soutions, HyperOffice is the recognised market leader in online productivity and collaboration solution software for small to medium sized businesses. We provide the most comprehensive suite of solutions developed over years of hard experience understanding your growing business needs. HyperOffice's capabilities include customer extranet & intranet software, online document management, online project management, web calendar, contact management software, business email, Outlook sharing and synchronization, mobile collaboration and much more - offered as an integrated, easy to use solution accessible over any web connected PC, Mac, iPhone, or mobile device. HyperOffice is also a viable Microsoft Sharepoint alternative and Microsoft Exchange alternative for growing companies looking for the power of enterprise class messaging and collaboration - but without the associated costs and hassles. HyperOffice's extended suite of solutions includes HyperMeeting - a web meeting solution, HyperBase for online database management, and HyperCampaign for email marketing campaigns - all developed for your emerging needs, and seamlessly integrable with the HyperOffice collaboration suite at your choice.