Signs on the Sand

Google launches Premier Edition of the google.com/a - Google Apps. It's:

• Gmail (10Gb mailbox), Google Talk, Google Calendar, Docs & Spreadsheets, Page Creator and Start Page
•  99.9% uptime guarantee for email (only for email?)
• opt-out for ads in email - doh!
• Shared calendar
• Single sign-on
• User provisioning and management
• Support for email gateway
• Email migration tools (Limited Release)
• 24/7 assistance, including phone support
• 3rd party applications and services

for mere $50/year per user. Sounds tempting for microISVs and small businesses.

They say it's cheap alternative to Microsoft Office. I'm not convinced. $50 x 4-5 years = Microsoft Office price, but I'm not sure one can compare Google Apps and Microsoft Office featurewise (yet).

What's more interesting is  /. gang very cold reaction. Are sysadmins afraid Google is taking their job off?

del.ico.us | digg it | reddit