Leader: Google walks the enterprise walk

Google, not content with owning the search market or with its grander plans for the consumer space, has recently talked up its intentions to crack the enterprise market.

With this in mind the acquisition of Postini this week comes as no huge surprise.

After all if you're building up an enterprise-worthy presence then getting security onboard early is a no-brainer. Likewise, if you're Google then it makes sense you would go for a hosted, managed security service provider (MSSP) in line with your own philosophy of an on-demand, browser-based future.

The fact it was Postini over any number of other companies is almost irrelevant, especially when we're talking about a company whose pockets are as deep as Google's.

Of more interest should be the fact this represents a serious commitment towards the enterprise. Google is now walking the walk.

Its previous forays into the enterprise space have all had a distinctly consumer flavour. Previously it launched a Documents and Spreadsheets service, billed by optimists as an Office-killer. But still the company admitted it would only be complementary to Microsoft's offering and the appeal seemed more a draw for home users than business users.

Likewise Google has an email offering that it claims will take the headaches out of managing Exchange but the company is best known in this space for its backpacker- and student-friendly Gmail offering.

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The MSSP model, however, is not a consumer or home office offering - its strongest appeal is with large, multi-site organisations for whom the hosted approach cuts out a lot of inherent complexity in managing email security.

So what's next for Google in the enterprise?

Well, what else is available as a hosted model? With the current trend towards software as a service and those swollen coffers at the GooglePlex, there's little that's off-limits and lots that is no doubt of interest.

Look towards any or all of the following: accounting, business intelligence, CRM, database management, ERP, storage and back-up services.

Google - welcome to business IT.