Google Exec: Google Docs not Ready to Replace Microsoft Office

Posted 11/13/2009 at 2:31pm | by Bart Salisbury

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In pretty much a concession to the obvious, Dave Girouard, the president of Google’s enterprise division, told ZDNet Asia, that Google Docs isn’t quite ready to replace Microsoft Office. But, he added, that within a year it will be reach a “point of capability” sufficient to fulfill the “vast majority’s needs.”

Google Docs is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) office suite that mimics the capability of Microsoft Office. Instead of being tied down as an application suite, Google Docs is web-based, and can have real time updates to performance and features. Girouard expects some “thirty to fifty” updates to Google Docs to take place over the next year.

Google Docs now, Girouard concedes, isn’t mature enough to displace Office for everyday use. It simply doesn’t possess a feature set sufficient to make it a worthy competitor. However, even as it does become more capable, Girouard doesn’t see Google Docs rivaling Office in ability, as Office is “an overkill tool for most people.” Google Docs will instead fit the needs of mainstream office suite users, with Microsoft’s offering left for those requiring Office’s specialized functionality.

How Google Docs will respond to Microsoft’s efforts to provide a free web-based version of Microsoft Office Girouard doesn’t say. The competition for hearts and minds between the two companies will prove interesting.

Image Credit: Jacqueline Godany/Wikipedia Commons, Google