Google buys DocVerse, fires more shots at Microsoft Office
By Jenny • Mar 9th, 2010 • Category: Industry News
- Photo: Google
Google’s recent acquisition of DocVerse, an online collaboration tool for Microsoft, for $25 million, shows that they’re all in, too, but in the Microsoft-dominated productivity suite space.
DocVerse
- Photo: Stock.Xchng
Founded by a pair of former Microsoft employees, DocVerse is an online collaboration tool for Microsoft Office, which allows users to share their work as well as comment on the work in a manner that is visible to others. It also allows for editing of documents online, from Word to Excel and even PowerPoint slides. Having been funded an approximate $1.5 million and founded a mere two years ago, this $25 million Google purchase represents a good exit for the company’s founders.
The productivity suite race
In the productivity suite race, Microsoft Office wasn’t first to mass market – Lotus was – but Microsoft became the unassailable leader with its Office Suite. Google, however, beat them to the punch with productivity software in the cloud in the form of Google docs, and Google hopes DocVerse will fortify that position, as well as continue to erode Microsoft’s productivity suite lead. Microsoft are not ignorant to this threat, with Steve Ballmer admitting they were slow to start in cloud computing, but are reacting to Google’s advancement so as to protect, and ultimately grow, their business.
Some perspective
To give a little perspective as to how important Microsoft Office is to the Redmond-based company, the productivity suite accounts for nearly 90% of its business division’s revenue, which amounted to over $4 billion in revenue in the last quarter.
- Photo: Microsoft
Google, using its usual strategy to disrupt most of the industries it gets involved in, has made DocVerse available for free, even for users who were paying the subscription fee for the premium features. The company has indicated it will roll out across Google apps so as to allow users to make the transition from desktop to online easier. How’s that for a direct assault on Microsoft’s cash cow?
Tags for this article: Microsoft Office
