Google's Cloud-Desktop Strategy Gets Partner Help

Call it a case of "Office envy." Google eyes Microsoft's dominant share of the office productivity market and wants a piece of it. A big piece, in fact -- and wants it badly. 

But Office is the 500-pound gorilla. Microsoft has struggled in some key areas - its mobile initiatives haven't taken the industry by storm, for instance, and it was late to market in virtualization. But Office? The redoubtable suite remains the default standard for cubicle workers in fine office parks across this land. 

In contrast, Google Docs feels nascent. Have you ever heard anyone say, Wow, Google Docs just blows away Microsoft Office! No, I haven't either. 

Sure, Google Docs is a perfectly workable suite, if nothing that generates great admiration. (I've always wondered: Google is richer than Croesus. Can't it hire a team to develop an office suite that inarguably equals Office? I mean, office productivity software isn't rocket science. How hard can it be?) 

Google's effort to unseat Office has one major factor in its favor: hybrid users. Plenty of businesses -- and this is backed up by market research -- use both Office and Docs. Office is the workhorse, the foundation for really important business communication. But Docs offers online collaboration that's invaluable. 

This collaboration is a key driver in Google's effort to own cloud computing, and just might be the deciding factor. With workforces increasingly spread across the country and globe, a free, easy-to-use collaborative office suite is a game changer. 

Of course, Microsoft isn't blind. Understanding the threat, it offers Microsoft Office Live Workspace. Yet it hasn't -- and probably can't afford to at this point -- offered so much functionality that users don't also use Google Docs. 

Google, aware of the competition, is giving a big hug to third party developers who extend Docs' functionality. For instance: 

Manymoon offers a project management tool. 

Syncplicity helps automate backups and manage a variety of files. 

Memeo Connect -- this is a big one -- enables users to sync and send data between Docs and Office. 

Of course, online office tools still suffer from fears of Internet outages. But those fears won't be enough to slow down the adoption of such tools. May the best online suite win.