A viable and cheaper alternative to Microsoft, say IT bosses

Google's email and office software is a genuine - and much cheaper - alternative to Microsoft for business users, according to UK IT chiefs.

The reaction is in response to the launch this week of enterprise versions of Google's online software. The Google Apps Premier Edition will cost $50 per year for every end-user and offers email, word processing and spreadsheets, with 24-hour phone support and 10GB of storage per user.

Three-quarters of silicon.com's 12-strong CIO Jury IT user panel said they would consider using the enterprise version of Google's software in their corporate IT infrastructure.

Mark Foulsham, IT director of eSure, said most people currently use only about 10 per cent of the functionality of existing Microsoft Office applications.

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