Capgemini, a Paris, France-based technology consultancy firm will start promoting Google Apps among its corporate customers, further fueling Mountain View’s efforts to transform the free desktop suite into a revenue-generating business.
The partnership is significant because it implies on of the world’s most famous providers of consulting, technology and outsourcing services, with more than 1 million corporate customers worldwide and with more than 75,000 employees. Capgemini also reported last year global revenues of EUR 7.7 billion (approx. US$10 billion).
This would be a premiere for Google because Capgemini is actually the first important technology consulting firm that adopts the Mountain View-crafted desktop suite, which includes GTalk, Docs&Spreadsheets, Gmail, Calendar, Start Page and Page Creator.
Google Apps is delivered to customers under the SaaS business model (software as a service) for a low annual fee, requiring only a browser for instant access, and with the recent alliance Capgemini said that it will largely expand its portfolio of desktop solutions available for its clients, since Google Apps can be delivered on any platform, no matter the location or the role of the corporate partner.
Moreover, Google Apps’ addition to Capgemini’s offerings is also providing the French behemoth with the opportunity to reap some nice profits from the ever increasing SaaS market, estimated by Gartner Inc. to reach an annual growth of 25 percent by 2010. According to Springboard Research, only in Asia the SaaS market will reach US$1.16 billion by 2010, with a cumulative annual growth rate of 66%, to comprise 35% of the enterprise software application market.
Following the partnership, Google will also benefit from Capgemini’s experience in procurement, installation, deployment and management of new applications into existing, complex IT infrastructures. With its highly regarded transition services, Capgemini can extend the value of Google Apps for large-scale enterprises by maximizing adoption and fostering real-time collaboration – even for mobile workers, partners and other user groups that were previously disconnected from corporate email and applications.
“Capgemini’s hallmark is enabling companies to create an effective and collaborative business platform for its clients,” said Paul Spence, Chief Executive Officer, Global Outsourcing, Capgemini. “Our corporate vision is designed to help our clients achieve better, faster, more sustainable results by linking them with their partners, Capgemini
suppliers and the latest technologies. Incorporating Google Apps Premier Edition into our offering is yet one more way that we are helping our clients adopt technological innovations within a robust and tested framework.”
Software as a service (SaaS) is a model of software delivery where the software company provides maintenance, daily technical operation, and support for the software provided to their client. SaaS is a model of software delivery rather than a market segment; it assumes the software is delivered over the internet. Software can be delivered using this method to any market segment including home consumers, small business, medium and large business. Activities are managed from central locations rather than at each customer's site, enabling customers to access applications remotely via the Web.
The main advantages of SaaS are: affordability (a Yankee Group study found the total cost of operating an on-demand software package is less than half that for an equivalent system bought the traditional way), speed (software can be deployed in days and weeks, rather than six to 18 months with traditional license-and-install software), low risk (small and mid-size companies live in fear of the failure rates of large-scale enterprise resource planning and CRM implementations) and last, but not least, SaaS favorizes healthier relationships (the SaaS provider earns its return over the term of the relationship, rather than front-loading with a license sale).
In addition to that, SaaS allows IT departments to offload the delivery and maintenance of software applications. The SaaS firm, not the customer, invests in the technology, hardware, and ongoing support services.
“With its focus on collaboration and communications, Google Apps is a natural addition to Capgemini’s lineup of desktop services,” said Dave Girouard, Vice President and General Manager, Google Enterprise. “Capgemini’s strong heritage providing technology and consulting services to large organizations will provide tremendous support for organizations looking to benefit from Google's hosted services.”
Capgemini is expected to use its expertise to help customers integrate Google Apps Premier Edition more easily, and to do that, Capgemini has just joined the Google Enterprise Professional program.
According to a previous Google statement, Google Apps has been used by more than 100,000 small businesses and hundreds of universities. The application is actually “split” to fit the needs of both types of users: Google Apps Standard Edition and Google Apps Education Edition. The latest “add-on” is the Premier Edition, introduced in February, which has been offered to small and large businesses all over the world for only $50 per year, while the first two will continue to remain free.
According to Google, schools all around the world are moving to Google Apps, including Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Trinity College in Dublin, Nihon University in Tokyo, Macquarie University in Sydney, and Universidad Panamericana in Guadalajara. When universities sign-up for Google Apps, students, faculty and staff get Gmail powered email, IM capabilities with their contacts, and an online calendar that allows them to add classes and meetings right from the Gmail interface.
