In a bid to try and take on Microsoft's Office package, Google showed a new reseller program for its Google Apps, which would enable partner companies to provide customized Google Apps along with their offerings. This new program enables IT consultants and professionals to become certified providers of a variety of Google Apps.

The Apps have a business use, which includes a number of applications, such as calendaring, clou-based emailing and other similar services. Professionals will have access to sales and training documentation produced by Google and they can start selling customized Google Apps deployment along with their services.

Furthermore, resellers can now label Google Apps applications, switch DNS record, create user accounts and many other similar things. The program has already been tested by Google with 50 organizations last summer, and it's now available across the entire globe. US users can access the program with 20 percent discount on $50 per user, at per year cost.

Even if Google is trying to reach the Microsoft high-selling Office package, Google Apps is entirely web-based, and is seen as Google's push into software-as-a-service or cloud computing domains. Although Google isn't starting its channel from scratch, it still has a long way to go to catch up with Microsoft in terms of building a partner program that drives sales and builds loyalty among partners.

Furthermore, some analysts even say that it will all depend on Google's willingness to incorporate partner feedback into its channel strategy. Even so, it's a compelling financial proposition for Google to deliver all these applications in the cloud and be responsible for things like scalability, bug fixes and maintenance, and it remains to be seen if the company will manage these problems.