Google Offers Free Work Apps To Rival’s Customers

Google is to offer free work applications to businesses who already have a contract with a rival service, such as Microsoft Office 365.

Office has long been the de facto standard for word processing, spreadsheet and presentation software, so the hope is that potential customers see the new features of Google Docs and are tempted to switch when their existing contract expires rather than extend their current agreement.

Apps for Work includes Gmail, Calendar, Google Drive and Google Docs – direct rivals to Microsoft’s Outlook, OneDrive, Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Google claims that by switching to Apps for Work, companies can save up to 70 percent over its competitors.

Google Apps for Work

“Nine years ago with Google Docs, we saw an opportunity to build something that would enable people to work together in new ways,” said Rich Rao, head of global sales at Google Apps for Work.

“Fast forward to today and Docs is a productivity powerhouse. Now’s a great time to give it a fresh look if you want to take advantage of its unmatched collaboration tools. We’ve made it easy by covering most of the features some claim to be missing and adding nifty new stuff like Voice Typing and Explore. All in all, we think you’ll find it’s the perfect tool for work.

“In fact, we’re so confident that Docs has all the features you need, without the ones you don’t, that we’re making it even easier to give it a try. If you’re worried about switching to Docs because you still have an enterprise agreement (EA) with another provider, we’ll cover the fees of Google Apps until your contract runs out. We’ll even chip in on some of the deployment costs and set you up for success with one of our Google for Work Partners.”

The deal is only available in the US and Canada for now, but Rao says Google is “actively” working to bring the offer elsewhere in the near future, meaning British businesses can benefit. Earlier this year HMRC opted for Google Apps for Work ahead of Office 365, while other government departments have also gone with Google.

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