We reported earlier today about Microsoft’s 10-point list on why Google Apps isn’t ready for the enterprise. Now Zimbra, an innovative Web Office startup focused on messaging and collaboration, has added to the anti-Google Apps chorus – specifically citing Sarbanes-Oxley compliance issues. Zimbra says that since all Google docs and files are stored on Google’s servers, public companies would face big Sarbanes-Oxley compliance issues if they deployed Google Apps. [Update:Bob Warfield points out that “there is no requirement by SOX that data has to be on a companyÄôs own servers, just that the data be carefully controlled and audited.”] The solution? You guessed, it: deploy Zimbra instead.
Zimbra told R/WW that their messaging and collaboration platform “provides enterprise customers with freedoms that Google Apps just can’t provide, including the ability to archive for compliance purposes.” Enterprise customers can use Zimbra as a hosted service or deploy it on-site. It also has offline functionality, which Google doesn’t offer with most of their apps (although with Google Gears, it can be developed).
Further, says the feisty startup, while Google can only produce “an unnamed telco” as its first enterprise customer, Zimbra boasts Comcast (the largest ISP in the US) and Embarq (formerly Sprint LLC) as customers. Other Zimbra customers include Raytheon, H&R Block, and Century 21 – who use Zimbra for messaging, document sharing, and enterprise collaboration.
So Google is taking it from all sides currently – from arch-rival Microsoft, and Web Office startups. It shows just how much of a threat Google is in office software.
