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Posts Tagged ‘Microsoft Technology’

Yahoo BOSS To Survive Microsoft Deal In Some Form; Details Still Hazy

After months of silence, Yahoo’s BOSS team is opening up to frustrated third party developers about the future of the powerful search platform. A few hours ago, Yahoo’s Ashim Chhabra left a post on the BOSS group forum, offering an explanation for why it has taken so long for Yahoo to relay information to developers, and giving them some idea of BOSS’s fate. The good news? BOSS will continue to live on in some form, but it’s unclear exactly how things will be changing and which services will be powered by Microsoft technology — and there may be fees involved. That uncertainly will probably leave some developers on edge, but at least they know the project isn’t being scrapped entirely.

Chhabra’s post was clearly prompted by the actions of some frustrated BOSS developers, who grew tired of being left in the dark and approached the Department of Justice to talk about how BOSS will be impacted by the Yahoo/Microsoft search deal. The DOJ heard their complaints, scheduling a conference call with them for next week. Chhabra’s post may help placate them for the time being. We’ve included his full post below:

Folks,

Thank you for your feedback. We understand your frustration. This process has been long for all of us due to the complex nature of our agreement with Microsoft, and we appreciate your patience.

Under this agreement, Yahoo! is permitted to continue offering the BOSS web service, with search results that would integrate Yahoo! services and content with algorithmic results provided by Microsoft. As always, our intention is to provide a BOSS offering as long as it makes business and economic sense to do so. We are still examining what the BOSS offering will consist of, with some services powered by Microsoft, unique content that Yahoo! currently provides, and the potential for additional Yahoo! content in the future.

Prior to the announcement of the Yahoo!-Microsoft search agreement, we’d already shared our intention to explore a fee-based structure for BOSS. We continue to explore an appropriate fee structure or other revenue model as we work through the future of BOSS.

As you know, we must receive regulatory clearance before actual implementation of the search deal with Microsoft can occur. Only then can we finalize the future shape of BOSS. Of course, we will provide additional clarity and certainty when we can.

Thanks for your attention!

Yahoo! BOSS team

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Google Enterprise Campaign Shifts Into High Gear on the Eve of Sharepoint Conference

On the eve of Microsoft’s Sharepoint conference in Las Vegas, Google is launching its international phase to an advertising campaign that is the largest ever for its push into the enterprise and one of the most extensive in the company’s history.

The “Gone Google,” campaign is significant in a number of ways.

Sharepoint is one of Microsoft’s crown jewels. It’s a huge business. The technology generates a cool $1 billion in revenues. The technology is at the heart of Microsoft’s strategy to remain king over the enterprise. Steve Ballmer says Sharepoint will surpass 1 million developers in the next year.

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Steve Ballmer is banking on customers making major investments in Sharepoint 2010. With the upgrade, customers face a host of new IT expenses.

For example, Sharepoint 2010 requires upgrade from 32-bit to 64-bit technology on all servers. Office 2007 will run on Sharepoint 2010 but Microsoft is recommending investments in Office 2010 for richer integration. Office 2003 users will need to upgrade to Office 2007 to run Sharepoint 2010.

Google App services require no IT environment to manage, no expensive software upgrades and no new server purchases. That’s enticing for any size business.

The Google campaign highlights why the Microsoft model may be slipping a bit. Companies are questioning if they need to make such major investments in Microsoft technology.

For its part, Google has more than 2 million businesses on Google Apps, representing 20 million users. Google is expanding its Google Apps service to the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Japan, Australia and Singapore. Clients include Motorola, New York Life and Konica Minolta.

The “Gone Google,” campaign is a continuation of the roll out they did over the summer. It features changing messages from businesses that have switched to Google for Google Apps, Google Search Appliance and services such as Google Postini, their hosted security and archiving service.

The campaign is now running across the globe. With the launch, Google launched a montage video. We find this interesting. If nothing else, YouTube offers Google a great way to promote its own products.

Google has not slowed down with it service offering. In September, Google announced an application program interface (API) for its Google Sites technology, effectively providing users with a way to import and export apps from Microsoft SharePoint sites. Google Wave is a collaboration platform. It has received mixed reviews, its effectiveness in the enterprise still too soon to tell.

Google and many others see a giant in Microsoft that can be slow and at times uneasy in how it steps through the market. With each step, they face a community network of micro-size businesses that are proving formidable with their best-in-breed technologies.

It’s a big week for Microsoft. Sharepoint is at a juncture. With Google in such an aggressive mode, Microsoft will have to move faster with its own product development, convincing its customers that what they provide is still the best choice for the enterprise.

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