Apple's challenge to Office 365 and Google Apps

Apple has started allowing non-Apple hardware users to use iWork for iCloud, in what may be the first sign of a broader attack on the Microsoft-Google duopoly in productivity suites.

A subtle adjustment by Apple has recently allowed anyone to sign up to iWork for iCloud through a browser, effectively turning it into a multi-platform service that can run on devices made by other companies.

Apple previously required users to own a Mac, iPhone or iPad before they could get an Apple ID to access the iCloud versions of Pages, Numbers and Keynote, reported the Verge.

Google and Microsoft won’t be losing any sleep – at least not yet. iWork is hopelessly outgunned when it comes to multi-person collaboration, video and call conferencing, formatting and other key features for the workplace. Plus its file formats are unknown and not easily interchangeable with the dominant Microsoft standards.

To top it off, Apple has arguably invested far more heavily in producing world-class devices and computers rather than its applications (operating systems aside).

To ignore the change would be foolish, however. Apple, the world’s most profitable company, has a US$178 billion treasure chest to acquire or invest in developing its software. And it is on a streak when it comes to leveraging its fanatical user base to roll out new technology.

Apple Pay is the prime example. It is still too early to tell whether Apple Pay will meet the lofty expectations already set for it. Apple has clearly demonstrated that it can use its muscle, money and global army of devices to establish a mobile payments platform faster than anyone thought possible.

Can Apple turn iWork into the default productivity suite for its hundreds of millions of users? Maybe one day, but not today.

Apple's weakness

Even Apple stalwarts like Tony Chadwick, director of strategy at Apple and Google reseller Rype, say they are uncertain whether iWork can become a serious competitor.

“Apple have been trying to move into this space for some time and they have good products but it’s too big a step. The real collaboration you can do on Google far outweighs anything that iWork can do,” said Chadwick.

Chadwick, a self-described Apple evangelist for the past 30 years, noted that iWork has no answer to Google Apps’ simultaneous multi-user editing or video collaboration such as with Google HangOuts. Office 365 can also perform these functions.

Not only was iWork weak on collaboration but it was missing one crucial element to succeed in the business world, Chadwick added.

“iWork is a consumer solution. We love Apple product but we don’t see that the software solution will cut it for business or in the enterprise because there’s no email and calendar solution that’s entirely theirs. That’s where you need to be, at the DNS level,” Chadwick said.

Where the Apple iPhone had no serious competitor for several years until Android, iWork will have a tough fight against Google Apps, let alone Office 365.

A simpler version of iWork was released for free for the first time in 2013.

How it works

Anyone can now request an Apple ID from a beta of iCloud and use the apps in a browser on Android, Windows and Linux computers. iWork for iCloud comes with 1GB of free storage to which users can save files in Apple’s apps and access them on multiple devices.

Google’s Google Apps has been the only real challenger to Microsoft Office and its cloud incarnation, Office 365, in productivity suites. However Apple has been making inroads into the enterprise market by selling hundreds of millions of iPads and iPhones, the latter playing a lead role in unseating the millennial smartphone, the BlackBerry.

iWork for iCloud could form a new plank in its growth strategy among business users. Google and Microsoft are using their productivity apps to drive traffic and users to their cloud platforms. The more parts of a platform used by a consumer or business, the harder it is to swap to a rival service.

Amazon has taken a similar tack with the launch of WorkMail, a US$4/user/month cloud-based email and calendar tool.

WorkMail follows on the heels of Amazon WorkDocs, a managed, enterprise storage and sharing service which costs US$8 a month in Australia (for 200GB per user) or is free for those on Amazon’s virtual desktop service, Amazon WorkSpaces.

Amazon has emphasised the security and scalability of its virtual desktop, online storage and email suite in a direct appeal to CIOs. Apple’s cloud suite will need a lot more work before it can follow suit.

“While I love their solutions, iWork not an enterprise solution,” Chadwick said.