Interview: How to sell Google and Microsoft together

CRN: Microsoft seems to have been quite hesitant to move its software online and compete, don't you think?

Cooper: Google have taken a very open approach to their platform. The Data Liberation Front brand - it's a bit of a mantra within Google - says, "We will not lock you in". I think that gives people a lot of confidence about giving them a go.

If you take the Microsoft approach it has been very much one of, "We will make you comfortable in our world and provide you with high levels of functionality and we really won't care too much if you feel locked in or not".

Roberts: Absolutely. And you're right, Microsoft are going to be cannibalising their business when they launch their Office products online.

It's going to be a difficult decision to make about how hard they push on that, but at the moment they are not really competing in the same space as Google Apps. All they're offering is online Sharepoint and online Exchange.

So we would need to wait for the full release of their Office tools in a couple of months and then we're really going to see some competition with Google Apps.

CRN: Will the launch of Office Online make it harder for SMS Technology as a Google and Microsoft partner?

Roberts: No, in some respects it will make it easier for us because that will level the playing field. To be honest, we are not that interested whether a client goes with Microsoft or Google.

CRN: What impact do you think Telstra's T-Suite will have on the market?

Roberts: A lot of this is about accessibility and making things easier for customers. It's very straightforward to sign up for Google Apps but there's still the perception that you have to be a bit of a techie to do that.

T-Suite is a much easier entry point. They've done a very good job of integrating that with Microsoft provisioning, it all works pretty seamlessly. They've done a good job there.

CRN: And it will be pretty tempting for SMBs to add software to their phone bill.

Roberts: Absolutely, and for the smaller companies that's what's going to happen. For any company to make a move [away from their current operating environment] to Microsoft or Google they must have already decided that that's important to them.

For a lot of companies there is a lot of value and they can see that they can save money but it is not a priority for them yet.

Next page: Australian enterprises on storing data overseas