Internet giant Google must improve its Google Apps hosted application suite if it wants IT managers to take it seriously, an expert has said.According to Guy Creese, an analyst at computing research, consultancy and advisory firm Burton Group, the search engine provider must provide stronger data models, role-based access and records management archiving facilities to impress such businesses people, Computerworld reports.
Intended for companies, schools and other organisations, Google Apps provides communication, productivity, collaboration and security tools directly from the browser.
This enables users of the service to access their applications from any computer with internet access and removes the need for them to buy and install hardware or software.
However, Mr Creese is critical of the product as it stands at the moment. He says: "I think Google has underestimated the complexity of the enterprise space."
He adds that, so far, Google has basically delivered "consumer products and slapped an enterprise name on them".
According to the expert, the search engine provider falls down because of the lack of an enterprise data model.
Meanwhile, Matthew Glotzbach, Google's director of product management for enterprise, conceded during an interview with Computerworld: "One challenge we've had is building that enterprise credibility."
He added, however, that Google expects both the consumer and business versions of Google Apps to maintain "90 per cent consistency" going forward.
