Google targets Exchange with Outlook plug-in

Google continues its efforts to tempt businesses away from Microsoft's software, after unveiling synchronisation technology that supports Outlook as the front-end to Gmail. This plug-in would give users an option to scrap Exchange at the back-end, while allowing them to keep their familiar desktop client.

Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook provides synchronisation for e-mail, calendar and contacts between Gmail and Outlook/Exchange. It is only available to users of Google Apps Premier, the company's $50 per user corporate offering, and those using the Education (Edu) version.

As part of its offering, Google has developed a protocol called GDATA that is similar to its Gears technology to aid in the sync of Outlook and the Google back-end. Gears supports offline use of applications.

"This is a case of Google leading with the strongest part of Google Apps and doing the right thing, which is saying we can save you money on the back-end without disrupting your end-user environments," says Guy Creese, an analyst with the Burton Group.

Creese says users should be able to save on two Microsoft licenses, one for Exchange itself and the other being the client access licence (CAL) to the server. "For some, Outlook is ingrained into the way they work and if you take away Outlook you are taking away their security blanket."

Google's offer to let users keep their familiar Outlook client while swapping out the back-end is similar to moves made by other Exchange alternatives such as Gordano and PostPath, which was bought by Cisco last year.

Google offers a number of synchronisation tools that work between Outlook and Google Apps, but the new tool wraps everything into a single 5MB plug-in that can be deployed via Microsoft's System Center Configuration Manager.

In addition, the synchronisation is built into Outlook and is not an additional application outside the client.

The plug-in supports Windows XP SP3, Vista and Outlook 2007 and is currently only available in English.

Google says GDATA provides for faster synchronisation between the two platforms in comparison to IMAP, which had been the only sync technology available between the two. IMAP's slow performance has been a hindrance for those wanting to use Outlook against a Gmail back-end.

The Google synchronisation technology also adds a number of other features including access to the global access list and the ability to look up another user's free and busy time. And a migration tool lets users move their Exchange .PST file into Gmail, a process the company says takes two clicks.

"People need speed and for it to be the same, it has to look as feel like Outlook," says Chris Vander Mey, senior product manager at Google.