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The New Technology in Google and Microsoft

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With the growth of the Internet, and the popularity of Software as a Service, many applications that have traditionally been used offline have moved into the cloud. Companies providing on-demand service through the Internet have reinvigorated one of the most iconic pieces of computer software, the productivity suite. Two such providers are Microsoft and Google. Through their Office 365 and Google Apps services, respectively, businesses can leverage the benefits of cloud without having to worry about the large upfront cost that productivity software used to incur. Microsoft, an industry leader with their Office suite of software products for over two decades, now offers much of the same functionality through the Internet with Office 365. Whereas their products would previously cost over a hundred dollars per user up front, Microsoft offers Office 365 for as little as $5 per user per month. Some of the features that it includes are business-class email, web conferencing, a public website, file sharing, shared calendars, and web versions of the most popular components of Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote) ("Compare Office," n.d.). The company also offers, for a small amount more, the ability to get access to its desktop-based applications as well. This makes it an attractive option for those companies that may still be transitioning to the cloud, or for those who still rely on a particular part of the Office suite (Access, Publisher, etc.). In contrast, Google is

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