Business

Google cloud boost for small companies

SMALL firms in the north which subscribe to Google apps are set to benefit from unlimited cloud storage after the IT giant revealed in San Francisco that it is to slash costs for the facility. And the move has been described as "unprecedented and ground-breaking" in the technology industry, by Paul Trouton of Co Armagh-based IT specialist company Fuel.

"This will offer companies here unlimited storage space for a pittance - and completely blows away anything the market has previously had to offer," he said.

"Northern Ireland has thousands of SMEs which are considering or have considered cloud storage in the recent past as a means of off-site back-up, but were unable to justify the rates of this storage space from either regional or local cloud providers.

"These companies have now just been given a more cost effective solution. This announcement allows them to utilise the cloud at a considerably reduced cost."

Google's world conference, primarily for Google developers, confirmed that subscribers of Google Apps would now benefit from unlimited cloud storage.

Google Apps is the name given to productivity tools from the Google stable to rival and compete with Microsoft's Office 365. It is a more simplified version of Office productivity tools yet includes the more common modules of word processing, spreadsheets and presentation functionality.

Office 365 has grown enormously, but many users remain oblivious to the complex level of its functionality, yet it accounts for billions of pounds in terms of a revenue stream for Microsoft.

Google Apps is already priced at a fraction of this cost - and yesterday's announcement further enhances the attractiveness of the Google product by offering unlimited cloud storage.

Mr Trouton says: "It's estimated that Google currently only utilises 10 per cent of its cloud storage space, so the expected increase in uptake following this announcement will not have any impact on storage space available or result in any significant problem."