Google has made its Cloud Connect plug-in for Microsoft Office 2003, 2007 and 2010 generally available.
The software allows Office users to upload and synchronize their Office documents with their Google account and edit and share Word, Excel, and Powerpoint files via Google Docs. The plug-in install itself as a menu bar in the Office UI from where a user can sync and share a document.
We had a chance to take Cloud Connect for a quick spin and were impressed, but found a few rough edges, including a missing option to switch accounts with just one click. While Google says that documents are seamlessly synced up and down, our 2007-Cloud Connect tandem synced only into the cloud, but not from the cloud down to our local computers. If you consider using Cloud Connect, especially for Excel and PowerPoint, we highly recommend reading through the supported and unsupported features list as complex features in spreadsheets and fancy animations may not survive the cloud procedure.
What works, however, is the simplicity of Cloud Connect. Microsoft seems to be going cloud all the way with Office 365 and it isn't quite clear yet how local Office software will be integrated. The other option is Office Live, which works in combination with Microsoft's Skydrive cloud storage as well as Windows Live Essentials 2011/Windows Live Mesh 2011. However, the Microsoft approach is much more complicated and requires an entire setup procedure and is limited to certain file folders that are synced, whereas Cloud Connect targets every Office document that is created (users can manually sync or have Google sync documents automatically.)
Cloud Connect is Google's strategy to take a slice from Microsoft's office pie. It will be interesting to see how Microsoft reacts.
-Dan
-Dan
MS ain't doing so good in the Smartphone department.
Their "Cloud Connect" forces you to use Microsoft - if you decide to open the document in the browser, then you can't open it in Office anymore.
Given the choice, I think people will stay with Microsoft, or use tools like Officsync or Syncdocs which work between the two
They already have lost really. At least in Denmark. Googles online services have been dismissd serveral times when they tried to get goverment clearance due to security reasons. Microsoft has been granted the clearance however. I'm not sure if that's because they're offering live@edu or if their security is simply more in compliance with goverment expectations.
Give it time mate. Hopefully the increased competition will help us out.
I don't think MS has ever started in first place in anything they have done, but they usually end up in top place eventually.
Google just released a tool that allows M$ Office to be used in conjunction with Google Docs, rather than being forced to just use a browser, and it's considered an attack? Come on, at least have TRUTHFUL headlines, rather than false statements that have little to do with the actual content, just because they are sure to grab viewers. It's starting to get out of control, Tom's...
Well, since you asked; How about reliability? 99.9%+ up time with most cloud services. Parity? Your data is guarded against system fail and loss.
How about 10$ a user instead of paying for an IT department, Server energy and cooling costs, or the constant need to upgrade?
If governance of data is of no issue, than it's all about the money companies can save. Many companies never go fully in the cloud and use co-existence anyway.
Tom's it would be great if you did a updated feature article on the balanced use of implementing these various back-up and syncing services with some insights from industry professionals.
Im already able to sync relatively well with images, but an auto sync feature for office documents would make shuffeling paper work easy, not to mention that i wount ever have to worry about leaving a paper behind ever again
Data Governance. Security speaks in volumes greater than can ever be addressed. Microsoft is already pre-programming people via "Yay! Cloud!" commercials to set up Windows v8. GOogle Chrome OS exclusively storing user-data server-side concerns me more, even though I avoid Google products like the plague it is. THEY legally own the data on their servers, and may do with it what ever they wish.