Google Preps Online Storage Service

Google Preps Online Storage Service

Google has long been rumored to have an online storage service under development, yet the mentions of this service on blogs and throughout it-related industry publications has grown in recent weeks with the Wall Street Journal and ComputerWorld reporting the service will be launched imminently. The article, Google preps online storage service, specifically mentioned that there will be a minimal level of free storage online with additional charges for more space. This is a comparable business model that Google's competitors for this new venture already rely on additional fees to offset hosting revenues. Microsoft's Live Skydrive, Amazon.com's S3, and Berkley Data Systems' Mozy service which as acquired by EMC Corporation for $76M in October of this year.

The implications for students is immediate and sigif8icant, as it will allow them to use Google as a virtual hard drive to store projects and finished papers, reports, analyses and presentations. The use of Google from any browser, anywhere will further add to the attractiveness of the search engines' decision to launch this service. Implications for the advertising model Google relies on is also significant, as this online storage service will undoubtedly increase the level of traffic to the search engine site as well. This is also a critical event in the Software as a Service (SaaS) industry as Google's endorsement of online storage will serve to increase the overall market size for this service through its imminent launch. Google's decision to launch the service is predicated on the amount of stor5age within its Google Mail free e-mail service, another SaaS-based application that the majority of customers are using for storing document, music and files of all types. The launch of this service is also considered by industry analysts as another step in the Google enterprise platform strategy as well.