A screenshot of a video demonstration of Google's new reseller program.
(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Internet giant Google (www.google.com) announced on Wednesday that it has launched a reseller program for the sale of its Google Apps office tools, in a move that the company believes will give it a new avenue for competing with Microsoft (www.microsoft.com).
Beginning the end of March, the program will allow resellers, which could include IT service providers such as web hosts, to offer their customers the Premier Edition of Google Apps, which currently goes for $50 per year.
“Google Apps has reached a level of maturity where it is useful and valuable for almost any business” said Dave Girouard, president of enterprise at Google, quoted in the company’s press release. “This program gives IT solution providers an easy way to introduce cloud computing to their service offerings, while helping more businesses make the transition to this new era of technology.”
Resellers would receive a 20 percent discount on the service, which amounts basically to a 20 percent recurring commission on the sale of the product.
A video describing the program, and posted on the Google Apps reseller program page, leads viewers through the process and the reasoning behind it.
Google’s direct-sales approach to delivering services has long been one of the criticisms leveled against the company – particularly from the reseller-friendly hosting business. In comparison, Microsoft does an enormous amount of its business through partners, of which it has more than 400,000.
Google Apps is roughly analogous to Microsoft’s Office product suite, which isn’t a territory into which hosting providers or resellers necessarily venture. But setting up customers with Google Apps could function as a value add for a hosting company.
Of perhaps greater significance to the hosting community is the potential that this venture into the distribution of its services through the reseller channel could lead to the company delivering other services through resellers.
Google is considered an imposing competitor by companies offering low-cost hosting because of its free functional hosting services through services it has acquired, such as Blogger, YouTube and in-house projects like its free website creation and hosting service, Google Sites.\
According to the announcement, Google has already “rolled out the program successfully to more than 50 pilot partners worldwide.”
The reseller program includes access to a portal with information on Google Apps, sales and technical training, reseller provisioning and reporting tools and integration APIs to enable resellers to build the product into their existing services.
