This time it is the State of Wyoming who are switching to Google’s Cloud based system.
I believe Google offers a dedicated Google application system for government that the Wyoming Government feels suits far better than its current email and document organisation.
What’s more the State hopes to save more than $1 million per year by switching to Google Apps. It currently uses two different email systems – one is Microsoft Exchange and the other is Novell GroupWise.
However, making the move to Google apparently wasn’t easy. It required persuading staff and others not just in relation to the financial viability of the switch but also on the working benefits of using Google’s cloud system.
Flint Waters, Wyoming’s CIO told computerworld.com “You’re talking about changing a mindset about operating at a department level to operating at an enterprise level.”
According to Mr. Waters, the difficulty was persuading the top brass, in particular the Governor. He added “You need that type of support, that type of buy-in, when you are shifting that dramatically.”
To Mr. Waters there are other benefits namely text chats and video for face-to-face discussions, as well as shared work on documents.
While this switch and others are obviously affecting Microsoft to a great degree, it isn’t all bad news for the software company. The Federal Government Department of Agriculture said it is moving its email service to Microsoft Online, which also offers messaging and collaboration.
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