Google Will Give Companies, Government Agencies Free Software To Microsoft Office Defectors

As technology companies compete with each other to gain not only individual customers but entire businesses and large organizations, Google has fired a shot against Microsoft designed to steal a share of their software business: if a company or government agency is fed up with using and paying for Office, Google will give them their competing suit of similar software — word processing, spreadsheets, email, calendar, etc — for free. Heck, they’ll even pay those companies and agencies to cover the cost of the switch.

If a company/agency does decide to defect from Microsoft, Google will give free usage of its “Google for Work” software for up to 3,000 people working there, reports the Associated Press.

That’s a pretty hefty chunk of change Google stands to lose, as it usually charges between $5 to $10 per user each month for those programs. That means taking a potential $180,000 to $360,000 cut in annual revenue… in addition to the $75,000 incentive Google is offering to pay companies that take their deal, to cover the cost of changing systems.

The deal is open for the next six months in the U.S. and will eventually extend to other countries. The offer won’t apply indefinitely, either, as the price will be waived for the duration of the defecting customers’ existing contracts with Microsoft or any other supplier.

Google to give away software to Microsoft Office defectors [Associated Press]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist