Nowadays, Google dominates the Web search sector with over 65% market share in Western countries. But the Google empire does not stop there. All the technologies and knowledge acquired over the past few years, especially through the acquisition of 55 companies, have made it the frontrunner in many areas. Consider, for example, Gmail, its messaging service launched in 2004, which now claims 146 million users a month.

Changing headings

Now Google wants to win market share in sectors that were not in its basic line of sight, thus imposing  itself as the uncontested player in tomorrow’s IT industry. That explains why it is proposing four new services to spearhead its push:

-     Google Chrome, that competes with Microsoft in the Web browser market;

-     Google Chrome OS, a virtual operating system coming in 2010 to compete with Microsoft;

-     Google Android, that is taking the market of operating systems on smartphones by storm and is positioned against Apple. Incidentally,  Gartner estimates that Google Android’s market share could reach 20.5% in 2013;

-     Google Wave, an innovative communication and collaboration platform on the verge of release into the marketplace.

Google Wave: the e-mail box for businesses

To develop Google Wave, Lars Rasmussen, its creator, asked himself a simple question: “What would e-mail look like if it was invented today?” His answer: a collaboration tool integrating e-mails, wikis, instant messages and social networks.

Google Wave is made up of “waves” (documents, photos, maps and e-mails) that incorporate Gmail and are interrelated via a hierarchization and indexation system that makes them easy to manage. These “waves” can be used especially to invite colleagues to react directly to a document or discussion. Google has already announced the possibility of developing applications to enhance the content of the “waves”. The company will soon be offering its service to businesses seeking a single collaboration and communication platform.

The market for collaboration and communication tools is still underexploited. Apart from Google, only a few organizations are taking it on. Microsoft did so by launching SharePoint, a tool for building Web business portal. Its strong points? Content management, form creation, information sharing and business process automation. So SharePoint and Google Wave together open up multiple possibilities for businesses.

The world of IT giants is definitely changing, and Google’s rise is a good example. While Yahoo and AOL have not managed to impose themselves on the Web, Google is gaining ground. And you can bet good money this is only the beginning…

Philippe Araujo
Business Analyst
MBA in Information Technology Management

At the same time, we are witnessing an irreversible trend: the shift to green. Everyone is becoming aware of their social responsibility, and both private and public organizations are preparing to comply with future sustainable development standards. This shift is generating a certain amount of investment...

Though both these problems seem to be independent of each other, the second one could well be a solution to the first.

The Green IT, or ecological computing, trend is really a way of seriously cutting costs. What is Green IT? It is an approach that follows a sustainable development strategy aimed at, among other things, reducing environmental impacts, cutting costs and improving performance. When an organization reduces its energy expenses, it also reduces its operating costs. Such a solution seems to be highly advantageous, but it is still not on many peoples’ radar. Why? Green hardware, little known among the general public, is often synonymous with major financial investments. But investments that are proving profitable!

Means close at hand

Many ways exist for cutting computer hardware energy costs, and they include:

-  replacing cathode ray screens with LCD displays;

-  virtualizing servers to drive more effective use of platforms;

- optimizing air conditioning in IT centers;

-  exploiting latent heat (to heat sites, for example);

-  generalizing outsourcing: offshoring, telecommuting.

Fujitsu is emerging as a pioneer of sustainable development in the IT sector. Having already implemented its own environmental strategy, it is helping its customers choose products that incorporate more effective cooling technologies and other specifications that help reduce power consumption. It has also developed a line of low-power servers and computers; for example, ESPRIMO desktops (some of which consume no power in standby mode) and PRIMERGY servers (that enable energy savings of up to 40%).

Impressive results

Thinking green is much more than a trend. It is a way for an organization to become responsible and demonstrate its environmental concerns—an indisputable marketing asset. Even more, an organization can use it to reduce its operating costs and thus counter the effects of the economic crisis. Indeed, though such measures may require a certain amount of investment at the start, the benefits are impressive: up to 50% less energy consumed by computer hardware every year, generating major cost savings.

According to the report The Next Wave of Green IT,[1] published in January 2009 by CFO Research Services and Deloitte, 32% of companies contacted had implemented a Green IT type of program, and 34% were thinking about implementing one—figures that say a lot about the growing popularity of this approach.

The impact of investments in sustainable development is decisively positive, for both the planet and for organizations. Fujitsu and other IT providers have developed a technology that can implement Green IT types of approaches. Why not take advantage of it and invest today to cut costs tomorrow?

Philippe Araujo
Functional Analyst
MBA in Information Technology Management