Executive Summary

Google is pursuing a multi-pronged strategy with the aim of redefining how consumers access online services and applications including mobile applications

This report analyzes the dynamics of Google’s disruptive moves in the world of communication services with a focus on cloud computing. Cloud computing refers to virtualized set of information services offered on-demand and dynamically in a scalable fashion over the Internet. Cloud computing offers an organization the ability to run applications, increase capacity, and add capabilities to its existing IT infrastructure without investing in new infrastructure, training new personnel, and incurring fees for licensing new software. The revenue generation model in cloud computing is primarily based on subscription and pay-per-use. Changes to IT and provisioning of resources are conducted real time in a dynamic and scalable way as a service over the Internet.

Google raises barriers to entry for potential competitors. For example, processing search queries at very high speeds has been possible with the company’s billion-dollar investments in data processing centers. It is clear that Google’s ambitions are big and disruptive. The company announced its biggest yet investment in data center in mid-2008, with $842 million representing its biggest capital expenditure for a single quarter. The proceeding sections of this report explore and analyze Google’s move in cloud computing, online search
and advertisement, and news media in more detail.

There are different views of what constitutes cloud computing. While some view cloud computing as an infrastructure others view it simply as a new business model. There are also those who view cloud computing as an evolution of existing services. In this report we look at Google’s role in different segments of cloud ecosystem. As people and businesses around the world generate their consuming and business behavior through search queries, a massive global library of data is built on the Internet cloud with great value for many organizations.

According to Google’s CEO, Eric Schmidt, “the network is so pervasive that anything about anyone can be found out at anytime”. Schmidt further emphasizes that “if you don’t use the cloud you will fail”, adding that his company’s goal is to “put a cloud in the hands of a user”. Google’s strategy is to put its presence in as many clouds as possible. Hence the company’s launch of products such as Living Stories project in the news media, promotion of Google Apps in the enterprise market and recently the launch of Google Groups, a
product that is integrated with the existing Google Apps such as Google Docs, Google Calendar, Gmail, Google Sites and Google Video.

As part of its cloud strategy Google wants to use Google Groups to make the product more attractive to the enterprise sector since one of the product’s main features is project collaboration among employees located in diverse sites. This report also looks at Google Trends and Insights and how they are tied to Google’s strategy in building an established presence on the Internet cloud. It also analyzes Google’s future online strategy and demonstrates its relation to the cloud.

Executive Summary
 About Red Mobile
 1. Hypothesis
 2. The Cloud Ecosystem
 3. Google’s Quest for a Cloudy Future: What Is Google’s Cloud Strategy?
 3.1 The Browser as the Operating System
 4. A Multi-Faceted Online Landscape
 4.1 Apps and Enterprise in the Cloud
 4.2 Migration to the Net
 5. Google Groups and The Living Stories: Increased Collaboration by Google
 6. Google Trends and Insights
 7. How Google Powers Its Search Engine?
 8. Google’s Long-Term Plans
 Conclusion