Can Microsoft dominate web-based applications?

Last week Microsoft unveiled a web-based version of Microsoft Office finally bringing the iconic desktop office suite online, but has it waited too long and will it be able to dominate online as it has on the desktop? Forrester Research analyst Sheri McLeish writes in the Forrester Blog that she thinks it's a big deal and that many customers will be waiting to see what Microsoft does. I'm not so sure.

The trouble with Microsoft, is not that they are going online or that their online approach is wrong, but the fact that the company has waited so long to develop an online strategy. While they plodded along, lots of competitors who have cut their teeth online have been establishing markets of their own. That includes the likes of Zoho, Google Docs, Transmedia Glide, Adobe and others; and all are offering reasonably-priced alternatives.

But McLeish thinks the market has been slow to evolve and she may be right. That may give Microsoft some time to play catch up and it would be unwise to ever count out a company with the resources of Microsoft. That said, many organizations are fed up with Microsoft lock-in and have been actively looking for alternatives. What remains to be seen is if Microsoft can win back the goodwill it has lost over the years. What's more, just because Microsoft has announced the products, it's unclear when they will be ready for distribution.

For now, it's better to test what's out there, then judge Microsoft's offerings on its own merits compared with the existing players when they have an actual offering to show us.

For more information:
- read the entire McLeish blog entry [1]