Google sticks it to Microsoft with DocVerse purchase

Last week Google purchased DocVerse [1], a tool that lets multiple users share and edit Microsoft Office [2] documents online. The purchase gives Google a way to bring Office users under the Google Docs [3] umbrella. Google recently made it possible to upload any type of document into Google Docs. DocVerse provides a way to make the Microsoft Office ones (of which there are likely to be many) editable within the Google Docs framework.

As they reported in their blog post announcing the purchase, they understand there are many businesses still committed to using Office documents:

"But we recognize that many people are still accustomed to desktop software. So as we continue to improve Google Docs and Google Sites as rich collaboration tools, we’re also making it easier for people to transition to the cloud, and interoperate with desktop applications like Microsoft Office."

And even while Microsoft is making a bigger and bigger play to the cloud (as I wrote recently on DaniWeb in "Microsoft Supposedly Commits to the Cloud [4]"), Google has found a way to undermine that play by making Microsoft's documents work in its environment. It's a brilliant move, and one which should help companies committed to using Office (at least for now) to begin to transition to Google Docs if that's what they plan to do.

You can learn more about how DocVerse works in this video:

DocVerse [5] from Amir Khella [6] on Vimeo [7].

For more information:
- see the Google Blog post [8] announcing the deal

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