"The so-called lightweight cloud application isn't for the non-power user," Glotzbach said. And, Google has significant distribution advantages over closer competitors such as Zoho. Google is also fighting the stigma of lightweight applications, the notion that they are unable to do everything that a Microsoft SharePoint, SocialText, and other more full-featured business solutions. Google is relying on word of mouth to stimulate small business usage and more direct selling into larger enterprises. Google Apps has some traction-about 500,000 companies are using the suite-but the non-tech-savvy knowledge worker may not by aware of Google Docs, according to Glotzbach. He hopes that the "edit button" becomes pervasive as the collaborative Web takes hold. "There shouldn't be a distinction between wikis and sites," said product manager Scott Johnston. The term "wiki" has been banished from Googlespeak as the company tries to mainstream its collaborative applications. It may be profitable but it is an almost invisible blip on the revenue screen. He also said that Google Apps was a "healthy, growing, and profitable" business for Google, but didn't share the profit numbers. "It is the nucleus for other pieces to fit into for online collaboration." "This is a key last hole in the Google Apps suite," Matt Glotzbach, product management director for Google Enterprise told me. Like Google Docs & Spreadsheets, Google Sites is aimed at companies or individuals who need to collaborate, such as for managing projects or classroom activities. Google Sites is basically another element in the growing Google Apps suite. Rafe Needleman at CNET Webware has a more in-depth post on how Google Sites works. Sixteen months later, which is like 10 years in Web time, Google is launching a revamped JotSpot as Google Sites. In October 2006, Google acquired JotSpot, a hosted wiki platform for building collaborative Web sites.
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