Microsoft Price Cut Goes After Google Apps

From PC World: In a move aimed at heading off those who might "Go Google," Microsoft has cut the prices of its Exchange Online service by half and its Business Productivity Online Services suite by a third.

These drops, in the per-user, per-month list pricing, appear intended to help Microsoft compete with Google Apps Premier Edition, the paid version of its online apps suite.

Last week, Microsoft lost the battle for 30,000 e-mail accounts at the City of Los Angeles to Google. Timing of the big price cut by Microsoft is not being seen as mere coincidence.

Google has been promoting Google Apps, using an offline campaign theme of "Gone Google," that spotlights companies who have adopted its online apps. The company does not, however, disclose actual user numbers, saying only that "20 million" users from "2 million" companies use Google Apps.

How many of these are paid users? Google won't say. My guess--and it's just that--is less than 1 million. Google would be more credible if it revealed real paid user numbers.

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