Google may be the first name in search but it wants to be much more than just that. CEO Eric Schmidt argues that Google has as much to offer businesses as Microsoft and made his pitch at a recent CIO event at the company’s headquarters. Datamation reports from the Googleplex.
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – In the view of Google CEO Eric Schmidt, there’s not a lot different in where Microsoft and the search giant are headed.
“The goal is to serve the customer, and all of us, including Microsoft, are trying to move to a Web model,” Schmidt said during a Q&A session wrapping up the company’s Atmosphere conference for CIOs here its corporate headquarters.
The difference, according to Schmidt, is that Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) grew up on the Web while Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is trying to migrate both itself and its huge customer base there while also maintaining, by necessity, its desktop heritage that still generates most of its revenue.
Schmidt conceded that Microsoft legacy applications have a deep functionality and that Google isn’t positioning its Web apps as matching all the features in Office.