Most Large Enterprises Moving to Cloud E-Mail Opt for Office 365
The number of large enterprises that have moved to cloud e-mail is still relatively small, though growing, according to a recent Gartner survey, which found that 80 percent who do move are going with Office 365. However, the survey showed that smaller shops are evenly split between Google Apps for Work and Microsoft's Office 365.
Despite its growth, only 13 percent of publicly traded companies have moved to a cloud e-mail service from either Google or Microsoft. From that perspective, 8.5 percent use Office 365, while 4.7 percent use Google Apps for Work. The rest of those surveyed either have on-premises, hybrid hosted or e-mail hosted by smaller providers, according to Gartner.
Those identified as the 80 percent of large companies that have moved to Office 365 have more than $10 billion in revenues, according to Gartner. "Google's popularity is better among smaller companies, approaching a 50 percent share of companies with revenue less than $50 million," said Gartner research VP Jeffrey Mann, in a statement.
It appears both Google and Microsoft have found niches in certain industries. Microsoft's edge is among utilities, energy and aerospace companies, while Google's stronghold is in publishing, retail, advertising, media, education, consumer products and travel, according to the survey. Gartner noted those choosing Google tend to be companies bound by fewer compliance requirements.
Not surprisingly, certain industries have gravitated to the cloud faster than others. Gartner said more than one third of the largest companies in the travel and hospitality, professional services and consumer products sectors, have moved their on-premises e-mail infrastructure to either Google or Microsoft's offerings.
Posted by Jeffrey Schwartz on 03/09/2016 at 9:59 AM