Google Rebrands Enterprise To Google For Work

Google put a plan in motion Tuesday to formally dethrone Microsoft as the go-to company for enterprise apps and services like Gmail and Cloud. The Mountain View, Calif. company rebranded Google Enterprise to Google for Work in an effort to better support the more than 60% of Fortune 500 companies that use one of its paid, enterprise products.

Eric Schmidt, Google executive chairman, in a blog post explains how the company first brought search and then Gmail to businesses, and the investments in what matters to its customers and partners — security, transparency, compliance and customer support.

Some 5 million businesses use its enterprise products. "We never set out to create a traditional 'enterprise' business," Schmidt writes, but rather create a new way of working.

Google's push into the enterprise market became apparent in 2002 when it introduced a Google on-site search appliance, and then when it began building out services for Gmail, Docs, and Cloud in mid 2000. It became clear this year the company would rebrand its focus on business services. Several Google+ hangouts of late acknowledge Google's support for business, from small to enterprise, requiring more than AdWords to grow and prosper.

"So the time has come for our name to catch up with our ambition," Schmidt writes. "As of today, what was called Google Enterprise is now, simply, Google for Work. When we use the tools that make our lives easier — Google Apps, Maps, Search, Chrome, Android, Cloud Platform and more — work gets better."

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