Microsoft and Google have been competing in search and email for
several years, but the corporate market has long been the province of Microsoft. Search giant Google only entered the field a few months ago through the enterprise-level offering of Google Apps, which
consists of Google Docs & Spreadsheets, Gmail, Google Talk and Google Calendar. Salesforce.com's CRM tools would likely be an optional add-on to Google Apps. The Web-based services are attractive to
businesses (particularly startups) because they're far cheaper, though Microsoft's software offers better security.
On Friday, Google said it was releasing a new product called Google Apps Partner Edition, which has both a free service, as well as a package that include phone support and marketing services. In response to Google's ultra low-cost services, Microsoft is said to be preparing Web-based versions of its CRM software, too.