14 DAY TRIAL // Google's acquisition spree is continuing at a rapid pace with the most recent 'victim' being DocVerse, a startup offering cloud-based collaboration options to Microsoft Office users. Google says it will help it make Docs more interoperable, especially with desktop software like Office, and the unstated but clear hope is that it will drive more people from the traditional tools offered by Microsoft to the web-based ones offered by Google.
"Today we’re excited to announce another step towards seamless interoperability: we have acquired DocVerse," Jonathan Rochelle, group product manager, Google Apps team, wrote.
"DocVerse is a small, nimble team of talented developers who share our vision, and they’ve enabled true collaboration right within Microsoft Office. With DocVerse, people can begin to experience some of the benefits of web-based collaboration using the traditional Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint desktop applications," he explained.
The move could prove highly beneficial to Google Docs, but, in the short term, it would probably make existing DocVerse users less than pleased. Google makes it clear that this was a talent acquisition and, while it won't close down the service right away, things don't look too bright. "Current DocVerse users can keep using the product as usual, though we’ve suspended new sign-ups until we’re ready to share what's next," Rochelle announced.
This may not be as bad as it sounds, though. Microsoft is already offering its own web collaboration options for Office, which makes DocVerse's offering redundant, essentially killing off the existing business in the long run. The Redmond giant is also getting close to launching its own full-blown, web-based office suite.
For Google, the angle is clear, it wants to siphon as many users as possible away from Microsoft Office and towards Google Docs and possibly Apps, depending on the case. There is no official word on the price of the acquisition, Google doesn't usually release such details for small deals like this one, but one figure put forward by pundits is $25 million.