Today Google announced a new software suite to stand alongside Apps Standard and Education Editions. Google Apps Premier Edition is aimed squarely at businesses (and Microsoft Office) by providing a custom 10GB Gmail account, Google Calendar, GTalk instant messenger, Writely, Google Pages, Google Custom home page iGoogle and Google SpreadSheets for $50 a year per employee. Compare that to the $300-$600 price tag for Microsoft Office.
Both the Standard and Education Editions will continue to be available free of charge, and the Premier Edition will be free for a limited time (April 30th).
If Google Apps Premier Edition is all that it is cracked up to be, it will put buisnesses in a position to better negotiate pricing with Microsoft. Only time will tell if Google Apps will be a serious competitor to Office.
