Google’s back-up plan: the enterprise

It’s hard to imagine the online ad market cooling off, but when it eventually does, companies that make their living from it would do well to have a back-up plan.
Asked at a press conference Tuesday if Google is thinking about an alternative business plan for 5 to 10 years out, Chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt didn’t miss a beat: “We are, and that’s why we have Google Enterprise,” he said.
Best known for consumer services, Google has several products for businesses including search appliances, a paid version of Google Apps and a service that provides Web site hosting and online storage.
“That business is likely to become, over the period you are describing, a very significant business, because it utilizes our infrastructure and it utilizes our scale,” Schmidt said, answering questions at Google’s first “international press day” in Paris.
It will have to iron out some teething problems first, however. Google has faced complaints from customers that it was unable to meet service-level agreements for Google Apps.
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