There are privacy concerns about users storing financial data on Google's servers. Just how secure are these servers, and how long will Google guarantee to maintain users' data?

And there is talk of Google Spreadsheets being a direct competitor to Microsoft Excel. Those on Google's side seem to be saying that the new app is yet another "Microsoft Office killer," while many others are calling Spreadsheets a very basic piece of software that pales in comparison to Excel.

One of the central features of Google Spreadsheets allows users to work together on the Web. Multiple users can view and alter the same documents at the same time, with updating taking place in real time.

But Stacey Quandt, Aberdeen Group's research director of security solutions and services, is not overly impressed. "For people who care about collaboration on the Web, Google Spreadsheets may make sense, but it's not a replacement for Excel," she said.

"It is a shot fired across the bow of Microsoft," she offered, "but certainly not a direct hit."

Excel Challenge

Kyle McNabb, a senior analyst at Forrester, said Google Spreadsheets isn't appropriate for businesses, even small ones. "Privacy concerns are clearly a main driver behind why Google's apps are not quite ready for broad enterprise use," he said. "Rather, it's part of their continued focus on consumers, finding new ways to generate advertising revenue, while learning more of what enterprises need."

McNabb said that Google Spreadsheets, together with Google Mail, Google Groups, Google Calendar, and Google's recently acquired software Writely.com, will be used by some businesses. "But I believe consumers are the primary market Google has in mind right now," he said.

"We are all consumers, and the more familiar and comfortable we become with applications delivered for consumers, the more apt we are in demanding our enterprise I.T. environments to adopt them for internal use," he said. "Another company, one located in Redmond, Washington, figured out this model and used it to make Windows and Office enterprise I.T. standards."

Mike Silver, a Gartner analyst, offered a similar take, saying that the initial release of Google Spreadsheets is not likely to be of much interest to businesses. "Aside from privacy concerns, it's not likely to have all the features business users need yet," he said. "It may, however, be good enough for what many consumers need." (continued...)

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