The VAR Guy and 5,000 of his closest friends are attending this week’s Google I/O conference in San Francisco. Google is making lots of Android- and Chrome-related news. But if you stop to really think about this conference you’ll see how Google is winning the hearts and minds of software developers and even some managed services providers (MSPs) in the channel.
The Google I/O event started with Google handing out Samsung Galaxy tablets to all attendees. That’s right: All 5,000 people here are going home with a new tablet running Google Android. Many attendees are now using the tablets to take notes, check email and investigate various apps during the Google I/O sessions.
Next up, Google announced the Google Chromebook for Business service. Launching June 15, the service will include a Chromebook — think of it as a Web notebook running Chrome OS . Acer and Samsung are developing the Chromebooks. And the Chromebook for Business service combines hardware, software and support into a single $28 per user per month fee. (The VAR Guy is checking to see if Google Chromebook for Business will have a channel partner program.)
Finally, Google announced that all Google I/O attendees will receive a Google Chromebook when they become available June 15.
Smart Moves
In many ways, Google is using classic Microsoft ISV strategies to attack the traditional Windows PC market. Get the right tools and platforms into the hands of developers, and they’ll support you in the business market.
Heck, even some MSPs are drinking the Google Kool-Aid. The VAR Guy caught up with several MSPs that are introducing Google Apps and related cloud services to SMB customers. The VAR Guy’s team will post related video interviews shortly on his sister site, TalkinCloud.
In the meantime, more than 5,000 software developers seem to be embracing Google’s cloud and software development strategies here at Google I/O. Will the big crowd trigger a big sea change in the software development market? The VAR Guy is watching…
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What you describe has been done before, and is actually being done now by other companies. Google is hardly a pioneer here.
Research in Motion just did a developer promotion for the BlackBerry PlayBook. Developers didn’t even need to go to a conference to get a device. They simply had to make an app for the new tablet. Smart move.