On Tuesday, Google removed the “beta" tag of four high-profile Web properties, including Gmail, which had languished in beta form for over five years.
Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, and Google Talk are all now official products, Matt Glotzbach, director of product management for Google Enterprise, said in an interview.
Google also announced that Fairchild Semiconductor is the latest high-profile business to switch over to Google Apps, bringing its 5,500 employees over from the Lotus Notes platform, Glotzbach said.
In some ways, removing the beta tag from Gmail is something akin to an apocalyptic prophecy coming true. In April 2004, Google launched the first beta of Gmail, with a then-unheard-of gigabyte limit on the number of messages that could be stored online. (The service launched to the public in Feb. 2007.) By comparison, Facebook launched two months earlier in Feb. 2004, and then expanded worldwide as a finished product in Sept. 2006.
But why Google kept all four products under the “beta" label remains something of a mystery. When asked, Glotzbach referred to “inconsistencies" across the various product teams in terms of determining milestones. “We're looking to address those," he said.
Glotzbach declined to go into specifics about what defined a beta product and what defined a “real" product, what if any milestones the company used, or the timeframe that a Google product could be expected to remain in beta. “Candidly, the criteria varies," Glotzbach said. “We haven't historically had a single consistent set of criteria. Individual teams have defined what is beta and out of beta. It's something that we're fixing."
However, Glotzbach did indicate that the “beta" tag was a turnoff for many businesses. “Make no bones about it, the concern has definitely been voiced," he said.
Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, and Google Talk are all now official products, Matt Glotzbach, director of product management for Google Enterprise, said in an interview.
Google also announced that Fairchild Semiconductor is the latest high-profile business to switch over to Google Apps, bringing its 5,500 employees over from the Lotus Notes platform, Glotzbach said.
In some ways, removing the beta tag from Gmail is something akin to an apocalyptic prophecy coming true. In April 2004, Google launched the first beta of Gmail, with a then-unheard-of gigabyte limit on the number of messages that could be stored online. (The service launched to the public in Feb. 2007.) By comparison, Facebook launched two months earlier in Feb. 2004, and then expanded worldwide as a finished product in Sept. 2006.
But why Google kept all four products under the “beta" label remains something of a mystery. When asked, Glotzbach referred to “inconsistencies" across the various product teams in terms of determining milestones. “We're looking to address those," he said.
Glotzbach declined to go into specifics about what defined a beta product and what defined a “real" product, what if any milestones the company used, or the timeframe that a Google product could be expected to remain in beta. “Candidly, the criteria varies," Glotzbach said. “We haven't historically had a single consistent set of criteria. Individual teams have defined what is beta and out of beta. It's something that we're fixing."
However, Glotzbach did indicate that the “beta" tag was a turnoff for many businesses. “Make no bones about it, the concern has definitely been voiced," he said.
