Sizing up the IT role of Apple and Google

The publication of our Tech Debate on Eric Schmidt and Steve Jobs couldn't have been more timely given the news last week about Jobs taking a medical leave and Schmidt handing over the CEO reins to Larry Page, one of the company's co-founders.

We posed the question, "Who is doing a better job, Jobs or Schmidt?", and asked two of our bloggers to argue the sides. While the debaters mostly argue about what the men have built, both touch on the question of what the leaders would leave behind on their departure (eerily, this was published online before the news broke).

Unquestionably, both men have built Silicon Valley's top super powers (combined, their market cap of $505 billion rivals the GDP of Sweden), and neither intends to hang up their cleats yet.  But here at this juncture it is interesting to ponder the question of which company is making the biggest impression on IT and will continue to do so going forward.  Both present IT with challenges and opportunities.

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The publication of our Tech Debate on Eric Schmidt and Steve Jobs couldn't have been more timely given the news last week about Jobs taking a medical leave and Schmidt handing over the CEO reins to Larry Page, one of the company's co-founders.

We posed the question, "Who is doing a better job, Jobs or Schmidt?", and asked two of our bloggers to argue the sides. While the debaters mostly argue about what the men have built, both touch on the question of what the leaders would leave behind on their departure (eerily, this was published online before the news broke).

Unquestionably, both men have built Silicon Valley's top super powers (combined, their market cap of $505 billion rivals the GDP of Sweden), and neither intends to hang up their cleats yet.  But here at this juncture it is interesting to ponder the question of which company is making the biggest impression on IT and will continue to do so going forward.  Both present IT with challenges and opportunities.

The incursion of non-sanctioned Apple iPhones and iPads, for example, challenged our notions about control and security.  But these new platforms also represent great opportunity given 1) the enthusiastic nature in which they are embraced, and 2) the manner in which they shift our expectations about how tools like these should behave, what roles they can play.

Apple, of course, faces a wave of new competition in tablets and ever more competition in phones, specifically those based on Google's Android operating system.  It is increasingly hard to recognize the difference in form and function between an iPhone and all the copy cats.

What's more, while Apple has gotten better at catering to corporate IT needs, it is clear the consumer is still the company's major focus.  And there is only so much IT change the iPhone and iPad can usher in.

The challenges Google presents also swirl around loss of control.  How do we meet compliance requirements when employees are signing up for cloud-based Google e-mail, instant messaging, document tools, calendars, even Google phone numbers?

But the opportunity these tools represent to IT are compelling and right in line with budding interest in cloud-based services.  If you're going to be considering a hosted e-mail offering, for example, you now have to at least look at the Google option.   

Apple is dealing with point products, while Google is mucking with foundation level tools that influence how we deliver core services. That makes Google fundamentally more critical to IT now and going forward.  But hey, we love our iPad.

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