Google plans to launch Google Sites, a tool for office workers to run team collaboration sites, according to the company. The tool is based on Google's JotSpot, which Google acquired in October 2006. It allows organizations and individuals to set up collaboration Web sites. The service is targeted toward office workers and allows users to organize and share Web links calendars, photos, videos, presentations, attachments and other documents in an easy-to-maintain site, according to the company.

"Creating a team web site has always been too complicated, requiring dedicated hardware and software as well as programming skills," Dave Girouard, general manager of Google's Enterprise unit, told Reuters.

Google Sites will compete against Mcirosoft's SharePoint collaboration, which lets users inside and organization share documents and other data on secure Web sites.

One difference is that Google Sites is hosted by Google and free to users of Google Apps, while SharePoint requires companies to buy the necessary hardware and software. Microsoft partners maintain that SharePoint is one ofthe more profitable products for them because of the consulting and implementation required.

Microsoft's Sharepoint revenue increased 35 percent in fiscal 2007 to more than $800 million and was on pace for $1 billion in the current fiscal year, according to the company. So it's hardly a surprise that Google is seeking to enter the market.