ANALYSIS: Is Google-Eyed Admiration Still Warranted?

The search juggernaut wins the lion's share of channel executives' admiration for being a disruptive force. Slumping stock prices aside, Google remains the darling of the business and IT communities. Everywhere you look, the little search engine that could stands out as the beacon of the post-dot-com era.

"Google is driving the industry right now. Every move they make sends waves across the industry," says Fiaaz Walji, director of channel sales at software-maker Corel.

Just a little more than 10 years ago, Sergey Brin and Larry Page set out to organize the world's information. The result was a search engine that eclipsed rivals--AltaVista, Ask Jeeves, GoTo (Overture) and Lycos, to name a few--with a big head start. Today, only Yahoo challenges the search juggernaut.

The Google story is well-known. After going public in 2004, the company raised $4 billion in capital, which it has invested well. No longer just a search company, Google is rapidly becoming the competitor of every information-based business. It's building metro Wi-Fi networks starting in San Francisco; it launched an instant-messaging tool to take on America Online; it vies against eBay and Amazon with tools for finding discount goods; it's moving into video and online entertainment. There are indications, even, that Google is diving into the fray of productivity software and operating systems, taking aiming directly at Microsoft.

"They literally blew away their competition and changed the way we access information online," says Christopher Forman, senior vice president of U.S. sales at printer vendor OkiData.

But a bit of the shine is coming off Google as Wall Street demands more fiscal accountability from the wunderkind. Nevertheless, channel executives are completely fascinated with Google's technical and business innovation. In fact, one-fifth of the forthcoming VARBusiness Top 100 Executives cited Google as the most disruptive company that forces others to think differently about the way they conduct business.

"They are rocking the world of everyone--from the largest software companies to the desktop consumers," says Don McMahan, executive vice president of sales and marketing at scanner innovator Visioneer. "I think [Google] will be viewed as a historical force in the evolution of the technology world."

Thinking Way Out Of The Box

Very few brands have become a personification of themselves as quickly or as deeply as Google. Band-Aid, Xerox, Dumpster and Kleenex are synonymous with their products. But only Google has become a noun, a verb and an adverb. People "google" their friends, business associates and prospects.

"The business model is radically different. It has changed how people look at search engines and Web-based advertising, and how we all look at print. Who has not 'googled' themselves?," says John Linton, vice president of the solution-provider channel at Lexmark.

"Think differently" may have been the onetime tagline of Apple Computers, but it's a way of life at the Googleplex, the search monster's headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. In a complex that could be described as a cross between Buck Rogers architecture and a Burger King playground, Google engineers and developers dream up new applications for their underlying Web-based technology. The core search engine is elegant in its simplicity, as is the desktop toolbar. Other Google apps, such as its fledgling instant-messager, are still clunky, but Google is admired for pushing the envelope and not being afraid to take risks.

"Google is disruptive because they're willing to disrupt not only the way things have always been done but also their own technology," says Taylor Macdonald, executive vice president of channel sales and operations at Sage Software.

Google also has challenged conventional thinking about how companies make money on the Web. Think of its pay-per-click advertising model and free downloadable software. With each acquisition and new product release, Google revives a proverb: Idle hands are the devil's workshop.

"They leverage a plethora of talented resources and demonstrate that transportable skills can be sourced globally, thereby opening new levels of competition in the global marketplace," says Michael O'Brien, director of the worldwide commercial systems channel at AMD.

NEXT: Staying Loose, Staying Innovative

Innovation isn't simply a matter of hiring bright kids, feeding them free pizza and hoping great ideas will spring from them. It's a complex mix of corporate culture, creative thinking, breaking with business conventions and responding to competitive realities. In short, Google works without fear of failure and has an extreme willingness to be experimental. The company's only requirement: Go fast.

"It comes right from the top," says David Girouard, general manager of Google Enterprise, the company's hardware and software sales division. "Our founders have no stomach for anything that slows down progress. 'Why aren't you going faster?' is usually the first question you're asked."

It's a far cry from the static tactics of traditional IT hardware and software companies. Microsoft, for example, has been circulating beta-code of Windows Vista for more than a year to avoid any of the problems that plagued previous versions of the OS.

Google has no such fear. Development work is done very publicly, and the company will push applications and products that are imperfect. Google's IT peers are envious of its willingness to celebrate both its successes and failures out in the open.

"Any company that forces people to re-examine the playing field is extremely important," says Jeff Taylor, vice president of North America channels and distribution at Nortel. "It forces innovation, investment and optimism."

NEXT: Channel execs weigh in with companies they consider as disruptive as Google.

Apple Computer The iPod re-energized this company. But it's Apple's ability to reinvent itself and continue to be a major force that are admired even more than its products.

"Apple has shown time and again their willingness to disrupt their own successful products with newer ones--before their competitors reach parity," says Mitch Parker, vice president of channel programs and sales operations at Citrix Systems.

Skype Voice-communications companies are bringing fast, cheap VoIP services to consumers and small businesses.

"Skype...is forcing telephone-service providers to create and improve these offerings for a wider audience," says Liz Lawson, senior director of channels at Skype."

Dell Dell's direct-sales model continues to put pressure on the channel to drive down prices and prove quality's value over cost.

"Dell's...model negatively impacts the profitability associated with any market they enter," says Nigel Williams, vice president of Linksys One and Northern America channels at Linksys.

Microsoft The quality of Microsoft's software makes it the single-largest driver of IT goods and services.

"...they have the ability to change the way we use technology," says Ken Archer, Avaya's vice president of North America channels.

cisco systems Cisco is no longer the backbone of the Internet; it's quickly becoming everything about the network.

"Now they are paving the way of future networks with the convergence of data, voice and video," says Kerry Grimes, vice president of midmarket and global channel sales at UGS.