Channel Beat: Google Apps vs. Office 365, Again

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It looks like it’s Google Apps vs. Office 365 again, with Google reportedly planning to boost commissions for top-performing resellers.

An undisclosed source told the Wall Street Journal Google is targeting Microsoft’s Office 365 with its new commission structure for Apps for Work service partners and resellers. The channel can expect an announcement about the plan later this month, and marketing strategies should be rolled out in 2015.

Insiders say the changes come directly from Global Partnership Strategy head Murali Sitaram, who joined Google this year after a post at Cisco.

Heads are rolling at Samsung this week, but none of them belong to CO-CEO J.K. Shin. They are of his direct deputies.

An inside source said three of Shin’s deputies are leaving the smartphone giant, but Samsung has not offered any comment. The executives all reported to Shin, the smartphone executive who has generated buzz about security in his own post among falling profits.

Rumors continue to swirl that Samsung will cut top-level positions in its mobile communications business by 25 percent, but the company has kept quiet. Samsung is expected to announce a business reorg by next week.

And finally, the latest victim of a major data breach is Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Hackers apparently infiltrated the studios’ corporate network, gaining access to its internal email server and private information. Stolen data includes senior executive salaries and personal employee information.

It’s believed the hackers used malware to gain entrance to the information as early as November 24th. Investigators into the matter are looking at a possible connection with North Korea.