Critical.
Authoritative.
Strategic.
Subscribe to CIO Magazine »

Spanish bank to move 100,000+ employees to Google Apps

This marks the largest deployment of Google Apps to date

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) is adopting Google Apps for email and collaboration and expects to have its about 110,000 employees worldwide using the suite by the end of this year.

The rollout will start in the bank's home base, Spain, where it has 35,000 employees, and it will continue in more than 26 other countries, the companies said in a joint statement.

When completed, BBVA's implementation of Apps will be the largest ever for Google's cloud-based communication and collaboration suite, which includes applications like Gmail, Calendar, Sites, Docs and Talk, as well as a variety of IT security and management features.

Jose Olalla, BBVA's CIO, said in a blog post that the bank's goals in moving to Google Apps is to help employees collaborate better and be more efficient, and "transform our business operations."

"Integrating the Google Apps for Business suite with our own tools will allow us to introduce a new way of working where employees have access to all the information they need with just one click, no matter where they are or what kind of device they use, and can reap the benefits of using advanced collaboration tools," Olalla wrote.

Neither the statement nor the blog post mention what email and collaboration system or systems BBVA is replacing with Google Apps.

A BBVA spokesman said via email that the companies aren't disclosing any financial information about the deal. Google didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

"This is big news for Google. They've struggled to get large referenceable deployments for Google Apps," said Rebecca Wettemann, a Nucleus Research analyst.

Google Enterprise Vice President Amit Singh told IDG News Service last month that the company planned to soon announce several customer wins for Google Apps that exceed 100,000 users.

Google is locked into an intense fight with Microsoft in the market for cloud-based collaboration and communication suites. Although Microsoft has historically dominated this market with its on-premise products like Outlook, Exchange and SharePoint, Google has emerged as a real threat as customers move to cloud-based offerings.

Microsoft's entry in this cloud-based market was until mid-2011 its Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS), which didn't stack up very well against Google Apps, so Microsoft released a much stronger alternative called Office 365.

"Cloud collaboration is a growing opportunity in 2012, particularly as Microsoft invests in legitimizing the space," Wettemann said via e-mail. "Google will have to work to prove itself as an enterprise-level SaaS [software-as-a-service] provider -- with all the reliability and security of more recognized enterprise vendors -- to move beyond pockets of large-enteprise wins."

Now Google Apps and Office 365 are competing head-to-head, as more and more businesses of all sizes opt to switch from on-premise email and collaboration systems to cloud-based suites.

For Google, the BBVA deal is significant, not only because of the number of end users involved, but also because the customer is a large, multinational bank with strict data compliance, security and regulatory requirements that must be satisfied by the vendors it buys software from.

For that reason, this customer win is also good for the cloud-based enterprise software market in general, said Forrester analyst Rob Koplowitz.

"Given the highly regulated environment, [this customer win] continues to increase the viability of SaaS based collaboration offerings," he said via e-mail.

Juan Carlos Perez covers search, social media, online advertising, e-commerce, web application development, enterprise cloud collaboration suites and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Juan on Twitter at @JuanCPerezIDG.

Join the CIO Australia group on LinkedIn. The group is open to CIOs, IT Directors, COOs, CTOs and senior IT managers.

More about: Google, IDG, Microsoft
References show all

Comments

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
Users posting comments agree to the CIO comments policy.
Login or register to link comments to your user profile, or you may also post a comment without being logged in.
Related Coverage
Related Whitepapers
Latest Stories
Community Comments
Tags: applications, cloud computing, collaboration, e-mail, Google, internet, software, Software as a service
Latest Blog Posts
Whitepapers
  • Top 10 Mistakes in Data Centre Operations: Operating Efficient and Effective Data Centers
    For years, the data centre industry has accepted that human operational error, not poor data centre design or engineering, is the number one cause of data centre downtime. Now is the time for companies to evaluate their data centre operations programs. They must be able to clearly articulate operational requirements and design an operations program based on the risk profile of the data centre. However, the road to creating an industry-best operations program will not be easy, especially for those companies whose core expertise is not in business critical facilities. Read on.
    Learn more »
  • So Long, Silos: Why Multi-Domain MDM Is Better For Your Business
    Say “so long” to silos. This white paper explains why a multi-domain MDM solution is far better than single-domain, single-focused point solutions. You’ll learn what to look for in a multi-domain solution so you don’t outgrow it or are forced to purchase multiple products down the road. You’ll also get tips on how to select a multi-domain solution that can lead to multiple benefits over many years. The age of multi-domain MDM is here. See why you should say “hello” to it!
    Learn more »
  • Oracle Business Process Analysis Suite
    Careful analysis and continuous optimization of business processes delivers real competitive advantage. Conversely, a random approach to process design negatively impacts a company’s bottom line. This insight is one reason successful companies adopt business process management (BPM) as a way of aligning their business processes with business and customer requirements. Success with BPM eliminates the gap between business strategy and implementation. Business users are empowered to participate in all stages of the business process lifecycle. Closed-loop integration between modeling, execution, and monitoring enables continuous and holistic business process improvement.
    Learn more »
All whitepapers
rhs_login_lockGet exclusive access to Invitation only events CIO, reports & analysis.