Google Rewires Washington in Challenge to Microsoft
Oct. 10 (Bloomberg) — Vivek Kundra, recruited to Washington to overhaul city computer networks plagued by cost overruns and viruses, treats his projects like stocks. The biggest “buy” on his trading floor is Google Inc.
Context & Ripple Effects
Google’s September push to put its stamp on government followed a longer escalation with Microsoft, which had been pouring money into the Web fight in 2006 and called Google a wake-up call in 2007. Kundra’s mandate to repair city networks gives that rivalry a concrete procurement venue.
Washington’s preference for Google projects matters because the choice is tied to fixing cost overruns and viruses, rather than merely adding another customer account.
First-order effects
- Google gains priority access to Washington technology projects under Kundra’s network-overhaul effort, while Microsoft faces a direct challenge in that account.
- Washington’s IT modernization choices are steered toward Google technology as Kundra evaluates projects as investments.
Second-order effects
- Microsoft must compete for public-sector deployments against Google’s modernization pitch, not solely on its established software footprint.
- Other government IT buyers gain a visible example of procurement being used to address network costs and security problems, raising the stakes of vendor-selection decisions.
Third-order effects
- If Washington’s approach is replicated, government IT purchasing shifts from routine software procurement toward a governance tool that determines which platforms shape public infrastructure.
- The Google–Microsoft contest is broadening from the Web market into public-sector modernization, where implementation credibility can matter as much as product features.
The trend: The Google–Microsoft rivalry is extending into government IT procurement, where technology choices increasingly shape public-sector modernization.