Greenberg says Google needs to "dress up" Google Apps to make it look corporate in terms of security, feature functionality, and interoperability.

But perhaps more importantly, Microsoft is not standing still, Greenberg adds. Microsoft is no longer a collection of stand-alone applications. It is morphing into a strategic interface for ERP and other transaction processes, Greenberg says, pointing out the recent deal with SAP and the co-developed Duet technology.

"Every single enterprise player of note has an Office interface," Greenberg said. And despite Google's wide appeal in the consumer market, corporate uptake of Office drives a tremendous amount of personal use, he added.

Is this a play on Google's part to go head to head against a player in its own backyard, Salesforce.com and its AppExchange? For that to happen it would require a huge uptake on the part of third-party application developers.

Tony Meadow, president of Bear River Associates, an application development company, says the promise of a huge, available market for third-party applications does not always guarantee that developers will follow it. Meadow says that idea already exists with Microsoft and it has only been successful to a limited extent.