"We are watching the product unfold as it is built as opposed to a typical software company that goes away for a few years and comes back with a completed package," Brown said.

Mike Horowitz, product manager at Google said it will give users a central access point for services such as e-mail and calendar. He reiterated, though, that it is not a portal.

Horowitz said a portal typically creates a walled garden experience whereas the Start Page allows users to move about their business, view e-mail, go to the Web, and incorporate content from internal and external sources.

Although he gave no road map, Horowitz said that over time, Google will make available different versions of Google Apps targeted at various types of uses and users such as family Web sites, community groups, universities, small and large businesses, and ISPs.

Although large companies have major investments in their current e-mail infrastructure, there are some enterprise-level organizations that are experimenting with Google Apps, Brown said. He declined to name them saying they were Forrester clients.