Google's rumored "GDrive" service is expected to be launched this year, according to an article in The Guardian, the London-based newspaper. GDrive will be a network-based storage service that allows users access to their files via any Internet connection from any computing device. Is GDrive Google's first major thrust into Cloud-based computing that can eventually include a host of communications services beyond its current email and IM chat services? Centralized database storage, including a system directory, is necessary for any type of replacement vehicle for a customer premises communications solution.Although Google has not explicitly stated that it intends to become a major player in the communications market, that has not stopped speculation from strategic market competitors like Cisco and Microsoft that it is on the drawing board. The long term shift to network-based communications services as a replacement for customer premises communications is a foregone conclusion for many industry followers. Issues of privacy and security are key to the paradigm shift, but over time customer concerns can be resolved. Things are happening fast and don't discount Google from joining Microsoft and IBM in their assault on the traditional enterprise communications system suppliers. Cisco launched the first attack in the long term battle that will soon escalate into a war of survival for the Old Guard PBX players.
