OpenOffice + Google = Office Killer

I think Google should step up and create a tight integration with OpenOffice. I mean, they've done this (mainly marketing spin) integration with Salesforce.com - and the press ate it up like it was the greatest thing since sliced bread.

I mean, really people! Webservices these days are not that huge of a western deal - and given that Salesforce is a web application, it's not exactly rocket science to integrate the two.

Where things get a little more sticky is with traditional applications. Applications people use every day to generate real world work stuff - like word processors, spreadsheet and presentations. Google gives you a free way with Docs. OpenOffice gives you (an arguably) full-featured suite that frees users from the MS Office choke hold.

Discuss.

What's in it for Google? Selling support. Bashing MS in the good eye. Driving people to adopt OpenOffice so they can finally just switch to Ubuntu and leave that crappy Vista in the dust. Adding actual, paying users of Docs at an enterprise level. Selling more storage. Selling email hosting. Driving mobile users to a slimmed down, mobile-Internet-data-package-burning way to use Docs on the road, and OpenOffice when they land - seamlessly.

Where's the proof that any of that would even happen? IBM is giving it a shot by announcing a couple of days ago that it was selling support for its free Symphony Office-like suite. Plus, I think they have a couple of guys there that can probably do it over morning coffee - after all, Google gives them all 20% of their time to "try stuff out" on their own.

There's even a free OpenOffice plug-in that will give them a roadmap and a headstart. Written by Polish engineer Przemysław Rumik, the OpenOffice.org2GoogleDocs plug-in (yeah, it's not the most elegant name ever) will export and import your documents to and from Google Docs and Zoho. Did I mention it's free?

Google - meet Przemyslaw... Prezemyslaw - Google. And Prezemyslaw, just in case they don't call you - here's some openings at Google Poland... Szczęście!