Microsoft Partially Funding L.A.'s Switch to Google
We're not sure what noted irony expert Alanis Morissette would say about this, but it turns out that Microsoft is kind of, sort of paying for part of the city of Los Angeles' switch to Google's e-mail platform. Apparently, Microsoft paid the state of California $70 million back in 2006 after the state alleged that Redmond -- get this -- overcharged for its software. L.A., evidently, has $1.5 million of that money left over and will give it to Google for the city's Google Apps deployment.
If nothing else, this is a funny circumstance -- and kind of a painful one for Microsoft, given that Google won the e-mail bid in large part by touting the lower costs of its service in comparison to Microsoft's more traditional offering.
Posted by Lee Pender on November 03, 2009