The day that everyone knew was coming has arrived with the announcement that Google has launched Google Apps Premier, its subscription package of premium, hosted business applications in direct competition with Microsoft.

Michael Arrington posted this afternoon about an undetermined major announcement from Google set for tomorrow, now the Wall St. Journal reports that Google Apps Premier is being launched.

"We offer editions of Google Apps to meet the needs of different organizations. So whether you're a small business looking for key IT services or a Fortune 500 company that needs email accounts for your remote workers, Google can power up your organization with the right services, the right support, and for the right price. to: We offer multiple editions of Google Apps to meet the needs of different organizations. So whether you're a small business looking or a Fortune 500 company, Google can power up your organization with the right services and support, for the right price."

The service will include the existing Google Apps tools - GMail, Google Calendar, Google Talk and IM as well as the Google Docs applications that were just integrated into the suite today.  Webmail will come with 10 GB of storage and Apps Premier includes  service level agreements that promise 99.9% uptime and 24/7 tech support. A full comparison of the standard and Premier services can be found here.

The service costs $50 per user per year, dramatically undercutting Microsoft’s offerings. Google’s package does not currently include a presentation tool like Power Point or a CRM application.
The good news is that you can try it for free until April 30th, 2007.

written by Florin C.