Google wants to expand its place in the enterprise and will throw in a Google Mini with each purchase of a Google Search Appliance that replaces an existing competitor product.
With some uncertainty in the search appliance marketplace followed by Autonomy’s acquisition of Google competitor Verity, Google wants enterprises to know they have other options available, namely one that starts with a big blue letter G.
The Google Switch promotion runs through the end of the year. Buyers who replace a legacy search device with a bright yellow Google Search Appliance get a Google Mini for free.
Google announced the deal on its blog today:
We’re hearing a fair number of stories from customers using our enterprise search products about how pleased their users are when they replace another search engine with a Google Search Appliance or a Google Mini. Customers like National Semiconductor, which saw search volume increase by 8-10x, and the National Park Service, where website complaints declined by a factor of 20.
These good results have inspired us to launch a search replacement program: any company that replaces their legacy search engine with a Google Search Appliance will receive a free Google Mini. Read more at www.google.com/switch.
Google’s low-end search appliance starts at $30,000, and the Mini at $2,995. A single search appliance can search up to 500,000 documents. Google sells the Search Appliance as a two-year license, which includes “hardware, software, product updates, support and product replacement coverage.”
David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business. Email him here.
