Should Google Docs Replace MS Office in Your Workplace?

What productivity suite do you use in your workplace? Most likely, it's Microsoft Office, the undisputed heavyweight champ in that space. But a new contender may soon be nipping at Office's heels.

The challenger is Google Docs, the Web-based word processor/spreadsheet/presentation application from Google. A new survey by market-research firm IDC finds that 20 percent of respondents said Google Docs is "widely used" in their workplaces.

Yes, it was a small survey (262 people) and it didn't prove that people are using Google Docs instead of Office, rather than as an adjunct. But it does point out that Google Docs is gaining momentum, since an earlier IDC study (2007) found that just 5 percent of respondents characterized it as widely used.

Google's official blog says over 1.75 millions businesses, schools, and organizations use Google Docs, with an additional 3,000 signing up each day.

That might speak volumes for its increasing popularity, but folks with loads of experience in the tech industry, like my former colleague Preston Gralla, note that client-based suites are still more trustworthy than Web-based ones, at least for the moment (remember Google's infamous outage?).

Cloud-based computing is not necessarily ready for prime time in the workplace, concurs PC World's Ian Paul: "It's not all rainbows and light when you dance in the clouds, because eventually a storm rolls in." Paul points out that while online storage is incredibly convenient, even a behemoth like Google isn't immune to problems and glitches that can cause you and your business time and money -- or even lost data.

What do you think?