Dive Brief:

• Google said it will pay business customers to switch to its cloud-based productivity tool, Google Apps for Work.

• The offer comes as rivals like Microsoft make inroads with new cloud-based productivity tools.

• The company said it will offer Google Apps for Work for free to companies while they are finishing out current enterprise agreement with other providers, and offer data migration and training tools as well.
   

Dive Insight:

Google wants businesses to switch to its productivity suite, which includes email and video services. The company said it will also give businesses $25 per user to help them manage the change, which they can use on data migration or training on advanced features for employees. In return, customers must agree to pay for Google Apps for Work for one year. Google is focusing primarily on mid-market companies with up to 3,000 employees.

According to a recent study by BetterCloud, companies that move to Office 365 are about four times larger than those that use Google Apps for Work and have IT teams that are five times larger. Google hopes to boost its reach into mid-market companies by tackling what it sees as the two biggest roadblocks to businesses: customer enterprise agreements and the challenge associated with changing from old software to a new service.

"It's a barrier because companies are trapped and they're locked in to some contractual term to their previous provider," said Rich Rao, head of global sales for Google Apps for Work.