SaaS: Google Discontinues Wave Development

Google Wave was one of the technologies for MSPs to watch coming into the new year. But any hopes of going into business as a Google Wave service provider can now be considered dashed, as Google announces the discontinuation of Wave development due to a lack of interest. Here’s the obituary.

In a blog post, Google SVP of Operations Urs Hölze says that despite the massive buzz (pun not intended) Google Wave got from both within the company and without, and despite the promise of a (theoretically) better way of sharing media and collaborating in real time, people just haven’t been using the platform. Even opening it up for developers didn’t drum up enough interest, he says.

“We don’t plan to continue developing Wave as a standalone product, but we will maintain the site at least through the end of the year and extend the technology for use in other Google projects,” Hölze writes.

That means no Google Wave for Google Apps Premier Edition users, let alone for consumers. But if you have been using it, the blog entry says that Google’s hard at work developing tools to liberate content.

My own personal experience with Google Wave was limited, but I thought it had potential. Still, I could never figure out a real practical use for its unique blend of e-mail and instant messaging.

I suspect that if anyone in the audience were truly bereaved at the loss of Google Wave, there would have been no need for Hölze to write that blog entry. All the same, MSPmentor has to ask — were any MSPs putting Wave to good use?

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