Google I/O can be mystifying to someone with an enterprise IT perspective. Google’s two-hour keynote to its annual company developer outreach (and technology roadmap) event featured a new connected-home virtual assistant (think Amazon Echo), engaging new chat software and next-generation VR technology that should replace the one that’s made of cardboard.

Google has known for some time that the enterprise is where the money is. But the company has been institutionally ill-prepared to make that shift from consumer products (most of which are free, but support their advertising mission) toward enterprise-class products and customers. This is a company that sometimes develops technology for technology’s sake, then devises marketable products as an afterthought. While this is going to date me, the academic aspect to Google’s DNA is reminiscent of another large tech company that we’ve all but forgotten: Digital. To be sure, the two company cultures were/are very different. But the devotion to technology and innovation, sometimes to the detriment of market success, are quite similar.

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