This is exactly the risk that Google doesn’t seem to effectively mitigate.

Choosing GCP over Azure or AWS seems like such a dangerous move. Same with migrating 5k users to gmail. Outlook and others may have weaknesses, but they are predictable.

To be fair. Microsoft isn’t precisely known for providing a stable platform either. While they might not discontinue things out right it’s pretty standard for them to relegate some existing solution to second class status while promoting the next big thing as the replacement, promising way more then it delivers.

Microsoft was all about backward compatibility. They might have changed with windows 10, but before then they tried their best to make sure you could run an old app on windows.

The fear is that Google might turn Gmail down? Seems implausible, no?

There was at least one story of "our Google account was banned, our small business is inoperable and we can't contact anyone" on HN.

Gmail, Docs, Drive seem pretty safe bets. Would not put my money on anything else though.

I'm pretty sure the ads will keep working :P

Fine for individuals. But switching a huge org with tons of weird, internal processes and rules seems like a gamble that meeting those requirements will always be important for Gmail (ie, using ie11 for some dumb reason).

I agree with you on drive, but docs is missing lots of features compared to msoffice (macros, excel functions, offline storage and runs) and google hasn’t been building tons of stuff into docs for a while.

I think they are fine for small orgs, but big orgs pay for lots of support and customization.

> Seems implausible, no?

Not really. All it would take would be liability for privacy violations.

These products have Enterprise customers with long term contracts. Same as core GCP services.

They can't be turned down for any reason. End of story.

They are shutting down inbox though. I know the mail will stay, but I will miss inbox.

And none of those services are going anywhere. If you're given the responsibility to make those types of decisions, I have my doubts that you based it on whether an audio dongle or RSS feed reader were dumped.

I went through a similar process the other day with a startup. We did pick GSuite at the end but the questionable decisions made by Google in the last 1-2 years made me want to look into alternatives instead of just choosing the one which would've been a no-brainer choice in the past.

They were only questionable because people that used them were pissed off. But Google isn't going to trash a product that's really hitting home. Gmail is the most successful email app ever. Google Reader was a niche product in a niche market.

I can relate. This extends to any technology they offer. Like Go... interesting on paper, but I just won't invest my personal time in it.

For me, Go Go is a bit different as it’s open source with a strong community. I don’t see it going anywhere.

You just compared a 35$ audio dongle, which is pretty redundant when you can instead of the other 35$ dongle that does the same and more, to a billion dollar cloud business.

Yep, I’ve also completely avoided Google Cloud for this very reason.

Google really is not seeing the bigger picture here at all.

Not saying you are wrong, but I don't think you would be getting some of the largest companies in the world globally using the Google platform if there was a risk to its future.

I share your feelings about not wanting to commit to Google products, but some (like Gmail) are here to stay. I'd work more about getting support for Gmail than Google closing it.

If you're making those decisions because you're bitter over Google Reader, I think Google's not the one that's hurting.....