He Who Owns the Information, Has the Power!

Ok, I made that title up!.

This is what I felt when I came across Google Health recently. Google Health is a comprehensive health portal which allows people to maintain their health information in the Google Website and consult with Doctors on the medical conditions/prescriptions.

If you have observed, Microsoft is toying with similar idea in Microsoft HealthVault.

So, what is the business implication for Google:

- Hospitals are already looking at Partnering with Google to service the patients
- Targeted Adwords that are much more specific to patient's context and needs
- Lock-in to Google Health system
- Analytics possibility on Health Information and gaining intelligence on trends

Wow!

Google is also evaluating the options of integrating this app with other Google apps like Calender, Search, etc. which will make Google apps much more pervasive in our lives. This is much more interesting and captivating!.

Check out the same idea in Google's another new offering http://www.rememberthemilk.com. Simple, but Brilliant offering upto BlackBerry.

Now, some of the lessons for our Enterprise apps space:

1. He who owns the data has more control and influence. Address this layer first, before thinking about anything else.
For example, in banking, the group that owns Customer Profile becomes the backbone of the Information systems.

2. Mashup the apps to generate more value / new opportunities as Google does.

3. Enable Multi-channel access...

4. Even if an idea is simple enough, don't hesitate to try and implement it. If you do that, Google may overtake you! :-)

Also, recently evaluated, Google App Engine recently...will reserve the observations for future posts.