You've no doubt heard or read about Facebook's new messaging announcement this week. If not, the company announced a new messaging system to combine email, SMS, IM, Chat, and other forms of online communication, bringing them into one inbox. Along with this comes @facebook.com email addresses. CEO Mark Zuckerberg described the system as "starting from scratch" as opposed to being a Facebook email product.Pat Matthews, SVP of RackSpace's cloud computing business, which includes business email, shared some thoughts with us about the impact Facebook's new offering will have on the email industry. RackSpace itself powers business email for over 2 million users.
"I don't think Facebook will encroach on business mail, at least not anytime soon, mostly because of the security and privacy implications," Matthews tells WebProNews. "Facebook is very consumer oriented and I don't see this crossing into business anytime soon. Mark Zuckerberg has specifically stated the company is all about consumers. His focus is leading them to greatness."
"I do think consumer mail is at risk," he adds. "Consumers live in Facebook, not on Google. I think that Gmail and AOL should be worried."
Still, Google has Google Apps going for it, which it has now expanded to encompass most of the company's offerings. That could play a significant role in keeping businesses using Google, though Gmail has always been a part of Google Apps. I have to wonder if Google's news wasn't somehow spurred by Facebook's.