Amazon launches email service for companies as attempt to evolve into major seller of corporate technology

On Wednesday the company announced an email and electronic calendar service called WorkMail that is aimed at grabbing a slice of the corporate-email market largely controlled by Microsoft Corp. and to a lesser extent Google Inc, says the Wall Street Journal.

The service represents Amazon’s transformation from e-commerce powerhouse into major seller of corporate technology, until this point largely acting behind the scenes as computing muscle for Netflix videos and Unilever websites.

This move also indicates how technology giants including Facebook Inc., Google and Microsoft increasingly view the workplace as a central battleground in the wars for users and dollars. 

Email services could bring Amazon $1 billion in revenue annually, said Colin Sebastian, a Baird Equity Research analyst, based on his estimate of sales for Google’s business software.

WorkMail will allow corporate employees keep using Microsoft Outlook or other familiar email applications. Amazon is replacing the unseen technology, mostly from Microsoft, that powers corporate email in data centers. This may keep companies from a big obstacle when switching employee email technology, as some workers have a tough time adapting to an unfamiliar email user interface.

Regarding the security side, WorkMail runs through Amazon’s computer networks, which encrypts, or scrambles, messages so prying eyes can’t make sense of intercepted email.

Although email is a crowded field, Amazon believes it can deliver improvements and make companies more satisfied. The company's email pitch revolves largely around two points: Simplicity of use and security.

Email may seem musty, being one of the original digital workplace tools. But it remains a must-have entry point for tech companies seeking sales to big organizations. Joining Google and Microsoft, International Business Machines Corp. last fall launched a new email service for workers. Startups such as Dropbox Inc. also offer email applications for businesses.

Amazon has a track record of breaking into corporate technology areas where potential customers have established operations and relationships with other vendors. It has let companies pay by the hour to run corporate websites, apps or other digital services on its computer networks for nearly a decade. Still, email may be a difficul market for Amazon to enter. Called Amazon Web Services, this business has become an enormously influential force in technology, and thousands of companies have used the service instead of running their own computer servers, digital data storage or number-crunching databases.

Bryson Koehler, chief information and technology officer for Weather Co., uses some AWS services. He said Weather Co.’s 1,300 workers have gotten great value from Google’s online workplace apps including Gmail, file-sharing service Drive and chat tool Hangouts, which all work seamlessly together.

“Even with a slick and competitive email offering, it’s not enough to make me even consider a change,” said Mr. Koehler, quoted by The WSJ. Still, he said, “I think competition is great, and I look forward to seeing where Amazon can innovate.”