Google, PricewaterhouseCoopers in deal to sell business software

Google Inc. is teaming up with PricewaterhouseCoopers, seeking to sell more business software via the Web as competition heats up with Microsoft Corp. and other sellers of cloud-computing tools.

PwC, a provider of corporate consulting services, will help companies adopt and manage Google’s lineup of Internet-based software, including Gmail, documents and mobile services, the companies said Tuesday. The agreement includes plans to develop applications and other tools for specific industries.

Google, which is diversifying to foster growth outside its advertising business, is seeking to boost its appeal to potential corporate customers, many of which use Microsoft’s business software along with cloud-based services. The agreement follows Google’s rebranding of its enterprise software unit last month to Google for Work.

“We have two of the biggest brands in the world coming together with their unique strengths,” said Amit Singh, president of Google for Work. “It’s going to make a huge difference.”

As part of the announcement, PwC said it’s adopting Google’s business applications for 45,000 employees in the U.S. and Australia. PwC counts some of the largest corporations around the world among its customer list.

The announcement follows a disruption involving some of Google’s online business software products, including Documents, Spreadsheets and Drive. The services were down for at least four hours Monday. Google, which apologized for the outage, said reliability is a top concern.

Apple Inc. is also aiming to boost the number of corporate customers and unveiled a pact with IBM Corp. in July to help sell its hardware to corporations.