Google will let companies with enterprise agreements use Apps for free through 2016

Google today announced that it’s pushing back the deadline for a program to make it easier to switch to Google Apps for Work, the suite of services that includes Gmail, Google Drive, Hangouts, and Google Calendar.

Through the end of 2016, companies with 100-3,000 users that are locked into enterprise agreements with software companies like Microsoft will be able to use Apps for Work for free for the duration of the agreement period.

This offer originally expired on April 16, a Google spokesperson told VentureBeat in an email. And until this point, companies had to have at least 250 users in order to participate, Neil Delaney, director of global inside sales and mid-market for Google Apps for Work, wrote in a blog post.

The move can be interpreted as another way that Google is trying to woo more businesses away from traditional vendors under its recently installed head of cloud businesses, Diane Greene. Meanwhile, Google is also trying to appeal to IT buyers by making sure its Google Cloud Platform cloud infrastructure costs less than the competition, like Amazon Web Services, and is widely available from a geographical standpoint. Most recently, yesterday Google brought full Microsoft Exchange support to the Gmail app for Android.

To sweeten the pot with its Apps deal, Google is offering to cover the cost of training to help make sure companies use the services securely.

“For mid-market customers that sign up for this promotion, Google will pay for a Security Workshop, to the value of $750USD, through our trained Partners, to help them maximize the security and data protections Google Apps offers,” Delaney wrote.