There's another killer on the loose. Who's the target this time? Sharepoint again? If the bullet misses the target, though, will open source CMS platforms get caught in the crossfire?

Since 2005, the following products have been described as a "Sharepoint killer:" Oracle Workspaces 10g, Groove (even after being obtained by Microsoft - apparently it was supposed to be an inside job), Alfresco, CPS Project, O3Spaces, Lotus Quickr, Google Apps Team Edition (just 19 days ago) and, today, Google Sites. Google Enterprise product management director Matthew Glotzbach fingered Google Sites as a "Sharepoint killer" today when it launched, according to Michael Arrington on TechCrunch.

I played with Google Sites for awhile this morning. It's not bad at all, though a bit buggy, as Dennis Howlett describes on ZDNet today. It looks like a slightly more sophisticated Google Page Creator. It doesn't suck, but as a killer, it's a little light on the firepower. Let's say it looks like Sharepoint can walk down dark alleys without any concern about an ambush. But does Google Sites have enough functionality to affect the market for open source CMS platforms?

CMS software alternatives come in three general flavors: traditional proprietary solutions (Microsoft Sharepoint and others), open source solutions (Joomla!, Drupal, Plone, etc.) and software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions (Google Sites, wetpaint, Ning and yesterday's newcomer BricaBox, among many others). Businesses looking to create or improve their online presence don't know or care about these distinctions. They want at least a simple website, maybe add some cool bells and whistles like they've seen on bigger sites - and they don't want to pay a lot of money for it.

Is something like Google Sites or BricaBox the answer for those users? Maybe. If the business isn't looking to spend much money on the site and they don't have the time to learn how to set up a hosted CMS site themselves, I'd even say probably. But many businesses will need a greater ability to customize and add features than Google Sites will be able to provide in the near future, and it's in that market that the open source CMS solutions, and the designers and developers who provide support for them, will continue to have the greatest potential.

If they were really looking to be a Sharepoint killer today, I'd say Google Sites came equipped for a gunfight with a jackknife. Not much of a killer - yet. If it continues to improve, Google Sites may eventually become a challenger to more complete CMS solutions, even Sharepoint. But for today: put down the knife, Google, and get back to work.