With the Web 2.0 privacy concerns growing as fast as "the cloud", this has been a (sometimes spirited) conversation that we've had more than a handful of times. A recent article brings up several of the topics of our conversations.

• Incumbent vs. newcomer.
• Paid vs. free.
• Devil you know vs. the one you don't.
• Betas vs. v1.0s.
• Fees vs. ads
• Big brother vs. big brother

We are a Microsoft Gold Partner and I have still used Google Apps. As a buyer of software, I know and understand Microsoft's profit engine. They want to sell licenses. Google has a lot of "free" floating around. Their tools are great but I've never put anything on Google Apps that would become an issue for me if it were to show up in a Google search for someone. Just in case.

I was surprised to see that in a recent poll of 90 IT CIOs, nearly two to one (67%) said that they trust Microsoft more as a technology partner. One commented, "Neither" which was funny. As broad as both have become, it's hard to get through daily life without touching one or both of their creations.

It makes me wonder how non-techies see it. Who do you trust more as a technology partner?