Google has launched the Google Enterprise Professional programme in an effort to persuade more businesses to use the search company's services. 

The new programme allows service providers and software developers to be trained in Google's professional products, including the Google Search Appliance and Google Desktop Search for Enterprises.

The company has several such products, but provides only basic support and does not offer customisation services.

Membership of the programme allows enterprises to use the Google technology search data from sources that are not currently accessible.

Among the current partners are providers offering integration with data in SAP enterprise applications, or databases hosted on mainframe systems. 

"The goal is to create an ecosystem of technology and service providers which bring added value to our business customers," Google product manager Matt Glotzbach told vnunet.com.

"We see more customers adopting Google search technology as their unified information platform.

"There are opportunities to provide search across all data, but we do not have expertise in legacy or enterprise applications. That's where we see real value from partners."

The programme focuses on technology that allows the Google appliance to search new data. It is not intended to increase sales of the appliances themselves, according to Glotzback.

Robert Lehrner, a senior analyst for application infrastructure and data warehousing at Current Analysis, told vnunet.com that Google has primarily depended on its brand as a consumer search provider in selling its professional products, but that this did not suffice in the enterprise market. 

"[Google] needs this programme to bring its products to the attention of the enterprise. These partners can develop certain markets where you're not going to be chosen just because you're Google," he said.

Google has too big a reputation as a web search provider that relies on advertising revenues, which has left the enterprise search market open to small providers such as Verity, Autonomy and Documentum. 

"Google is going to have to overcome its own reputation and demonstrate that it can provide solid enterprise search," said Lehrner.

Several other established search and enterprise infrastructure vendors are targeting the enterprise search market, including Yahoo, IBM and Microsoft.

Google's programme is currently available for US partners only. It will expand to other geographies next month, said Glotzbach.