It has been more than 4 1/2 years since Google began its cloud computing challenge to Microsoft’s lucrative Office division, maker of Microsoft Word and PowerPoint. It has had some wins, reports Quentin Hardy in an article on Google Apps in Monday’s New York Times. But the question remains how much of a dent Google is making in Microsoft’s business.

Microsoft says Google’s efforts are hardly noticeable. But Google executives say that more and bigger companies are signing up for the cloud service. Possibly more important to Google is the way that Apps helps Google build social networks inside business. If successful, it would be a threat to Microsoft’s biggest division and would create another inroad in its struggle with Facebook to dominate users’ online lives.

The Seattle Times had this comment on the article.