Shared Spaces ... the Collaboration Advisor

News for Today, May 17

A number of interesting happenings in the world of shared spaces:

• InternetNews asks if innovation in public IM services has peaked, and suggesting that it has, further suggests that the big three IM providers should do more to open their networks to third-party developers. internetnews.com


• Ray Ozzie's recent discussion at the Enterprise Messaging Decisions conference is written up in SearchDomino.com, along with his projection that "Groove is going to have a much greater impact that Notes, specifically because it's starting at the edge, and it's much easier to deploy". searchDomino.com


• Ken Bisconti of Lotus talks Lotus Workplace 2.0 with eWeek. eWeek


• Kubi Software has laid off one third of its staff, in an attempt to save cash and re-think the strategic direction of the company and its collaborative plug-in for Outlook and Notes. Comment: This is a bad sign ... particularly so when added to a very quiet couple of months from Kubi ... Kubi has a great technology stack, and my hope is that they can pull out of a potential death spiral. Corante

News for Today, May 14

News in the shared spaces world:

• LAN 2 LAN introduced capabilities that permit RIM BlackBerry users to access enterprise / business applications, beyond the normal "email and PIM" capabilities. LAN 2 LAN is a UK-based vendor. LAN 2 LAN


• SAP and RIM announced a technology alliance for access to the mySAP Customer Relationship Management system from RIM BlackBerry wireless handhelds. "The new application will enable sales reps in a variety of industries, such as aerospace and defense, consumer products, pharmaceuticals and utilities, to access and update information from mySAP CRM via BlackBerry handhelds". RIM

News for Today, May 13

News in the shared spaces world:

• ViewCentral and Centra announced an expanded business relationship, for tighter integration of their respective collaboration products, initially ViewCentral Replay with Centra's Web conferencing solution. "Customers can leverage ViewCentral Replay to
  re-use content captured in Web conferences enabled by Centra. ViewCentral Replay provides registration, payment and attendance tracking capabilities for recorded Web conferences. The combination of these solutions will allow customers to extend the value of their online events, while also creating a potentially new revenue stream". ViewCentral


• Kranos Security Technologies released MessageMate, an enterprise IM service. Key features: integrated digital signatures and public key encryption, policy-based user management, and a desktop client, among others. "MessageMate is an outsourced, subscription-based service that allows organisations to rollout Instant Messaging without the need for upfront investment in staff or infrastructure". Kranos


• Oracle announced new customers for its Web Conferencing server: Allen Lund Company, Arkona, BAE SYSTEMS Naval Ships, Buth Consulting, Inc., City of Canton - Georgia, EPL, Info Tech, Inc., PAETEC Communications, Phone Directories, Rotech Healthcare, Inc., SETI Institute, Usana, West Virginia State Auditors, and Xigns, Inc. prnewswire.com


• Microsoft and SAP announced a deeper strategic relationship, for the embrace of Web services in their respective enterprise software architectures. Of the six or so technology deliverables, this one is interesting from a shared spaces perspective: "Integration between SAP NetWeaver, Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services. Microsoft will deliver repository managers that integrate between SAP NetWeaver Knowledge Management, Windows SharePoint(R) Services and Microsoft Exchange Server. The repository managers are expected to be available in early 2005." NetWeaver is SAP's "comprehensive integration and application platform", Microsoft

News for Today, May 12

Today's news in the shared spaces world:

• Microsoft announced a global strategic relationship with MCI to develop and deliver communication and collaboration solutions based on Microsoft Office Live Meeting, the first of which is MCI Net Conferencing, a Web conferencing service for small and medium-sized businesses. "This strategic alliance commits MCI and Microsoft to co-develop new real-time communication applications in the future, such as access to presence-based services for voice over Internet protocol (VoIP). Currently, MCI is working with Microsoft on integrating a PC and telephony solution to enable information workers to set up conference calls from within their most utilized Microsoft Office applications." Microsoft


• Documentum released a new portlet development toolset, the Documentum Web Development Kit (WDK) for Portlets. The WDK enables customers to integrate Documentum content management capabilities with leading portal server software. Available immediately for use with portal servers from BEA, Sun and IBM. Documentum


• IBM has increased its investment in its Irish R&D software lab, the IBM Dublin Software Laboratory. The lab will "develop key components for the new IBM Lotus Workplace [software solution]". politics.ie


• IntelliSync released Version 5.5 of IntelliSync Mobile Suite platform, a wireless messaging enablement server. New features: 20% faster wireless sync performance, support for Windows Mobile-based smartphones, improved scalability (via clustering and fail-over), and a new configuration for supporting small workgroups, among others. IntelliSync


• Novell announced Evolution 2.0, an email and workgroup client for Linux systems. New features: integral support of the Connector for Microsoft Exchange Server, spam filtering, S/MIME and PGP security certificate management, and support for Novell GroupWise 6.5, among others. Available 3Q2004. Novell

News for Today, May 11

News in the shared spaces world:

• IBM outlined a blended approach for delivering desktop applications combining Web-based computing and traditional PC desktop environments using a server-managed client model. The model will enable customers to centrally manage, provision and deploy business applications and data to client devices on demand. Cross platform support is offered for Windows, UNIX and Linux, with MacOS support due later in 2004. Key applications: Lotus Workplace 2.0 (server-managed team productivity and collaboration applications), Tivoli (for central administration and management), and WebSphere Portal (consolidated user interface for multiple applications). BusinessWire




• pcpro.co.uk


• designtechnica.com: "While Microsoft’s market-leading Office bundle works only on the Windows and Macintosh operating systems, IBM's new software is designed to be distributed and accessed through a Web server, and to be accessible from systems running Windows and Macintosh, as well as Linux, Unix and handheld devices".


• infoworld.com: "IBM's Workplace products won't save companies money on hardware or software licensing costs: Businesses will still have to license every application they deliver to their users. Instead, Workplace is aimed at increasing productivity and decreasing the labor costs firms bear for managing their desktops".


• techworld.com: "Updates to IBM's client, administration and portal software will allow everything from desktop PCs to smartphones to access the same data - including Microsoft Office data - using standards-based middleware instead of a Microsoft client .... The strategy is similar to the "thin client" approach earlier championed by Oracle, Sun and others, which advocated the use of easily-manageable terminals as an alternative to bulky, powerful, complex Windows PCs."


• newsfactor.com: "... providing true compatibility between Windows and other OSes will be a challenge ... because Microsoft does not document its formats -- certainly not at the the level that would make it easy for someone to ensure 100 percent compatability."




• IBM announced IBM Lotus Workplace Messaging 2.0 and IBM Lotus Workplace Documents 2.0, two new offerings delivered through the Eclipse-based IBM Workplace Client Technology, delivering messaging and document management functionality to a variety of devices. Workplace Messaging now offers a desktop client alternative, and Workplace Documents offers a "centralized location for end users to create, import, edit and save rich documents, presentations and spreadsheets". Lotus BusinessWire




• searchDomino: "Workplace Documents leverages client technology to allow users to work connected or disconnected to store and manage documents. The company said this should go a long way toward soothing compliance fears."


• infoworld.com: "A plug-in built into Workplace Documents will allow it to manage Microsoft Office files".




• CoCreate integrated its project team collaboration and CAD drafting and modeling tool, OneSpace Designer, into the mySAP Product Lifecycle Management solution. Key features: a concurrent workspace, controlled CAD data synchronisation with mySAP PLM, and release support. "Enterprises using OneSpace Designer for mySAP PLM can now make product information readily available to sales, marketing, manufacturing, field service, and maintenance personnel without compromising the work efficiency of the individual designer. Overall, the process and CAD management integration allows enterprises to reduce time-to-market and time-to-volume, while improving cost baselines and product quality." Available immediately. prnewswire.com


• FaceTime announced that its IM Auditor product, which captures and archives IM transcripts, is now integrated with EMC's Centera content addressed storage system. "The FaceTime and EMC Centera integration lets customers store and report on archived IM and other content from a single control point. FaceTime IM Auditor captures IM and other traffic, providing workflow, review and other capabilities required for regulatory compliance and best business practices. The captured traffic is then directly transferred to EMC's best-of-breed storage and archiving system, Centera, providing customers with the ease of storing IM, email, digital imaging and other traffic in the same system." FaceTime


• Oridus unveiled version 5.0 of SpaceCruiser, its cross-platform desktop sharing, web conferencing, and remote access solution. New features: IM and presence integration, video conferencing capabilities, and full Web access, among others. tmcnet.com


• palmOne is planning to release a software update for the Handspring Treo 600 later this week. The update includes improvements to the GPRS connection code, among other things. theregister.co.uk


• TechRepublic published a couple of tips related to the use of Outlook 2003 against an Exchange 5.5 Server, including Outlook Web Access problems, and folder filters. TechRepublic

News for Today, May 10

News in the shared spaces world:

• After trying several PDAs over a couple of years, a user picks up a BlackBerry and soon claims to be an "addict" ... mainly because it works perfectly for the mobile user. GlobeTechnology.com


• Intuit has added new features to its online collaboration service, QuickBase. Target market is small businesses, and small workgroups in larger enterprises. ZDNet


• palmOne has opened its eleventh retail store for its PDA and smartphone devices. palmOne says that its "objective was to build up our own retail outlets, where we could educate and get brand presence in high traffic areas". MSNBC

News for Today, May 6

Here's what is interesting in the world of shared spaces today:

• Microsoft invited customers to apply to join the beta program for the next version of Microsoft Live Communications Server (LCS), its enterprise IM and presence server. LCS 2005 ("Vienna") will improve federation among distributed LCS servers, and improve scalability. CRN


• Centra released Centra 7 Version 7.1, the latest release of its online business collaboration solution. New features: new integration with Microsoft Project and Visio, new tools for pre- and post-meeting attendance and management, and new administration capabilities, among others. Available immediately. BusinessWire


• Akonix released Version 3.0 of L7 Enterprise, its IM firewall and management product. New features: automatic updates for spim and malware, improved 'abilities (availability, scalability and reliability), added support for Microsoft LCS 2003, and revised protocol support for the public IM networks, among others. Available immediately. BusinessWire


• Synergis Software released Version 5.2 of Adept, its engineering document management solution, featuring new shared work areas ("creates a real time collaborative environment, where designers, engineers and manufacturers—whether they are in-house or in a manufacturing plant in China—can edit and approve work-in-progress drawings much faster"), among others. mcadcafe.com


• eWeek turned to a Wiki (a "Web-based collaborative workspace") to continue working under emergency conditions when its enterprise network went dark for 18 hours. eWeek


• Mercer Human Resource Consulting is deploying Windows Mobile devices to its consultants, due to a pilot program that identified measurable business value in the form of more billable time via the leverage of travel time. vnunet.com

News for Today, May 5

More news in the world of shared spaces:

• RIM announced that Vodafone Australia will release the RIM BlackBerry solution from June 2004. Until recently, Telstra in Australia had the exclusive rights to offer the BlackBerry in Australia. RIM


• Mobius, an enterprise content management vendor, acquired eManage, an email archiving specialist. "eManage represents a new level of e-mail archiving expertise for Mobius, which is seeing demand for it spike not only because of Sarbanes-Oxley but also because it can pull billing information and other kinds of data needed by the enterprise." line56.com


• A Lotus Notes/Domino administrator/developer who attended the IBM Lotus Workplace 1.1 hands-on workshop came away a "believer" in the new platform ... albeit calling it a "beast" due to the considerable effort to install the required underlying products. searchDomino.com


• Some tips for virtual teams: regularly meet the customer face-to-face, use a shared spaces solution for sharing project and team knowledge, IM provides a quick and effective means of keeping in touch, and daily phone calls enable issues to be tabled and resolved before major consequences result. adtmag.com


• HP is anticipating releasing the HP iPAQ 6300 - a convergence device offering phone and data connectivity via GSM/GPRS - in the Asia Pacific market in 2H2004. mtekk.com.au

News for Today, May 4

I've been shifting house and office for the past week, but am 'back in the saddle' today. Here's what's up in the world of shared spaces:

• Microsoft released a connector that enables Lotus Notes users to schedule and launch conferences in Microsoft Live Meeting 2003 (previously PlaceWare). Comment: definitely a good idea from Microsoft ... it expands the potential market footprint of Live Meeting into the other half of the market that doesn't use Microsoft Exchange and Outlook. eWeek


• Microsoft Office System 2003 is a 'collaborative business knowledge' offering, according to Basex, an analyst company. searchCIO.com


• Vodafone New Zealand indicated its plans to launch RIM BlackBerry service in New Zealand, sometime later in 2004. computerworld.co.nz


• Plumtree released the Plumtree Executive Dashboard Solution, designed to deliver the means of quickly creating executive dashboards. The solution "combines performance metrics with enterprise search, online collaboration and knowledge management, to give executives a way to respond to events as they emerge across the business". Plumtree