Shared Spaces ... the Collaboration Advisor

Vocality 1(6) Distributed, Aug 31

The August 2005 edition of Vocality, the free email-only newsletter from Shared Spaces on the state of the collaboration industry, was just sent out. If you have subscribed but didn't receive it, please let me know. If you haven't subscribed, then please let me know too.

Thoughts on Oracle Collaboration Suite 10g, Aug 31

Oracle released Oracle Collaboration Suite 10g earlier this week, the latest edition of its suite of collaboration products for the enterprise market. The Suite includes four main components that work on the Oracle Database 10g and Application Server 10g:

• Content Services ... offering document and file management, records management functions, and document sharing capabilities. Formerly called Oracle Files, Content Services is aimed at bringing "good enough" content management capabilities to the enterprise user.


• Workspaces ... a collaborative workspace product for internal project teams. Enables information workers to access discussions, meetings, action points, tasks and emails related to a specific project. This review further explores the Workspaces capability.


• Real-Time Collaboration ... instant messaging, voice chat, presence and Web conferencing capabilities to enable real-time interaction between people.


• Unified Messaging ... email, voicemail and fax capture, storage and access within a unified interface for information workers. Access from a Web browser is supported, and the Push-IMAP standard is used to push new emails to users on wireless devices.

The Suite is priced at $60 per user, or $45 per user per component. Records Management is treated as a value-added option to Content Services, and costs an additional $100 per user.

Oracle Collaboration Suite 10g is currently available for Linux x86 and Solaris. A Windows version has not been released at this time.

Workspaces 10g

The addition of Workspaces 10g is a good move by Oracle, and is being touted as a "SharePoint killer". How well it does that remains to be seen, but by using that term Oracle instantly provides a clear classification of the product in the mind of potential users. Digging into the capabilities of Workspaces 10g reveals the following:

• Users with appropriate rights can create a Workspace for a team project. Templates are provided to bring together a set of collaborative services for a specific type of project.


• Within a Workspace, users can share documents, hold discussions and meetings, and manage a shared list of tasks.


• The main interface for users is a Web browser (meaning that offline access via synchronization with a rich client is not available). Users can access some Workspaces 10g content through different clients, such as email and discussions from IMAP-capable clients (eg, Outlook), calendars and schedules from calendar clients, and documents via WebDAV file browsers.


• A software development kit enables ISVs and corporate developers to integrate the capabilities of Workspaces 10g into other applications.


• A "What's New" listing of new and revised items since the user last accessed the workspace.


• Members and non-members can email relevant material into the workspace.

Analysis
Some thoughts about OCS 10g in the market:

• Microsoft makes a big play on "agility". Given that Oracle's collaboration stack has fewer moving parts (ie, fewer required server software products), and is already built on a relational database, one could say that Oracle offers better and earlier agility benefits to IT organizations.


• The offering is priced to sell. At an end-user level, the economics for adoption are very attractive. $60/user brings enterprise email, calendaring, team workspaces, Web conferencing, instant messaging and presence, and more. Even in comparison to Scalix--the Linux-based email server vendor--Oracle has a very compelling entry price.


• This product won't be a threat in Notes/Domino shops that have an installed base of custom-build and workflow-enabled Notes/Domino applications. Unless the Notes/Domino shop is willing to shift to "just a vanilla team workspace" approach, there's nothing in here to replace the application development capabilities in Notes/Domino.

Unknown Points
Oracle is briefing me later in the week on 10g. Here are some questions that I'll take into the session:

• What are the requirements for including external users in a Workspace?


• Is Pillar 2 for offline access is addressed at all? It appears that users will not be able to take Workspace content offline, make changes while on an airplane, and then reconnect to the network and synchronize those changes.


• Is Pillar 4, for automatic calendar consolidation and Suite-wide free/busy search addressed? Oracle has the technical foundation to enable this, with (a) the calendar server assets it acquired with the Steltor acquisition of some years back, and (b) the storage of data elements in the Oracle database. But have they done it?


• Is Pillar 6, for automatic consolidation of assigned tasks across all workspaces addressed? Again, with Oracle apparently storing task data in the Oracle Database, can users access a single consolidated listing of everything they are expected to do? Does that list synchronize with Palm and Pocket PC devices so users can carry that around and mark off items when out-and-about? The available client installs for Pocket PC and Palm appear limited to synchronization of calendar entries.


• Are there any Pillar 7 capabilities in the Suite, to automatically notify users of other people they could talk with? Tacit knowledge and understanding will be built up in the system over time, and automatic search and notification queries could be used to notify users when there are other people that they could consult with on a specific problem or issue.

Next Action
If you are interested in an personalized exploration of the use of Oracle Collaboration Suite 10g within your environment, please get in contact with me.

Shared Spaces Briefing, Aug 31

Today's highlights: Bubbler/InterComm Changes; NetWin SurgeMail Blog; Visual Studio 2005 Team Foundation Server Delayed; Vodafone Australia released iPAQ hw6515; Cerience RepliGo Professional for BlackBerry; New UI for Intranets.com;

• Five Across revised the name of its blogging and instant messaging services. Bubbler is now the "Bubbler Instant Publisher", and InterComm is now "Bubbler Instant Messaging". Glenn Reid, CEO of Five Across, said that the reason is to enable easier branding of the two services by third-parties. Five Across


• NetWin Ltd. released Version 1.0 of SurgeBlog, a blog server that is integrated with its SurgeMail enterprise email server. Users can create one or more blogs from their WebEmail interface, and can post blog entries by email or Web. Available immediately. tmcnet.com


• Microsoft delayed the shipping of Team Foundation Server, a component of Visual Studio 2005 Team System for collaborative software development. The server offers version control, reporting, work item tracking, process guidance and automated build capabilities. It will now be available 1Q2006, instead of November 2005. Computerworld


• Vodafone Australia launched the HP iPAQ hw6515 combined PDA / phone device on its GSM network. The hw6515 runs Windows Mobile 2003 SE, and includes an integrated keyboard. Geekzone


• Cerience Corporation released RepliGo Professional for BlackBerry, for viewing Office and business documents on BlackBerry devices. Requires an annual subscription to the RepliGo.net Service. Available immediately. prnewswire.com


• Intranets.com released a new user interface for its hosted team collaboration service. New features: full menu control, collapsible menu and home page windows, unlimited quick links, custom shortcuts, and new color scheme choices, among others. Available immediately. MarketWire

This Briefing was written by Michael Sampson, of Shared Spaces Research & Consulting Ltd. Email or IM Michael to discuss any of these items further.

Shared Spaces Briefing, Aug 30

Today's highlights: Orative Client Software for BlackBerry; Oracle Collaboration Suite 10g Released;

• Orative released the Orative Client Software for BlackBerry, enabling BlackBerry users to see the phone presence and availability of colleagues based on a connection to the Orative Enterprise Server. Orative joined the BlackBerry ISV Alliance Program. Available immediately for J2ME based BlackBerry devices. Orative


• Oracle released the 10g edition of Oracle Collaboration Suite, its suite of collaboration products for content management and collaboration in the enterprise. Includes content management, IM and presence, unified messaging, web conferencing, and collaborative workspaces, among others. Available immediately. Oracle

This Briefing was written by Michael Sampson, of Shared Spaces Research & Consulting Ltd. Email or IM Michael to discuss any of these items further.

Conversations on the Web, Aug 30

Interesting conversations going on around the place:

• Google as the New Mainframe? Robert Young provides a guest post on Om's blog considering "Google's master strategy", and suggests that it is to build a platform of services that renders Microsoft's operating system obsolete. Om Malik


• Google Wants It All. Jim raises some concerns about Google's desire to digitize everything so it can be searched, asking "How can we balance the competing values of knowledge-sharing and privacy?" The Future of Work Weblog


• The Microsoft Office I Really Want. Olivier says he can see "how a lot of value could be delivered on top of supposedly ultra-mature products", and outlines some ideas for the next version of Microsoft Office. Essential idea: clean and simple integration between Office applications and backend Internet applications, minus a stack of Microsoft servers. However, he doesn't think it will happen, although Scoble promises that PDC'05 will surprise him. Olivier Travers


• Enterprise IM Has Reached Corporate Mainstream. David writes in Computerworld on how enterprises can leverage the power of IM while mitigating the associated risks. (1) Manage unauthorized IM clients; (2) Address risks that arise from change; (3) Identity and vertify users to curtail unauthorized access; and more. Computerworld

Next Action for Eric Mack, Aug 26

My colleague Eric Mack has been forced to become a "de-Productivity Consultant" this week, with his new Tablet PC crashing while away. He knows what he ought to do, but since reason can't convince him, perhaps inspiration will:

The PC world is an uncertain realm filled with crashing operating systems, honor undermined by missing product install CDs, freedom sacrificed when the apples are trodden on the by the strong. But there are those who oppose these powerful forces, who dedicate their lives to OS beauty, OS stability, and eProductivity. These men are known as Macintosh users. Arise, D'Mack, and join them.

Shared Spaces Briefing, Aug 25

Today's highlights: Blast Radius Webinar; SMB global collaboration; Microsoft on Integrating Presence with Business Applications; IMConferencing and Google Talk; Akiva Open Collaboration Forum; IBM Workplace Designer 2.5;

• Blast Radius is hosting a one-hour Web seminar on September 20 regarding the collaborative review of XML documents. Blast Radius offers tools to assist with this area. Blast Radius


• Vintage Imports is a seven employee company coordinating work with suppliers across 23 time zones. It uses HyperOffice to handle shared calendars and task coordinaton. James Gaskin in Network World explains how it works. Network World


• Microsoft released sample proof-of-concept tools for integrating IM and presence into business applications. Its intention is to show developers what is possible. The tools require Office Communicator 2005 and Live Communications Server 2005. A variety of ISV partners acknowledged that they will thread presence into their products. CRN, prnewswire.com


• IMConferencing announced plans to integrate its Web conferencing system with Google Talk, Google's just released beta IM system. The integration will enable Google Talk users to initiate web, audio and video conferencing sessions from the Google Talk client. Available 3Q2005. prnewswire.com


• In an email today, the CEO of Akiva Corporation, Eric Olinger, announced the formation of an "Open Collaboration Forum". The Forum will consider the integration of disparate collaboration applications, preserving and securing knowledge capital, and the business impact of effective / open collaboration. The Forum is open to "senior-level business executives who seek to improve business performance through open enterprise collaboration". Membership by invitation only. Akiva


• IBM announced general availability of Version 2.5 of Workplace Designer, its Eclipse-based development tool for building business applications in the IBM Workplace environment. Offers developers the tools to build composite applications with standards-based technologies. Available immediately. IBM

This Briefing was written by Michael Sampson, of Shared Spaces Research & Consulting Ltd. Email or IM Michael to discuss any of these items further.

Shared Spaces Briefing, Aug 25

Today's highlights: Google Talk Launches into Beta; Skype Opens IM to Third Parties; MailTags 1.0; ClairMail Funding;

• Google released the beta of Google Talk, its new Jabber-based instant messaging service. A Windows XP and 2000 IM client is offered, although Mac and Linux users can connects using third-party IM clients, such as iChat on the Mac OS X. Google auto-loads Gmail contacts as buddies, and the Google Talk client will notify users of new Gmail email. Includes a voice-over-IP service. Google's dream: a unified, abuse-free instant messaging network. Google Talk, with coverage at ComputerWorld, eWeek, InformationWeek, and NewScientist



• Skype opened its presence and IM services to third parties, allowing developers to integrate Skype presence and IM into Web sites and applications. InfoWorld and InfoWorld (again)


• Indev released Version 1.0 of MailTags, its add-in for Apple's Mail 2.0 email client in Mac OS X Tiger. Enables users to add metadata to email messages, thereby moving beyond the existing smart mailbox idea. Users can add comments to messages, project or category names, due dates, and priorities. MailTags metadata is available to the Spotlight search engine in Tiger. Indev



• ClairMail announced Series A funding of $8.3 million, for the extension of its sales and marketing efforts for its mobile enterprise access solutions. It says that it offers the "first sensible approach to mobile application access". Works with existing devices from RIM (BlackBerry), Palm (Treo), Good Technology, and otheres. MarketWire

This Briefing was written by Michael Sampson, of Shared Spaces Research & Consulting Ltd. Email or IM Michael to discuss any of these items further.

Collaboration Vendors Don't Get It, Aug 25

I have been an active analyst, consultant and writer in the collaboration space for 11 years. During my tenure, I've been constantly thrilled at the new and exciting collaboration technologies that incumbent and new entrant collaboration vendors have introduced ... writing Daily News has been like drinking at a fire hydrant: there's always new stuff.

However, I have been equally puzzled why the uptake by customers has been so low, and how poorly the products deliver on their promise.

Simply put, collaboration vendors have missed the point.
1. It's not actually about collaboration. The term is meaningless to customers.
2. Collaboration vendors have been selling their wares wrong. The big players are wasting millions upon millions of advertising dollars in pursuit of a go-to-market strategy that doesn't work.

I have thought a lot about this, and in recent times have worked out the answer. Do you want to know it? You know where to find me.

Shared Spaces Briefing, Aug 24

Today's highlights: Oracle says "Email is Ineffective"; Zimbra Interview; Orative and RIM BlackBerry; Google Talk Forthcoming; Antepo OPN System XT Availability; Cingular Good to Go;

• Rob Koplowitz of Oracle shares a viewpoint about the ineffectiveness of email (keeping track of approvals; having the most recent document), and how teams are finding the answer to the email dilemna in collaborative workspaces. Rob shares his insights the day after Oracle released Oracle Collaboration Suite 10g, which introduces a collaborative workspace capability called "Oracle Workspaces". Line56


• Satish Dharmaraj is interviewed on SYS-CON about his work at Zimbra, the new open-source collaboration (or is that only communication?) start-up vendor. sys-con.com


• Orative's forthcoming software for mobile voice and email devices will be available on the RIM BlackBerry from next week. Orative offers a presence-enabled solution to streamline calling between people. Globe and Mail


• Google is apparently ready to launch Google Talk, an instant messaging and voice-over-IP service. talk.google.com is waiting for IM connections using the Jabber protocol. SearchEngineWatch


• Antepo released OPN System XT, an extensible IM and presence platform for the enterprise. Offers integration with AOL Instant Messenger (via the official AOL Enterprise Federation Partnership Program), and enhanced support for Microsoft Live Communications Server. Supports both SIP/SIMPLE and XMPP, the two competing IM protocols. Key features: persistent multi-user discussion forums, presence integration capabilities, encrypted file transfer, and a software development kit. Available immediately, starting at $30 per seat, with volume discounting. prenewswire.com


• Cingular Wireless announced availability of the Good GoodLink wireless email service on the Audiovox SMT5600 and Motorola MPx220. Mobile Guerilla

This Briefing was written by Michael Sampson, of Shared Spaces Research & Consulting Ltd. Email or IM Michael to discuss any of these items further.