Collaborative Thinking

Novell Acquires SiteScape - Will It Make A Difference?

This was obvious since the OEM agreement last year. I remain skeptical. On paper, this can be viewed as being "conceptually perfect" - SiteScape has always been noted in the industry for having powerful functionality but for a variety of reasons, the platform never gained large market traction or mindshare. Novell, with its Groupwise platform, was once a collaboration powerhouse alongside IBM and Microsoft back in the nineties. But again, for a variety of reasons, the Groupwise platform has lost market traction and mindshare - at least in the medium-to-large enterprise space that I am familiar with.

ICEcore - an open source effort - has seen little activity at all. It's tough to imagine developers getting excited about an open source effort to improve a platform that is already feature-rich. When I think about this open source effort compared to Zimbra or others it still seems very much in the back of the pack.

The only tactics I can see here to turn things around would be:

• Novell aggressively pushes the SaaS aspects of SiteScape (WebWorkZone)
• Novell becomes very clear on the roadmap for Groupwise / SiteScape alignment and/or convergence
• Novell partners with someone in need of collaboration technology (my best guess would be perhaps Cisco and its WebEx Connect efforts)
• Novell develops a consumer/SoHo/small business angle here similar to other hosted offerings such as Basecamp, Huddle, etc.
• Consider integrating with Google Apps

February 13, 2008: Novell Delivers Open Collaboration with SiteScape Acquisition

Novell today announced it has acquired SiteScape, a leader in open source team collaboration, extending Novell's leadership in, and commitment to, innovative and open collaboration solutions. SiteScape, the founder of the ICEcore open source collaboration project, brings impressive team workspace and real-time collaboration capabilities to Novell – key components of a broad unified communications and collaboration strategy. The melding of the two firms creates the industry's clear leader in open, enterprise-strength collaboration and social networking offerings, giving customers powerful, flexible ways to integrate new communications technologies into their environment and drive employee productivity and business innovation.

.....

Founded in 1995, SiteScape provides collaborative solutions for communication and management for distributed teams across a wide range of business and government customers. SiteScape's integrated Web-based solutions support knowledge management, project management, communities of practice, telework, business and government continuity, and many other workflow-driven functions. Long a leader in enterprise e-mail with GroupWise®, Novell partnered with SiteScape in 2007 to add to its collaboration portfolio with Novell® Teaming + Conferencing, a team workspace and real-time conferencing solution centered on the ICEcore open source technology. Consistent with Novell's commitment to interoperabilty, Novell Teaming + Conferencing runs on both Linux* and Windows*, and works with Lotus Notes* and Microsoft Exchange*, in addition to GroupWise. These team workspaces, accessible securely by team members both inside and outside the company, incorporate multiple integrated collaboration tools, including blogs, wikis, instant message, chat, voice over IP and web conferencing, providing the powerful core of a unified communications and collaboration solution. By now acquiring SiteScape, Novell strengthens its commitment to the technology, gains the flexibility to create the solutions customers and partners need, and increases its capacity to deliver even more innovation and interoperability around open collaboration.

Novell Delivers Open Collaboration with SiteScape Acquisition

February 14, 2007: Novell Strengthens Workgroup Portfolio with Team Workspace and Real-Time Collaboration Offerings

Novell has entered an OEM licensing agreement with SiteScape (www.sitescape.com) – an innovator in software that integrates team workspaces with presence-based, real-time collaboration – to offer these new products. The Novell offerings are expected to be available later this year, and product names will be announced at a later date.

Novell Strengthens Workgroup Portfolio with Team Workspace and Real-Time Collaboration Offerings

Meanwhile, Over At WebEx: A New Sheriff In Town

Cisco has gone a little quiet regarding WebEx Connection, collaboration beyond unified communications and building out the partner ecosystem (channel and technology vendors) that will drive success for its composite application platform. The story below provides some insight:

Making sure that Cisco’s sales teams are motivated to sell WebEx services has just become the responsibility of a new general manager at the on-demand Web meeting provider. The sudden departure late last year of Cisco’s former chief development officer Charlie Giancarlo, who had been widely regarded as heir-apparent to succeed John Chambers, led to a rapid reshuffle of top management at Cisco. That meant promotion for Don Proctor, who’d been general manager at WebEx for just three months, and who now reports directly to Chambers on all of Cisco’s software products. Four weeks ago Doug Dennerline (pictured) took over as senior VP of the collaboration software group and thus the new general manager of WebEx.

.....

Dennerline outlined four main priorities that he sees for WebEx this year.

• Get Cisco’s sales team selling the WebEx service
• Finish preparations for a production launch of WebEx Connect, the company’s on-demand collaboration and composite applications platform
• Harness Cisco’s partner channel to sell WebEx
• Tap Cisco’s resources to bolster research and development of new WebEx services

» Taking the reins and tending the cows at WebEx | Software as Services | ZDNet.com

Lotusphere 2008: What I'll Be Looking For

My focus next week at IBM's Lotusphere event will concentrate on two areas: social computing and unified communications. Below is a rough sketch of what I will be looking for and an outline of a "report card" of sorts to guide my blog posts during the event. 

Lotus Connections

Here's the five "report card' areas I'll be assessing IBM on regarding its Lotus Connections solution:

Refining the message

I'm hoping to hear a transformed message from IBM on the importance of social computing from a variety of perspectives: the need to have a more adaptive workforce (talent, shifting workforce demographics), the need for "new ways to work" (more edge-centric, networked and emergent), the need to re-tool the enterprise to catalyze informal interactions, the long-standing need for KM and how we might finally be getting it right - and how these viewpoints become part of formal business structures that help improve the performance and productivity (not just internal processes but external re: customers, partners and suppliers). To-date, I have not been all that satisfied with the top-line messaging around Lotus Connections - I think it relied to much on the "expertise" card and was overly pitched to a CXO level audience. 

Filling in the gaps

While Lotus Connections is the most complete social computing platform from a major vendor re: BEA, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle (as of right now), it has gaps - there is no wiki component unless you use other Lotus products and the product itself lacks a feed syndication platform. The community feature is also not strong. Hopefully, IBM will present its vision on how these social computing gaps will be filled.

Building out the ecosystem

If you're a vendor with a platform that's not quite a platform (yet), then you would probably be all that much more aggressive when it came to building out a partner ecosystem. Unfortunately we have not seen the type of third-party portfolio of solutions emerge yet around Lotus Connections. I'm hoping to hear how this story is changing. It would be nice to hear how other Web 2.0 / Enterprise 2.0 vendors become part of a broader Connections platform environment - wouldn't it be great to have Moveable Type of WordPress as blogging options - or to have Confluence or Socialtext as wiki options - or to have Attensa, KnowNow or NewsGator as feed syndication platform options?

Heading them off at the pass

Microsoft. How will IBM use social computing as an insertion strategy to relegates Microsoft's Office SharePoint Server 2007 to collaboration and content management solutions while Lotus Connections becomes the social computing platform for the enterprise? IBM has a window of opportunity between now and the next major release of SharePoint from Microsoft to present its case that social computing is too important to wait and that real business value can be delivered via Connections.

Opening the enterprise social graph

Relationships don't stop at the firewall. For all the messaging from IBM that they focus on the enterprise, they absence of any consumer aspect of Connections mystifies me. I am hoping to hear some vision at least, on the need to federate enterprise and consumer social networks. What is IBM's take on Open Social, on data portability? Will IBM work with Facebook (as well as others such as LinkedIn and Xing for instance) to federate that platform with Lotus Connections?

Lotus Sametime

Here's the five "report card' areas I'll be assessing IBM on regarding its Lotus Sametime solution:

Putting on the final touches

Sametime has progressed rapidly over the last 12-18 months. After putting the product on the back-burner for several years, IBM deserves a great deal of credit for putting in place an exceptionally strong team with solid management focus on unified communications and collaboration. By the end of 2008, I expect IBM to have reached a level of parity with Microsoft when you consider the business and technology model that it has defined (i.e., there are certain areas IBM will leave to its partners and will not itself become a complete communications system on-par with Avaya, Cisco, etc.). That said - market forces will continue to erode product boundaries so at some point, IBM will end up looking a lot like Microsoft when it comes to UC (circa 2010-ish). Other areas included in this category: where IBM is heading with unified messaging, speech and backend modernization.

SAAS talking

IBM needs to clarify where it is heading in terms of a hosted solution for unified communications. It needs to paint a bigger picture - will it just be another hosted web conferencing provider - or will there be a greater vision (similar to what Cisco has with its WebEx Connection efforts)? Is there a possible Saleforce or Skype relationship to build on?

Finding the next UC idol

Enough about the vendor platforms. The entire UC movement will go bust without UC-enabled business applications. IBM has some advantages in this particular area versus Microsoft so I'm looking forward to see how the storyline for application development and delivery is evolving - including integration with desktop applications and back-end systems. IBM needs to show examples (such as Carestream Health) of solutions that demonstrate why UC is important beyond the traditional productivity and work model (e.g., mobile) examples.

And then there was one

With Unyte, IBM now has two web conferencing engines. This needs to be made more clear to the market - which one is the strategic bet? Will IBM hide behind "use Unyte for hosted and Sametime for on-premises"? If so - how do the two solutions interoperate (and why would you want to focus on two different technical roadmaps)? Will Sametime conferencing slowly be phased out over time?

Socializing presence

In this post (which points to the original), I outlined a change in my position on presence - basically, that UC vendors are now in the backseat and should no longer be considered the primary engine for presence within the enterprise. I'll be interested to hear from IBM on where they see presence heading and how it becomes more of a continuous social feed rather than a buddy list with rich profiles.

Cisco WebEx and Oracle Launch Collaborative CRM Solution

Cisco does not have to own all the solutions in order to become credible as a collaboration / Web 2.0 / Enterprise 2.0 solution provider. I expect acquisitions to occur (and wish Cisco had picked off Zimbra), but there is no need for the company to compete with its own software across all categories. Instead, Cisco can put together a range of services (represented by the deal below) that leverage its WebEx Connect platform. Being the "packager" of a solution can have its advantages - especially in the SBM market where this partnership should resonate well. Cisco can continue to build out a comprehensive framework that leverages its SaaS platform and compliment that framework with its own capabilities (e.g., unified communications). In some situations, that solution could conceivably connect to parallel on-premises applications and/or infrastructure. Cisco might also find itself as an attractive partner to smaller vendors that cannot compete with Microsoft over time and are unsure about Google in terms of consistency and sustaining a partner ecosystem.   

This is a smart move by Oracle as well. It needs a channel like this to respond to the software plus services mantra that Microsoft touts. This is bad news for Salesforce and also for IBM.

WebEx Connect enables a new generation of collaborative business applications and services. The WebEx Connect client allows users to build mashup applications customized for particular business processes from on-demand, on-premise or on-thedesktop applications. For example, a WebEx Connect user can quickly build a sales mashup with WebEx Sales Center, Siebel CRM On Demand, a social networking site, and an e-mail and calendaring client. These business mashups improve productivity by integrating with WebEx Connect's unified collaboration and communications capabilities to provide contextual collaboration within a business process.

"Effective collaboration accelerates any business cycle, and when combined with CRM, brings salespeople closer to their customers," said Subrah Iyar, vice president and general manager, Cisco WebEx. "This alliance brings together three fast-moving trends: enterprise 2.0 mashups, the explosive CRM area and on-demand application platforms." WebEx CRM On Demand by Oracle delivered by WebEx allows sales professionals to manage their entire sales process from within a single collaborative application suite. Users can easily market, demonstrate, present, track, forecast and close with the combined capabilities of WebEx collaborative applications and Siebel CRM On Demand.

WebEx CRM On Demand by Oracle delivered by WebEx offers a comprehensive set of CRM capabilities including:

• Sales management tools that allow users to engage prospects at key points in the sales process
• Sales dashboards that consolidate critical information and streamline activities for a 360-degree view of every opportunity
• Integrated reporting to improve sales productivity by automatically tracking WebEx meetings and prospecting activity
• Powerful forecasting, reporting and pipeline visualization tools to analyze sales data
• Real-time process management to optimize sales methodologies with testing and analytical feedback.

CRM On Demand by Oracle is available today from the Cisco WebEx sales organization; it is scheduled to be available through the WebEx Connect application ecosystem in early 2008. For more information, go to, http://www.webex.com/smb/oracle-crm.html

Cisco WebEx and Oracle Launch Collaborative CRM Solution

Is The Future Bright For Dimdim?

The web conferencing market is an interesting space to monitor. I've covered this area since 1996. The market remains dominated by a hosted model with WebEx/Cisco and Microsoft as the top providers. Other recognized players in the hosted space include Adobe, Citrix, Genesys, Intercall (e.g., Raindance) and WebDialogs (recently acquired by IBM). Carriers often package and resell services from these vendors (note: AT&T just acquired Interwise). The on-premises market remains fragmented. There are e-learning/virtual classroom deployments (e.g., Centra, iLinc, Interwise are common) and some enterprise-wide deployments (IBM Sametime, Adobe Connect and vendors that are expanding beyond e-learning). There are at least 80 some-odd vendors in the space overall, including situational vendors that focus on specific applications - like Glance Networks, or those that extend IM/VoIP platforms like Skype (WebDialogs has been successful in that regard). There are many pricing options - some are pay-as-you-go, others are subscription-based and there are free services as well. Overall, the market is under tremendous downward pricing pessure indicating that services will get cheaper over time.

Large enterprises are not making a web conferencing decision - they are increasingly making a unified communications decision. I do not see much uptake at all actually concerning open source for web conferencing - unlike IM where I do see some deployment of Jiver and Jabber (Jabber is more open standard than open source though). So I don't see DimDim being all that successful for on-premises deployment within large enterprises. For the SMB market, hosted offerings will likely continue to dominate - there are just too many options and I doubt DimDim will get enough brand awareness and visible presence to have any significant market share anytime soon. Security and compliance demands may also come into play when organizations choose a provider.

There may be an opportunity for DimDim to be used within a package and resold (say by a carrier/telco) - perhaps there might be some interest within government sectors and emerging markets where established vendors in this space have not defined themselves. But overall, I would pass for now and revisit open source and DimDim in 18 months or so. 

Dimdim Challenges WebEx, Microsoft

Dimdim, a Burlington, MA.-based web meeting services startup, wants to take on Cisco Systems’ (CSCO) WebEx and Microsoft’s (MSFT) Placeware by emphasizing simplicity and ease of use. The company, which is backed by investors including Draper Richards, Index Ventures and Nexus Capital India, launches its service today at DEMOfall 2007. Co-founded by Computer Associates alumni DD Ganguly and Prakash Khot, Dimdim has so far raised $2.5 million.

The service allows you share your desktop and files, and to IM, talk, and broadcast using your webcam. Dimdim is using Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud service to operate its service, and says its software is open source.

The service utilizes Adobe’s (ADBE) Flash 9 plugin for all of the multimedia apps. I gave the Dimdim service a brief spin and was impressed by its stripped-down simplicity and the speed with which it loaded into the browser, especially when compared to WebEx’s long startup process.

But that doesn’t mean WebEx (acquired by Cisco Systems for $3.2 billion) has anything to worry about right now, for Dimdim is still a work in progress. Its interface needs tweaking; in fact, it needs to be livened up. After all, web meetings can be fun. too. Nor was I clear as to how secure my information was going to be or where, exactly, all the files that I uploaded went. But I’m sure they will resolve all these issues soon.

This is a competitive market, and it’s going to get even more competitive. Sooner or later, Google (GOOG) is going to enter with its own twist on web conferencing, as WWD’s Anne Zelenka has pointed out. If Dimdim hopes to truly establish itself, it will have to focus relentlessly on “user experience.”

Dimdim Challenges WebEx, Microsoft « GigaOM

DimDim launches FOSS challenge to WebEx

Open source startup DimDim has released an alpha version of their new browser based web conferencing software. Users download the open source free code and install it on their own servers. The current version supports IE on Windows only for presenters, which is really unfortunate, but attendees can be in conference via Firefox on Mac. No software download is required for attendees. Future versions will fully support Firefox on Mac, Linux and Windows. If the software ends up solid then DimDim could pose an interesting challenge to the current list of paid, hosted web conferencing solutions.

DimDim launches FOSS challenge to WebEx

SpikeSource: The Future of Best-of-Breed?

If the general inclination of the CXO-crowd is to buy from larger, established vendors, then does SpikeSource represent a credible channel for independent vendors and open source projects? In one model (e.g., Alfresco, Drupal), the result is a packaged solution on top of an underlying server platform. In the other model (e.g., SuiteTwo), multiple products are integrated into a packaged platform solution that is broader than what each vendor could achieve independently. It's an interesting approach and one I'll continue to track (in the areas I cover).

As the inventory of solutions becomes more diverse, some questions that SpikeSource will need to address will be:

• How does SuiteTwo integrate with the Alfresco and Drupal solutions?
  (Customers might expect that they will/should coming from the same "packager")
• Can I swap out a component of SuiteTwo in favor of one of the other solutions (Customers might expect to mix-and-match)?
• Can I include Alfresco or Drupal in a "SuiteTwo Extended" package?
  (Customer might expect to design their own builds)

Recent Press Announcements

09/25/2007

SpikeSource Unveils Alfresco SpikeIgnited Solution for Windows

Redwood City, CA. – September 25, 2007 – SpikeSource, a provider of packaged and maintained open source solutions, today released a new SpikeIgnited™ version of the Alfresco Enterprise Content Management (ECM) solution. This new SpikeIgnited version of Alfresco, based on Alfresco Enterprise Edition, is SpikeSource’s second solution released this quarter that has been tested and certified for Microsoft Windows Server.

08/06/2007

SpikeSource Releases New Version of Popular Web 2.0 Suite

Redwood City, CA. – August 6, 2007 – SpikeSource, a provider of enterprise-class open source solutions, today announced a new version of the company’s popular Web 2.0 integrated software platform, SuiteTwo.

07/26/2007

SpikeSource Announces Drupal SpikeIgnited Solution for Windows

Redwood City, CA. – July 26, 2007 – SpikeSource, a provider of enterprise-class open source solutions, today announced a new SpikeIgnited™ version of the Drupal Web content management solution.

SpikeSource to Certify Open Source Applications on Windows

Redwood City, CA. – July 26, 2007 – SpikeSource, a provider of business-ready open source applications, today announced plans to work together with Microsoft Corp. to certify all of SpikeSource’s SpikeIgnited solutions on the Microsoft Windows platform.

06/18/2007

SpikeSource Announces Hosted Version of SuiteTwo

Redwood City, CA. – June 18, 2007 –SpikeSource today announced the release of a hosted version of SuiteTwo, powered by Intel, a turnkey appliance that allows organizations large and small to implement leading Web 2.0 technologies that increase revenue, reduce expenses, improve productivity and extend brand.

SpikeSource - Press Releases 2007

Cisco's Webex Bet: Widgets + Collaboration + SaaS

Interesting video interview highlighting some possible Web 2.0 and Enterprise 2.0 capabilities: 

..... Most recently, WebEx has been putting resources into it’s WebEx Connect platform, which Shankur described as a “Business mashup collaboration platform”. Think widgets on top of a communication platform for extranet and intranet. There’s two major elements of this platform, one is a server side platform and the second is a client based widget platform. Inside of the client platform is a web based and desktop based program, each will quickly integrate widgets from third parties.

A practical use case of their platform could be for internal sales teams to collaborate build documents, proposals and plans, they could then work with prospects, sharing data, bringing the process to the close, then pass on to delivery and fulfillment teams. The toolset could comprise of video, IM, synchronous tools like persistent chat, document sharing, and even the dreaded email. Existing CRMs could create widgets that could deploy, making the process seamless. I’m somehow reminded of the portal movement in the late 90s which I was deploying at Exodus.

I asked Shankur a few other questions, and found out that this is part of the overall corporate strategy of WebEx, and also their recently new parent company, Cisco. In the future they will align with Cisco’s “Unified Communications” strategy, and integrate other products. I asked about Five Across, Tribes, and other acquisitions, but he didn’t give me any hard answers. The Widget framework should be able to support widgets from other platforms, like NetVibes, Google Desktop and Google Widgets, Facebook and Microsoft Gadgets. “Do you have Live Video?” Shankur responded that they have partners like Veodia who are building a widget.

  Video: Webex guns for Enterprise Web Collaboration, joins Widget craze

WebEx Updates Web Collaboration Suite

Timely update given Microsoft Office Live Meeting 2007:

The WebEx collaboration suite consists of five applications, each designed for specific collaborative business processes. The suite comprises WebEx Meeting Center, WebEx Event Center, WebEx Sales Center, WebEx Training Center and WebEx Support Center.

...

The upgraded platform provides network-based recording (NBR) capabilities for web conferencing, allowing hosts to record sessions and create valuable libraries of archived meetings, events, seminars and support sessions. Unlike traditional desktop-based recording, WebEx network-based recording is optimized to allow on-demand streaming and downloading of archived sessions.

Administrators can configure WebEx NBR to automatically capture all meeting content, including chat, presentations, and audio and video data. WebEx NBR can be easily customized to archive files on a company's write-once read-many (WORM)-compliant storage network. Content is recorded in a highly secure format, optimized for scalable storage, and customers can customize the solution's administrative settings to meet their specific retention polices.

.....

With more than 100 new usability features across the suite, WebEx Fall 2007 makes it easier to participate in meetings. Automatic form completion and attendee profiles with preferred telephone numbers make joining meetings faster and easier. In addition, asynchronous collaboration capabilities improve attendee participation between meetings, whether it is through a customized sales portal in the WebEx Sales Center or an enhanced post-event survey for WebEx Event Center.

Other features highlighted in WebEx Fall 2007 include:

WebEx Meeting Center

- Advanced multimedia presentations with up to six simultaneous live video streams

- Streamlined meeting and audio conferencing with personalized attendee settings

- Presentations with PowerPoint notes/scripts on a private panel visible only to the presenter

WebEx Event Center

- Improved pre- and post-event interactions with advanced closed-loop lead-management capabilities

- Integrated event archiving to create valuable online libraries of recorded events for training or marketing

WebEx Sales Center

- Enhanced prospect portals that accelerate sales cycles by engaging prospects outside the web meeting

- Automatic salesperson notification when prospects access their WebEx Sales Center portals

WebEx Training Center

- Comprehensive testing and tracking capabilities to help instructors monitor learner progress and program effectiveness

- Automated waitlist feature that helps trainers maximize registration WebEx Support Center

- New console option that improves productivity by allowing technical support representatives to easily manage multiple active sessions

- Instant web-based chat without any download for customers

- Customizable chat phrase library to help technical support agents        deliver faster responses and resolution

WebEx Makes the Web a Better Place to Meet with the Launch of Fall 2007 Web Collaboration Suite

IBM Acquires WebDialogs

The acquisition of WebDialogs creates as many interesting opportunities for IBM as much as it raises concerns over alignment and integration with Sametime. IBM has struggled over the years to deliver an effective and sustained solution for hosted web conferencing. While I have not come across WebDialogs all that often in the large enterprise (compared to Cisco (WebEx), Microsoft, or Adobe), I expect that IBM gains here are in the SMB market. It also benefits by acquiring the reseller/partner channels of WebDialogs.

During an analyst pre-briefing call, IBM said:

• the acquisition has already been completed
• the brand would be "IBM Lotus Sametime Unyte"

Questions I have asked:

Skype alignment

1. Does this change the business relationships between Skype and WebDialogs (Unyte)
2. Does this mean we can expect presence and IM federation with Skype users

My view: IBM needs to do this and I believe it will happen. Skype is hugely popular and this type of interoperability would further differentiate IBM from Microsoft (re: IBM's federation with Google/XMPP). I'm not sure that eBay/Skype will get all that closer to IBM though but the technical interop makes sense.

Salesforce AppExchange

1. You can initiate and manage online meetings from within Salesforce – any changes in how IBM now will work with Saleforce?
2. Does this signal some greater focus from IBM as a collaboration services provider into AppExchange?

My View: IBM also need to do this as well. This deal gets a lot more strategic (given Cisco's acquisition of WebEx and likely build-out of WebEx Connect). IBM needs to build a relationship with Salesforce in the area of unified communications and collaboration. I can imagine Lotus Connections being valuable within a Salesforce context for instance.

WebDialogs & Sametime

1. What happens to WebIntertalk

- A click to talk solution for e-Service (more e-Business/CRM centric)

My View: Out of my space but a good question to ask.

Sametime alignment with Unyte Meeting

1. When to use one or the other? 
2. Swappable conferencing engines? 
3. Integration between the two?
4. Does the Unyte desktop/application/remote control sharing get added into ST? 
5. Expeditor future as client underpinning?

My view: IBM needs to aggressively get out ahead of this topic and alleviate any fear from the install base that ST web conferencing is no longer strategic, etc. I would expect that the on-premises version of Unyte is not strategic to IBM and that there will not be a swap-in / swap-out option but I can see certain components of Unyte ending up in Sametime and a future role for Expeditor for Unyte.

IBM Online service business model

1. Keep “Unyte Conference” brand? 
2. Maintain Webdialogs reseller program?
3. Move to IBM infrastructure/data centers?
4. What happens to existing customers, partners, channel?

My view: The branding seems resolved and I expect IBM will maintain current customer and partner relationships for the time being ("do no harm").

Zoho Gears Up For Offline

File this under "continuous improvement" for web-based productivity tools:

TechCrunch

Online office suite Zoho will launch offline functionality for Zoho Writer this morning, and other applications in their suite will follow shortly.

The offline functionality was built on Google Gears, an open source project launched by Google in May 2007. Users will need to install a browser plugin to take advantage of the functionality. After that, an option will appear in the navigation bar to “Go Offline.” The feature works with Internet Explorer v.6 and higher, and with Firefox (including Mac) v1.5 and higher.

For now they are offering read-only functionality offline. Read-write functionality will appear in 3-4 weeks, the company says. Zoho will also begin to roll out offline functionality for their spreadsheet, presentation and other applications in the coming weeks.

Zoho Goes Offline (in a good way)

Mashable

The video below shows how to use the offline features - visit the screencast direct for a less fuzzy version.

Zoho Writer Goes Offline with Google Gears