Collaboration Software

Google expands enterprise offerings

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 06:59:57 -0500

As you will recall, just a few short weeks ago, Google expanded its enterprise offerings with Google Apps Team Edition, a controversial product that would allow end-users to deploy collaboration software without the IT department's blessing or knowledge. While the dust that the company kicked up with that release still hasn't settled, that hasn't stopped the big G from unleashing yet another piece of web-based productivity software on the corporate world. Last week, the company launched Google Sites, essentially a reworking of the JotSpot online service, which Google acquired in 2006. A sort of companion application to Google Docs, Sites allows users to create documents and websites that can then be collaboratively edited and managed by various members of a team. Additionally, the suite allows users to track tasks, create image galleries and organize their contacts. While it might seem like Sites can perform a wide range of functions, as Ars Technica notes, "...many users may feel that Google stripped out far too many of the rich collaboration tools that originally made JotSpot so appealing." Regardless, it seems likely that the company will continue to improve the service as it has with Docs, in order to inch closer toward a full-fledged online collaboration suite.

For more on Google Sites:
- see this Ars Technica article

Shame on you, Google

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 07:00:00 -0500

It's not much of a stretch to call Google one of the most trusted companies in tech. Unlike Microsoft, any wireless carrier or virtually any hardware vendor, consumers tend to trust Google and their "do no evil" motto. The company is generally seen as working for the good of the average netizen while pursuing profits, rather than doing whatever it takes to make a buck.

Now, most of that is probably true. Given their public actions during the last few years, it really does seem like Google generally tries to avoid doing anything "evil" in their quest to catalog all of the world's information (I'll leave it to you, reader, to decide whether or not that aim is inherently evil). But as you'll see in today's issue, the company has crossed a line this week. You might not know it yet but Google has covertly declared war on your IT department.

The company's latest enterprise product, Google Apps Team Edition, is essentially a clone of the enterprise version of Google Apps with one key difference: it doesn't require the IT department's blessing in order to be deployed. The application package can be set up, run and administered entirely by users, without the IT department's knowledge. And what happens when the IT department eventually stumbles upon the fact that users are using unsanctioned collaboration software? Why, they can simply purchase a real version of Google Apps and roll it out to the entire company. How convenient!

So, why is Google doing this? Just to annoy IT departments far and wide, most of whom are already up to their necks in self-proclaimed "power users" running unapproved software? Though it might seem that way, the real answer is far less vexing. Quite simply, Google wants to sell its software. And for all the hype you've heard about Google Apps being an "Office killer," the fact of the matter is that most enterprises are still years away from moving their mission-critical apps onto the web--leave alone trusting their confidential documents to an external server.

If you ask me, the time for Google Apps (and other web-based applications, for that matter) in the enterprise has not yet come. What Google should do is continue working on the suite, making it more and more attractive to IT departments and enterprises with each iteration. Instead, they're resorting to sneaky tactics in order to get their apps into the hands of business users. While the users might appreciate that, such tactics are not going to endear Google to anyone in IT. It seems to me that Google has failed to understand one of the tech world's most universal rules: if you want to get into the enterprise, you have to go thorough IT first. -Mehan

Intel pulls out of OLPC project

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 06:59:53 -0500

Everyone's favorite on-again-off-again couple, Intel and the OLPC project are back in the news again and this time, it looks like the breakup might be permanent. As you'll recall, after months of marketing the rival Classmate PC and badmouthing the OLPC project in the press, Intel and the OLPC folks buried the hatchet back in July, with Intel contributing funds to the OLPC project and even joining the board of directors. Intel clearly had its eye on the next-gen OLPC XO (as the current model uses an AMD chip) and was even said to be developing a mobile platform expressly for this purpose. Despite this fact, it continued to market the Classmate PC, competing directly with the XO in a number of markets. Apparently OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte wasn't having any of that and requested that Intel either stop selling the Classmate PC or hit the road. And hit the road they did. "We've reached a philosophical impasse with OLPC," Intel spokesperson Chuck Mulloy told the Wall Street Journal. While it's certainly unfortunate that the collaboration didn't work out, it always seemed strange to us that two fierce competitors had suddenly decided to partner up, so we can't say that we're all that surprised.

For more on the announcement:
- see this Wall Street Journal article (sub. req.)

Bill Gates: IT savvy needed to succeed

Fri, 14 Dec 2007 06:59:58 -0500

Now that he's phasing himself out of day-to-day operations at Microsoft, chairman Bill Gates has a bit more time on his hands. Apparently he's spending that time playing with huggable children's robots, making fun of old pal/rival Steve Jobs and penning columns for the BBC. In his latest turn as a scribe of the written word, Gates waxes philosophical about the skills needed to succeed in the modern world. "A solid working knowledge of productivity software and other IT tools has become a basic foundation for success in virtually any career," Gates writes. "Beyond that, however, I don't think you can overemphasise the importance of having a good background in maths and science." British spellings aside, Gates goes on to discuss the importance of collaboration and dispels the myth that software development is a solitary activity.

For the full column:
- head over to the BBC

Facebook sells stake, partners with RIM

Thu, 25 Oct 2007 06:59:59 -0400

Call it a sign of the times: Microsoft has announced that it has acquired a 1.6 percent stake in social networking service Facebook for $240 million--a deal that values the website at $15 billion. Microsoft will now sell Internet ads across the Facebook platform outside the U.S., expanding a marketing alliance first launched last year.

The news followed hours after Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz's keynote appearance at the CTIA Wireless I.T. and Entertainment event in San Francisco (photos), where he announced the debut of Facebook for BlackBerry Smartphones, a mobile social networking software application developed in collaboration with device maker Research In Motion. According to RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaridus, who joined Moskovitz onstage at CTIA, Facebook for BlackBerry Smartphones leverages the push-based BlackBerry system architecture with the open Facebook Platform--the app will make its carrier debut via an exclusive deal with T-Mobile.

"Mobile is the next frontier in social networking," Moskovitz said. Facebook for BlackBerry Smartphones enables Facebook users to send and view messages, photos and related content on a mobile device--it automatically pushes notifications to the BlackBerry device, allowing users to upload photos complete with captions and tags. The app also enables users to send event invites, manage photo albums and manage their Facebook status away from the PC.

Facebook and Research In Motion inaugurated their collaboration about six months earlier. "Within two days, we had our first working prototype, and we realized we were really on to something," Lazaridus said Thursday. "We realized that with two open platforms, we could start intimately linking them together."

According to Moskovitz, Facebook now boasts an active membership close to 50 million--after crunching numbers in the Microsoft deal, each of those members is worth roughly $300. It is also the most trafficked photo site on the web, housing close to four billion images. -Jason

For more on Facebook:
- see a photo slideshow of Moskovitz's keynote
- and read this New York Times article

SGI adds x86 servers, ready to exit bankruptcy?

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 20:01:35 -0400

Silicon Graphics, still struggling to survive after going bankrupt in May, now is launching a line of x86 servers. Its high-end servers use Intel Itanium chips, which haven't been very popular in the marketplace. The new servers, called Altix XE, are intended for Linux clustering and use Intel's latest dual-core Xeon chips--the 5100 "Woodcrest" series. SGI also announced a new midrange blade server, the Altix 450. (Email me with your bet on where SGI will be in 12 months.)

For more on IBM:
- read this Computerworld article

ALSO: HP unveils HPC blade. Article

PLUS: IBM, ClearSpeed in supercomputer collaboration. Article

IBM plans open-source style for new tools

Tue, 06 Jun 2006 20:01:37 -0400

IBM said it will open-source the core of its upcoming Rational Jazz collaboration and IT governance software. IBM will consider following the open-source model for its whole range of Rational products if developers approve of the Jazz program, the division's VP explained. Timeframes for Jazz's availability and the code release are not clear, nor is IBM revealing which public licenses it will use. Hopefully they will pick the standard GPL and not something controversial as Sun Microsystems has done.

For more on development tools:
- read this eWeek article

ALSO NOTED: Firefox 2.0 alpha now available; Wiki founder on collaboration; and much more...

Sun, 19 Mar 2006 19:00:50 -0500

> Dell will double staff in India to 20,000. Article

> Firefox 2.0 alpha now available. Blog

> Wiki founder on collaboration. Article

> Newbury all about location. Article

> Windows registry remedies. Article

And Finally... Justices to consider patent case. Article

Open-source collaboration meets VoIP

Mon, 13 Mar 2006 19:01:38 -0500

Asterisk and Zimbra, the popular open-source programs for IP telephony and calendaring/collaboration, respectively, are partnering to make new software together. The main advantage will be click-to-call (or conference) integration from directly inside Zimbra software. This sort of feature will be designed with what Asterisk called zimlets--code snippets based on open standards.

For more on the partnership:
- read this internetnews.com article

Classified ads app may have enterprise use

Wed, 22 Feb 2006 19:01:35 -0500

A start-up called Edgeio is working on a "Web 2.0" response to Craigslist. The idea is that users can post ads on their own sites using certain tags, which Edgeio for a small fee will aggregate. That's cool, and the company hasn't said anything about enteprise uses, but just imagine how it could change everything from collaboration to programming, personal file serving to tech support. Of course, there are security concerns, but Edgeio will definitely be a company to watch.

For more on Edgeio:
- see this SiliconBeat blog entry

ALSO: A patent for rich online apps. Article