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I came across a recent article at ebizq which conceptualizes the state of the collaboration market. Such articles have been written before also, and help you see the larger picture of where a highly dynamic collaboration market is headed, with new entrants pouring in everyday, each promising something new. some notable articles of this category, written by some very well known IT analysts are as follows:- Robin Good's Collaboration Map Map of the 2009 Enterprise 2.0 Marketplace - Dion Hinchcliff The current article i am talking about is called "The Collaboration Continuum" creates a segmentation with the purpose of identifying the "SMB sweet spot", i.e., the ideal solution or type of solution from an SMB perspective. On one end of the continuum are placed "free form solutions", solutions which are devoid of any structure and extremely easy and intuitive to use. Google Wave and acrobat.com have been identified as solutions of this category. Such solutions are ideal for ad-hoc teams which come together for a temporary purpose and disband thereafter. The next type of solutions come under "the workspace model". Tools don't cater to pure collaboration needs, but also to the need to work together on an ongoing basis.Tools are grouped together in "workspaces" for each group, where the members of that group can access tools to collaborate, access information and coordinate tasks and schedules. Google Apps, Zoho and HyperOffice Collaboration Software have been identified as solutions in this category. These solutions are suitable for small businesses, which need a balance of ease of use and structure. The final type is highly structured solutions ideal for large enterprises. These solutions are ideal where an IT department manages all the software tools and technologies used in the organization. These solutions need to integrate with a complex technological environment - databases, security systems, hardware etc. Moreover these companies have highly specialized workflows and need tools to reflect these workflows. Microsoft SharePoint and Lotus Notes have been identified as solutions in this domain. A very insightful article overall.Â
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