Team Collaboration

• Cisco Buys WebEx for $3.2 B … Wow, Cisco bit the bullet and announced the acquisition of WebEx for $3.2 billion in cash. “Cisco believes the network is a platform for all forms of communications and collaboration, and WebEx’s technology and services portfolio complement Cisco’s leadership in the Unified Communications and collaboration market, while providing Cisco with a new and unique business model to expand its presence in the fast-growing SMB market.” The Boards of each company have signed off. Cisco, ComputerWorld. Commentary: A very thoughtful Steve discusses what he sees as the strategy. Michael says “WebEx is exactly the kind of a company that is being disrupted by new web startups, who are creating cheaper and better alternatives to older web applications“. See also analyst comments at ComputerWorld (eg, “it’s about competing with Microsoft”).
• Mindquarry Collaboration Server … The Mindquarry Collaboration Server offers a suite of collaboration tools, including file sharing, wikis, task management, and (soon) instant messaging. It is open source, and runs on Mac, Linux and that other platform commonly used in business. Available immediately. Mindquarry (PDF)
• Clearspace Analysis … Pedro reviews the Jive Clearspace collaboration platform that offers a variety of user-centric Web and messaging technologies including blogs, discussions, wikis, instant messaging, email, tag clouds, RSS and more. “Certainly, it sounds like a corporate Web 2.0 playground. Yet rather than create wild and woolly MySpace for the enterprise, Jive straddles the line between openness and corporate responsibility with controls that govern access, rights, moderation and workflow to avoid a free-for-all and legal misadventures. What results is a composed, professional-looking space to communicate and conduct business.” Enterprise IT Planet
• Burton Group on Microsoft 2007 … The Burton Group Institute is hosting a one-day workshop on Microsoft Office 2007 and SharePoint 2007, on April 25 in Boston MA. “The vendor-independent workshop, led by Burton Group collaboration and content management experts Peter O’Kelly and Homan Farahmand, will delve into the strategic SharePoint implications — both positive and negative — for enterprises to consider.” Registration required. Burton Group Institute
• Qwaq Forums … Qwaq released Qwaq Forums, a hosted virtual workplace that represents the shared area as a 2D or 3D virtual place. “By creating a complete, virtual space with all the tools, data and interactivity needed for a single topic, a Qwaq Forum creates a highly immersive environment where ideas can be explored, solutions to issues tried out, and where content can be created and used.” Qwaq
• Calgoo Beta … Calgoo released a cross-platform universal calendaring client, that integrates and synchronizes between Google Calendar, Outlook and iCal. “The Calgoo folks are also working to add value beyond simple calendar synchronization. Other features here include showing meeting locations on Google Maps, a task list (not synchronized with any other applications yet), and tagging and filtering options to help you manage truly cluttered calendars. The product is still definitely in beta (printing and the ability to invite Outlook contacts to a meeting are both missing, for example), but if you’re living a cross-platform life it shows definite promise for the future.” Available immediately, in beta. WebWorkerDaily, Calgoo

Mobility

• NewsGator for BlackBerry … NewsGator released NewsGator Go! for BlackBerry and NewsGator Go! for Java, mobile RSS readers for BlackBerry handhelds and those powered by Java. “NewsGator Go! gives individual and business users the ability to access news and other time-sensitive content from any RSS-enabled source through virtually any popular mobile device.” Subscriptions and status will synchronize with other NewsGator products. NewsGator

Productivity

• Work Less, Get More Done … Five strategies to work less and get more done: (1) restrict your work hours to increase efficiency, (2) create a map for your day, (3) schedule times to check email, (4) relax and don’t try to force yourself to work harder, and (5) cut yourself some slack. 901am
• Deliver a Great Presentation … 10 tips to delivering a great group presentation. Selling Power
• “Where Will I Look for this Later?” … Mark talks about the cost of disorganization, and shares a disarmingly simple question for deciding on where to put things. Productivity501