Archive for Web 2.0
by Bill Ives
April 6, 2012 at 3:53 am · Filed under
Web 2.0
Alfresco started in 2005 and has been offering open enterprise content management (ECM) to an increasing number of clients to where they are now the largest open source content management company in the world. It contains a full set of content management features such as document and records management, workflow, version control, etc. I recently had a chance to speak with Todd Barr at Alfresco about their latest release: Alfresco Enterprise 4. This is the largest release of their content management platform in their history and contains a number of significant advancements.
In response to the changing market, they have added a cloud version to the existing on-premise offering. There are several significant aspects to this move. The cloud version (sign-up at cloud.alfresco.com) is truly Alfresco in the cloud, with the same user experience and core features as Alfresco Enterprise 4. More importantly, though, Alfresco Enterprise 4 (on premise) and Alfresco in the cloud will be able to talk to teach other and synch content, based on company policies. There is also cloud-style scalability as they can handle hundreds of millions of documents for single organizations. They have also ungraded their UI to more consistent with rising expectations of consumers on the Web. You can see a sample screen below with a variety of features including recently modified documents, site members, calendar, activities, and more.
There is an emphasis on integration with other productivity apps. This is key today with the capabilities of open APIs. You need to be able to get applications talking with each other as I have covered several times (see for example: Integrating the Interactions with the Transactions). The theme of this new release is “cloud connected content” – which is their way of saying that there are many cloud apps out there for file sharing, and there are bunch of enterprise content management platforms that do the back end work. They have to be tied together for real productivity. I would certainly agree.
Another area of significance is the support for iPhones, Android, and iPads. Work is getting increasingly mobile so this is for any business application. This is critical as more mobile devices are now sold than laptops. If you look globally many areas have skipped the laptop era and moved into the computer age through smart phones. You can see a sample iPad screen below.
Alfresco has also brought in a focused set of social features. They are not trying to become the all inclusive social networking platform but rather Alfresco uses social features to enhance content management, a good idea. For example you can like, comment and change documents. There is an activity stream that is focused around content. While you can manually add updates like Twitter, the bulk of the activity is from auto-generated updates that allow for an ambient awareness of the related content activity within you organization.
You can also do social publishing. You can push content directly to: Flickr, SlideShare, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn and even twitter. With the latter you get a tweet that links to the actual content. All of this is done within Alfresco so you do not have to get directly involved with these other tools, saving time and simplifying the task.
The ability for the cloud version to synch with the enterprise version opens up some useful possibilities. You can bring in content from consumer Web apps through the cloud version into the enterprise. They also plan to expand this connection to include the proliferation of mobile apps. Todd actually had me download a version of the cloud app and for it I was able to easily download his presentation and the screen shots you see, taking email out of the equation. I like what I see. I think the Alfresco is making all the right moves for make use of the opportunities that the trio of social, mobile, and cloud offer.
by Bill Ives
April 2, 2012 at 3:22 am · Filed under
Web 2.0
I was pleased to attend SXSW for the first time. Except for the long lines, it exceeded expectations for both the tech part and the music part. I have already provided a summary listing of all my session notes from SXSW Interactive. I want to share some creative Web technology from the music side in this post. I was fortunately to participate in two lake cruises with BAMM.tv during SXSW 2012. Each one featured two different bands and I will be covering these cruises in my following two posts. In this post I want to cover BAMM.tv itself as I think it is offering a great Web service to emerging bands. I spoke with Chris Hansen, their co-founder and CEO on the cruise. He is the middle below. They are trying to help bands get paid for their work as it appears online which is currently difficult for emerging bands.
BAMM.tv connects these emerging artists with global audiences in several ways. Through a global content distribution network, the company offers music video content from new artists to the web, mobile devices and television. BAMM.tv gives device makers and service providers a differentiated music offering without going through traditional music licensing, while giving artists free HD music video content creation, an instant global audience, and 50 percent of the net profits from the music video distribution agreements. This seems like a good deal for all sides.
Samsung, Chungwa Telecom, Taiwan’s largest telco provider, and Fuugo-TV, an integrated TV and mobile platform based in Finland are among the companies partnered with BAMM.tv at their launch in 2011. Samsung will feature BAMM.tv’s mobile and tablet application for discovering and sharing new music videos on its Android-based devices including the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Galaxy S2 smartphones, and on other mobile devices later this year. Other services already featuring BAMM.tv content include Select-TV, an IPTV provider servicing luxury hotels throughout Asia, and India’s MunduTV, a live TV app for PCs and mobile phones that has reached over four million downloads. BAMM.tv was also showing their new iOS app on the cruise. BAMM.tv will soon be in the Mozilla Marketplace where Mozilla is deploying HTML5 web apps.
It works like this. BAMM.tv curates top emerging artists across many genres including the four bands on the cruise, and produces high-quality HD performance videos in their San Francisco sound studios and at music festivals around the world, as well as interviews and behind-the-scenes video content. In return for the cost-free production and digital video editing, BAMM.tv receives a global license to distribute and monetize the content. The artist retains all of the copyrights, publishing and composition royalties associated with the underlying work. The video content is then fed into BAMM.tv’s growing content catalog which powers a suite of owned and partner applications (for mobile and tablet devices), TV services (pay-per-view content localized in many countries), ad-supported web streaming and more options.
This seems like a win-win and, if these four bands are representative, they have a great talent scout picking the artists. These bands are Soft Swells, Leah Siegal of Firehorse, Lee Kock, and Hollis Brown.
by Bill Ives
March 26, 2012 at 3:44 am · Filed under
Web 2.0
WebDAM Solutions, the cloud-based digital asset management (DAM) provider, have announced a technology collaboration with Box, the content-sharing platform, to provide streamlined digital asset management features to Box users. I have written about Box before (see Box.net Updates Interface and Becomes More Social).
I spoke with Ron Selvey, Marketing Manager at WebDaAM to get background on this move. Ron said that Box has adopted a great strategy of integrating with best of breed complementary apps. They paired up with WebDAM to establish a two-way integration capability. This offers Box users even greater efficiency when managing rich media files. It gives them streamlined workflow and automates many steps. As more firms are using rich media, especially marketing communications companies, this is a good move.
Now you can send files into Box for collaboration and into WebDAM for workflow tasks, such as approvals. Box users can easily open, edit, share, and save collateral from WebDAM or send files to WebDAM for control over marketing assets, rights management, conduct batch conversions, quick browsing, search, and automated sharing of marketing collateral (brand assets, images, graphics, videos, sales collateral, presentations, and more). The integration also provides a path for WebDAM’s marketing users to send content for real-time collaboration with Box users despite different systems, applications, and departments.
Both Box and WebDAM offer user-friendly interfaces, simple-yet-comprehensive features, and anytime/anywhere access to content so this should be a benefit to the rich media process. This move is consistent with the larger trend of increased application integration, especially between systems of engagement and systems of record. The WebDAM App for Box is now available to both WebDAM and Box users.
by Bill Ives
March 20, 2012 at 3:24 am · Filed under
Web 2.0
Application testing is a critical component of development and its importance and impact is often over looked. With the dramatic increase in mobile apps on a variety of platforms, testing could be the “gotcha” for many developers. Gorilla Logic has recognized this need and offers a suite of automated testing tools to ease the pain. I have covered them before on this blog (see The Rise in Mobile Apps Puts New Demands on Developers). I recently spoke with their CEO, Stu Stern and Ed Schwartz, VP of Engineering, on Gorilla Logic’s latest moves.
Gorilla Logic is a provider of enterprise application development services. They have also created open source testing tools for mobile and rich Internet applications. The tools are provided for free and they offer set up and support services. All of the functional is contained within the free version, as there is no premium commercial upgrade.
Monkey Talk is test tool for Apple’s iOS that records actions with the iPhone or iPad while in use and plays them back as a test script at any time. It enables the interactive creation, editing, and playback of automation scripts that exercise an application’s user interface. Monkey Talk provides similar capabilities in the for Adobe Flex environment. These tools can run tests in an automated, CI testing environment, that is especially suitable for Agile processes and generate native code for complete test customization and extensibility.
They are now offering similar capabilities for the Android environment. Monkey Talk for Android allows testers without in-depth Android Software Developer Kit (SDK) knowledge to quickly create testing scripts. An Eclipse-based control console provides easy creation and editing of automation scripts. Scripts can be created and run on an emulator or actual device and it supports virtually all Android SDK UI components and gestures. There is automatic generation of extensible test scripts in either Java or JavaScript and you can run tests in continuous integration environments. Here is an example of how the record, playback and code generation features interact.
Stu pointed out the Monkey Talk allows for high level recording of gestures, such as swipe, rather than low-level touch events, so that recorded scripts are readable and editable, and can even be created from scratch without recording.
Monkey Talk can help integrate the efforts of Agile team members. Testers can use the interactive console without any programming requirements. Developers can stay within native code and test engineers can operate in the easier to use Javascript. Here is an example of how Monkey Talk works with Apple iOS in both its native Objective-C and Javascript.
Their next move is to combine the capabilities to handle the testing of both Apple iOS and Android apps in the same tool. This makes sense as developers often create apps to play in both of these environments and now they will have one tool to handle both. Gorilla Logic’s support services include startups, annual supports, and incident support. They will soon offer a complete outsourcing of your app testing.
Testing is a critical component of application success. In some ways it has become even more important in the self-service transparent world we now live in. As Stu mentioned, in the past if an app did not work, a user might complain to their IT shop. Now they go to a review Web site and tell the world.
by Bill Ives
March 16, 2012 at 3:06 am · Filed under
Web 2.0
I have written about Novell products before, including Novell Pulse and Novell Teaming, and was pleased to recently speak with Kari Woolf, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Novell GroupWise and Dean Lythgoe, Director, Product Management, Novell Collaboration Solutions. The first question I had was the relationship between GroupWise, Pulse and Teaming.
The answer allowed Kari to explain how they have regrouped their collaboration product line. GroupWise is the individual collaboration tool that includes email and other features. Novell Vibe is the new name for their team collaboration tool, replacing Teaming and has new features. The most important capabilities of Pulse were added to both GroupWise and Vibe and it is no longer a separate product. They also took the very important step of completely integrating GroupWise and Vibe. Here is a sample GroupWise Vibe integration screen.
There are two additional products in the collaboration suite. Novell Data Synchronizer handles mobile connections and third party integration such as CRM systems. This is a critical capability because, as I have written several times, you need to be able to integrate the new school social tools with the old school enterprise apps for enterprise 2.0 to really work. (see for example: Integrating the Interactions with the Transactions). The other tool is Novell Messenger and it handles IM and presence. It comes with both GroupWise and Vibe.
Kari also shared some interesting data (provided by Osterman Research) that shows that email is still quite prevalent. The average worker spends 134 minutes a day on email, 61 minutes on the phone, 28 minutes on SMS and other related tools, and 11 minutes on social networking tools. This covers a little less than half the workday. It makes sense but I spend more time on Twitter and it is usually in short moments of “found” time. I also think that those who work at home, like me, are more likely to want this virtual outreach.
GroupWise 2012 and Vibe 3.2 are client/server apps and with hosted options available through third parties. The GroupWise Vibe integration allows for search queries with results from each, live Vibe data in email messages and embedded Vibe workspaces in the GroupWise folder list. GroupWise also provides icon badges for emails from such tools as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Vibe. There is also Skype integration providingclick to call, presence, and embedded SMS. This is a very useful feature. Below is a sample Skype screen.
There is also an improved Web version of GroupWise as more clients have requested this and you can see the screen below.
Novell has long had support for smart phones including iOS, Android, Windows Mobile, and Symbian. Now they have web templates specifically designed for the iPad to take advantage of its tablet features. You can view and select folders, compose and read: mail, appointments, tasks, and reminders. There is also calendar and name completion. Below is a sample iPad screen.
I like what they are doing in both reorganizing their product line in a way that makes sense and their focus on integration that is essential. The seamless move between email and the team collaboration platform will make collaboration very efficient.
by Bill Ives
March 8, 2012 at 3:17 am · Filed under
Web 2.0
Having written extensively on the I-prize efforts at Cisco (see Cisco Announces I-Prize Winner and Results of Their Global Collaboration and Cisco Announces Second I-Prize Winner) I was very interested in their enterprise collaboration efforts. So I was pleased to recently speak with Murali Sitaram, vice president and general manager of Cisco’s Cloud Collaboration Applications Technology Group (CCATG), to discuss Cisco’s cloud collaboration strategy. It includes leading enterprise cloud applications for web conferencing (WebEx), instant messaging (Jabber) and enterprise social software (Quad) but goes much beyond that.
Murali began by noting that we have entered the post-PC era. It is not longer a single operating system on a single device. Now there are multiple smart devices, many mobile, that have more capabilities than the PCs of a few years ago. There are also multiple operating systems and thousands of apps that you can download from the cloud through app stores. This is occurring both on the Web and within the enterprise where BYOD is spreading. Now we have mobile devices, social applications, visual media, and virtual storage. This has certainly transformed the challenges faced by IT departments trying to keep up with their user’s requirements.
Cisco’s strategy in this post-PC world is to deliver collaboration on any device, anywhere and at anytime. Key to this strategy is a cloud offering that can deliver these services over any network and support all of the popular PC, tablet and phone operating systems that users bring into the workplace as a part of the “BYOD” pheonomenon.
Murali introduced a useful collaboration quadrant (see image below). In the upper left is Communications where Cisco a market leader. It has 37% of enterprise voice, 52% of telepresence, and 45% of SaaS webconferencing, leading each of these three categories by a significant margin. They are also the number two SaaS service with 5.8 million registered hosts worldwide. In the upper right is the People side with social capabilities and identity management. This is an area that Cisco is making some serious moves. It is the right direction as people, rather than documents, are becoming the center of collaboration and the means to create connections within the new social enterprise. As Murali expressed, it now more “who” than “what” than shapes communication.
In the lower left is Business Processes such as CRM and ERP. Here Cisco is taking an integration and partnership strategy. In the lower right is Information Management where they have also adopted with same integration and partnership approach. This makes a lot of sense. Build on your strengths in communications to add social and other people related capabilities that are a natural fit and extension of communications. Then, do not re-invent capabilities where there are plenty of strong partners to work with and where new options for integration are opening up with increased API functionality.
As part of their move into the People quadrant, the next generation of Web Ex is designed for the complete meeting cycle. It offers a centralized meeting space to streamline items before, during and after a meeting – from meeting agendas, presentations and notes shared during the meeting to follow up actions and meeting recordings. The solution that now supports HD video is interoperable with Cisco TelePresence and supports two-way video on the Cisco Cius, Apple iPad and Apple iPhone. The solution also supports a set of common APIs that can integrate third party applications such as CRM offerings. There is also integrated calendaring and scheduling.
Cisco has also expanded its collaboration platform, Quad with a comprehensive set of features. There are profiles and you follow people with a single click. There is an activity stream and watch list capability and you can share comments and ideas. You can create rich content with micro-blogs, wikis, documents, and videos. Real-time collaboration is available and recordable for future use. Backend applications such as calendaring, document management, and custom enterprise apps are accessible. You can search for experts and determine presence. Mobility is supported for both smart phones and tablets. Here is a sample Quad screen.
All of these features provide a totally integrated user experience taking email down to the role of a relatively minor player as the rich nature of communication options, including presence and the ability to switch quickly to real-time communications, provides a much richer set of options. You can even bring email into Quad if needed.
To supplement these communication capabilities Cisco is offering a new freely downloadable Cisco Jabber Web browser plug-in that lets companies and developers embed UC collaboration capabilities into any web-based application. The kit is highly customizable, and with just a web browser, users can connect, communicate, and collaborate with presence, IM and click-to-call or click-to-video capabilities within line of business web applications or general purpose, public-cloud web applications.
One example of Cisco’s new approach to collaboration can be found at Virgin Media that recently announced they are deploying Cisco Quad, Cisco WebEx, Cisco Unified Communications as part of its Flexible Working Initiative. By putting people and not the device at the center of collaboration, Virgin is now able to support a more flexible work environment. People can co-work from a variety of office locations or from home. Virgin Media’s employees will now be able to collaborate and work remotely with video calls and shared documents from the device of their choice: PC, laptop, tablet or mobile phone.
I like what they are doing. As Murali mentioned, people, rather than documents, are becoming the center of collaboration. Cisco is well positioned to make its strength in communication more social to address this shift in how work is being is done in the connected enterprise. I plan to speak again with them to take a deeper dive into the specifics of the relevant products offerings.
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