EW2 Companies

Wikis, Collaboration Tools

Imagine an industrial-strength enterprise app that is so simple to use that it requires no training or special knowledge to learn and so smart that it makes all users instantly more productive?  Imagine the knowledge office equivalent of the supermarket revolution that turned every checker into a whiz.  The European-based software firm System One has developed a brillant collaborative knowledge management tool that may be just that.  It makes finding, capturing and sharing information with co-workers as easy as dragging a can of soup across a bar code scanner.  System One searches both web and enterprise data–emails, documents, database records, web pages, RSS feeds and intranet files–as well as proprietary internal systems to which the particular user has access, such as  SAP or CRM applications. That search capability alone would make it valuable tool but what makes System One truly a killer app is its seamless integration of enterprise data and authoring with real-time analysis of what you write. 

JotSpot 2.0 cleverly brings the wiki metaphor (collaborative webpages editable by team members) into most users’ comfort zones by adding a suite of familiar Microsoft Office-like tools that allow them to venture into new territory accompanied by trusted old friends.   JotSpot 2.0 comes equipped with a fully functioning word processor that works just like Word, as well as simple applicatons for creating  spreadsheets, calendars, file cabinets, and photo galleries.  From the user’s perspective, it’s business as usual.  No messy HTML, no sense of creating webpages.  There are several other applications that can be added as needed, including a tidy project management app and a decent blog.  JotSpot is the friendliest, easiest-to-use wiki to date and adding the familiar office apps was a stroke of brilliance. 

Blogtronix was conceived from the ground up to be an enterprise social media platform that would integrate easily into existing IT enterprise desktop infrastructures, which are overwhelmingly Microsoft.  Sure the big M is boring and proprietary and sneaky and all the things we love to hate, but CIOs are comfortable with it and they have spent years learning to manage Microsoft installations in terms of the only three things they really care about–security, reliability and scalability.  Exciting and revolutionary are tied for dead last on the enterprise software priority list.   

How do you maintain a fresh, engaging intranet that 350 employees will actually use–without hiring a full-time editor?  That’s one of the challenges often faced by mid-sized companies and big departments within larger enterprises.  The solution, devised by Vancouver technology consulting firm One Intranets and software developer OpenRoad Communications, is ThoughtFarmer, an extremely easy-to-use hybrid of the best features of wiki and CMA technology. Designed specifically for intranets, ThoughtFarmer is an innovative re-imaginating of the internal corporate portal as a employee-managed community space. 

Near-Time, Inc. is a hosted Web-based collaboration and team support service for all environments. By integrating Weblogs and Wikis, the service enables groups to create a knowledge repository as they collaborate.

Databases

Dabble DB is an extremely appealing online database creator that allows you to instantly copy data from MS Excel into its web application and massage the data in ways that are dificult to do with Excel.  Dabble DB will even turn your data into an interactive relational database and let you share it with co-workers through RSS and iCal.

Real-Time Information Management

Founded in 2000 by a couple of geeks named Adam Rifkin and Rohit Khare around the rather esoteric idea of “event routing technology” (basically software they tells users in real-time when something they’re interested in happens), KnowNow  provides a publish and subscribe platform that allows users to specify the information they want delivered, when and where they want it, as it is published. 

Tello, a San Mateo-startup started by Vonage founder Jeff Pulver is betting heavily not just on connecting the right people at the right but with providing business applications that will allow them to collaborate in real-time.  For example, a worker in Los Angeles can talk and work simultaneously on documents, spreadsheets, slides, Web pages and so on with colleagues, partners or customers in London or Tokyo using phone, instant message, mobile devices, cellular or regular networks. The technology works on phones, computers, and other web-enabled mobile devices.  Tello allows calls and messages be be routed through the Internet, or on commercial systems, depending on a user’s preference, and the system tracks each customer’s overall communication activities and costs at a central location. 

Retail (Vertical)

 Zixxo has a simple interface that allows merchants to create a coupon online, or upload an image of an existing coupon, and then ZiXXo syndicates the coupons through its own website, custom email alerts, custom RSS feeds and a growing network of syndication partners.  Consumers simply print the coupons, on demand, and redeem them with local businesses.  The local angle and the RSS distribution are the main tweaks.   

Social Bookmarking  
ConnectBeam is a startup that aims to take tagging and bookmarking into the enterprise marketplace which is—in principle, at least–a great idea but also one that faces some formidable cultural barriers.   The company’s ultimate success will depend upon whether it can convince CIOs and CEOs that its solution delivers a clear and measurable payoff in increased productivity that is greater than the sum of their fears.

Widgets

MuseStorm has a collection of customizable forms that allow you to easily create widgets for RSS feeds, Google Search, News and Definition, Technorati, YouTube, Amazon Books, eBay Auctions, Flickr photos and del.icio.us tags.  Create a feed, push a button, and MuseStorm generates code that you can drop into your blog or web page. 

 

Comments