Google Wave vs Salesforce Chatter

An open source software engineer, Mohamed Mansour, has created an extension for Google+ Hangouts - Hangout Pad for Google+, which allows you to collaborate on the text (or program code) while communicating in video chat. Although this extension is still to buggy, it's very interesting for several reasons. First, it doesn't use the official Google + API (because it doesn't exist so far). Hangout Pad is a plug-in for Google Chrome browser and embeds into Hangouts video chat using a complex hack (via Google Shared Spaces and Google Wave protocol). However, this tool shows the opportunities of expanding Google Hangouts (beware Skype!). The collaboration window (in this case the code editor) is located above the user video streams and it can contain anything. In addition, it is a cool demonstration of the future integration between Google Hangouts and Google Docs.

Recently the new project appeared in Google Labs - Google Shared Spaces. Judging by the title, it would be a perfect add-on for Google Apps. Because after cutting Google Groups there is no more convenient way to quickly create a shared space (with  wiki, calendar, tasks, files, discussions). However, meanwhile Google Shared Spaces provides only the library of gadgets that were created for Google Wave (for example, "Sudoku", "Poll", "Map", "Whiteboard", etc). Only difference is that now you can use these gadgets not in "waves" but as stand-along objects on separate pages. You can create a shared pace using any gadget, invite co-workers and collaborate there. Each gadget contains built-in chat, so you will be also able to communicate.

Google has published its plan concerning the Google Wave. And this plan has returned us to the optimism, which we had after the first presentation of this revolutionary product. The company will release an open-source version Wave in a Box, which can be installed on your own server. This version will include the core functionality of the Google Wave and will support all necessary tools for developers - gadgets, robots and data API. Thus, instead of the single SaaS service, we will have a large number of corporate Wave servers, which can exchange data via the open Wave-protocol. And the further Wave development will be implemented by the companies and users themselves. Probably, this new strategy will be even more appropriate for the main goal of Google Wave - to kill Email.

Today, Google has announced that it stops further development of its revolutionary collaboration service Google Wave. The official reason - "service has not seen the user adoption we would have liked". Two months ago Google Wave was opened to public and included into Google Apps, but apparently, not too many people gave it a second chance after not successful beta-testing. Google Wave will continue to exist, but in the future it may be closed - i.e. the service will be in the same state, as Google Notebook (although still with new user registration). For those who use the service, Google plans to open source the code of the main modules (so that they could restore the basic functionality on its own servers) and provide tools for migrating data from Google Wave. And now about why this occurred with the service that was supposed to change the world:

Pretty silently (not like when beta testing was started) the revolutionary service Google Wave has been opened to a public and added to the business suite of Google Apps. Interest towards Google Wave has been reducing since the release of this service (about a year ago). The primary reason for this is its complexity compared to the direct competitor - E-mail. Besides Google Wave appeared to be buggy during testing and scared even geeks. However, now Lars Rasmussen, the Wave project manager, argues that Google Wave is ready for high load and performs fast enough. In addition, developers have simplified adding comments and search for new changes in wave. They also have corrected the lack of integration with email - you can now set the email-notifications about changes in waves (although you can't add comments in the opposite direction - from the email).

Do you still remember Google Wave? This is the super-service which is going to change the world. Why it hasn't done this yet? Because it's too complicated, so bugs will be being fixed for a long time and people will need more time to learn how to work with it. Google Wave was introduced as an alternative to Email. Instead of cumbersome email-correspondence all messages are located on the same page. Great idea, but first, the creators underestimated the people's affection to e-mail, and secondly, they overloaded this page with too many features. Unlike Google Wave, Threadbox is going to be simpler and works perfectly together with the e-mail.

Collaboration is not the primary specialization of SAP, so the appearance of 12Sprints, an enterprise Google Wave alternative, is pretty surprising. Even more surprising is that 12Sprints - is a SaaS application, and SAP is not very good in this sphere. As you know, their primary SaaS solution, Business ByDesign - is delayed for almost 3 years because of the SaaS platform problems. Unlike it, 12Sprints quickly entered the public beta stage (and everyone can use it) that is also very unusual for SAP. Usually they provide only Powerpoint presentations without screenshots. So SAP is making progress in this new field, though 12Sprints in general loses in comparison to Google Wave.

On Friday nobody wants to read long news. Good video is much better. This is the video that was shown at the opening of the Dreamforce 2011 conference - probably the most glamorous event in the IT-industry. This video marks the focus change of Marc Benioff and his Salesforce. Last eight years the Dreamforce conference started and ended with the word Cloud. Now it changed. Moreover, one of the main news of this year conference was the opportunity for Salesforce customers to store part of their data on a local server, not in the Cloud. And the new main focus for Salesforce is Social Enterprise. Benioff is comparing modern companies with the Arab countries falling under revolutions: "Either CEOs will make their companies social, or customers and employees will depose them like Muammar Gaddafi". So what should a company do to become social?

Your company still don't use the (free) Chatter? Then Salesforce is coming to you. Today, the company has introduced the new version of this social collaboration tool. The new Chatter absorbed the functionality of the web-conferencing tool DimDim, that Salesforce acquired earlier this year. Now Chatter allows to see the online status of other users, communicate with them in real-time chat and even start screen-sharing sessions. The chat and screen-sharing support the group mode. In addition, Chatter now allows you to collaborate not only internally but also with external users. Now you can create an private group and invite your customers and partners to it.

In the past few days, the hype around Salesforce Chatter overshadows all other Enterprise 2.0 news. And of course, the developers of Chatter's main rival - Yammer have taken the chance to get a share of public attention and reminded Salesforce boss about how all this stuff was started. It started 3 years ago, when at the startup contest Techcrunch50 Yammer team introduced the world's first enterprise microblogging tool. Marc Benioff was the judge there and he expressed his excitement about the new service. And now, 3 years later Salesforce has introduced the Yammer's twin - Chatter.com. However, Yammer developers say that during those 3 years they where busy adding new features and have built much more advanced functionality and market progress. Yammer's progress is really amazing, but now it will be hard for them to compete with FREE Chatter.

Though Salesforce announced free Chatter back in November 2010 and it was officially launched on Feb. 1, 2011, we specifically waited for today when the joint project of Salesforce and Black Eyed Peas has been unveiled. It is a cool example of the beautiful marketing, that becomes an integral part of Enterprise 2.0. To be successful in today's economy every IT business needs to attract attention and, therefore, should become a show business. No one is very excited about the news like "Salesforce partnered with Dell". But the news "Salesforce partnered with Black Eyed Peas" - really attracts attention of potential customers. Nobody wants to look at how Marc Benioff talks about Chatter advantages, but it's very interesting to at him dancing to the Will.I.Am's bit:

Salesforce has acquired the popular SaaS service Manymoon, that is known as the best project management tool for Google Apps. Moreover, since Google Apps Marketplace opening, Manymoon has been the top app there. So, it would be logical is Google bought the service. But Salesforce, that is now aggressively taking on collaboration market, did it first. Obviously, soon the project management functionality will appear in Salesforce Chatter. In addition, for Salesforce this acquisition means getting a connetor to Google Apps. So we can also expect better integration between Chatter and Google services. According to the official Manymoon announcement, the service will continue to exist separately and will not change anything for the free and paid versions. Besides, the developers promise to continue adding new features. They also say that Salesforce will significantly improve the scalability, reliability and security of Manymoon.

Marc Benioff, Salesforce CEO, was in good mood during his conference call with financial analysts. First, he boasted that the company's revenues has grown by 30%, and profit - by 100% compared to the previous year, and that in 2012 fiscal year Salesforce expects to set the new great record for a SaaS industry - $2 billion revenue. Secondly, Mark announced that the social collaboration tool Chatter will be available in free edition. Benioff was very proud describing Chatter. This is the most successful Salesforce product in term of annual growth. Since the year after launch, it's used in 60000 companies, that makes it the most popular intranet social network. Among its users - Dell (90 thousand seats), Amazon, Bank of America, Motorola, Siemens and Vodafone. Yahoo! and Nokia use Chatter even not being Salesforce CRM users. And unlike Salesforce CRM users, that get Chatter for free, they pay $15 per user per month.

When Google Apps Marketplace launched, we noticed that Google's partner Salesforce hadn't joined this ecosystem. Now it's clear why. Salesforce is building its own ecosystem of collaborative applications around Chatter. Although Chatter (Facebook for enterprise) is nothing like Google Apps (email + docs), however the aim of both tools is the same - collaboration. At the ChatterExchange presentation, Marc Benioff has clearly stated that Chatter will compete with MS Sharepoint and IBM Lotus Notes (he modestly omitted Google Apps). "Don't be confused that these systems have little in common" - said Benioff, - "the fact that Sharepoint and Lotus Notes were created back in these days when people didn't use Twitter and Facebook and when the top collaborative technologies were email and shared folders".