In 2008, the Web has transformed from a place to look for information to a place to share information. Social networking tools and applications exploded, with the release of the Facebook Platform and Google’s OpenSocial. Enterprises also saw an increase in the adoption of collaboration and social networking tools such as blogs, wikis, and LinkedIn. So what’s in store for 2009?
While early 2008 found enterprises buzzing about Facebook and some firms even adopted it as their Intranet platform, 2009 is seeing LinkedIn moving more rapidly to address enterprise social computing needs, according to new research by independent analyst firm, CMS Watch. CMS Watch released an update which evaluates twenty-six social computing platforms against eleven potential enterprise use-cases. Vendors reviewed include IBM, Microsoft, Google, Oracle, Jive, Telligent, Awareness, Drupal, SocialText, Lithium, and Ning, as well as Facebook and LinkedIn.
The launch of the public beta of Microsoft’s new Windows 7 operating on which so much depends was halted in the middle of the downloads when Microsoft said it underestimated the server power it would need to service demand.
Well, that was what it said. When it came back up, Microsoft said it would lift the initial 2.5 million limit it put on the thing until January 24. It also warned it could be “glitchy.”
IBM announced the availability of Lotus Notes 8.5 collaboration software with social computing features for all Mac OS X Leopard-powered computers. In addition, IBM’s free Lotus Symphony document, spreadsheet and presentation software will be available later this month for the Mac. Lotus Notes 8.5 provides significant storage savings over previous versions. Notes has an intelligent storage savings feature that ensures that only one copy of an attachment is kept on the mail server, resulting in an estimated 40 percent space savings.
Despite tightened spending by start-ups and tougher times for businesses overall, privately-held Voxel Dot Net reports a 72% increase in net income and a 63% increase in total revenue in 2008. The company has won several client wins away from bigger rivals, expanded key client relationships and grown its client base by 32%. Since its founding in 1999, most Voxel clients are online businesses, Web 2.0 companies and developers with small to medium IT infrastructure needs.
OK, raise your hand if your team has ever traded ten emails to address a problem that could have been solved in two minutes. Take one step forward if you’re spending eight or ten hours a week in unproductive conference calls, trying to work with peers in different locations. Don’t worry…you’re not alone.
“In the spirit of onward and upward,” wrote Google’s VP of Engineering, Vic Gundotra, on the official Google Code Blog at the end of last week, “we have decided to shut down the Mashup Editor, currently in limited private beta, in favor of the more powerful App Engine infrastructure.” Google is also “discontinuing” Dodgeball.com, Gundotra revealed - a mobile social networking service that lets users share their location with friends via text message.