Tag: Market Analysis
What is the marketshare of Groupware Solutions in The Netherlands ?
Marketshare information specificly for The Netherlands is very scarce. The Dutch ICT magazine Computable Automatiseringgids regularly publishes statistics / market researchinformation by MarketCap. The actual artcle is only in Dutch, but I gladly took the time to translate the highlights.
First the chart, which says it all basicly :
This research is undertaken by MarketCap in preparation for a new report on th use of Open Source Software and Linux. The initial results of this research show a big difference in markshares for Groupware in the market for Linux users compared to non Linux users.
This research shows the overall marketshare for Microsoft Exchange at 65,1% which is by far the largest compared to Lotus Notes (16,2%) and Novell GroupWise (18,6).
The research is done in the business market in 600 companies of 50+ FTE.
Source : Computable Automatiseringgids, Friday June 3, 2005
Messaging Pipeline | Nemertes: IBM Announcement Moves Lotus Collaboration Deeper Into Real-Time
Messaging Pipeline has some coverage of IBM Real Time adventures by Melanie Truk of Nemertes Research. I though I’d take a look at the highlights of this :
IBM gave customers a first look at the future of its Lotus Notes client this week, and the software bodes well for both the vendor and its users. Code-name ‘Hannover,’ the application has a dramatically new look, but it also boasts some welcome (nay, required) feature changes, too.
Need to read more into what ‘Hannover’ actually is. What I do find funny is that the Microsoft RTC Productgroup uses names of cities as codenames for thier solutions (Vienna, Budapest, Istanbul, etc). I think Microsoft’s Real Time Communication solutions have already continued the journey beyond Hannover …
The key words for IBM are ‘activity-centric collaboration.’ In Hannover, users will get access to collaboration tools regardless of where they’re working within Notes. And the company has caught up with the competition on presence technology, making it pervasive within the application. Whenever Hannover users see a name, they can also see the presence information about the contact, then click to start an IM session, write an e-mail, or call over an IP-enabled phone.
mmm Presence integration / contextual collaboration, where have I seen that before …
‘Activity-centric collaboration’ is IBM’s term, but it boils down to contextual collaboration–a concept Microsoft, Nortel and others have been promoting for some time. The goal in either case is to let users create, manage and share information regardless of type (e-mail, IM, PowerPoint, voice call)–around a particular issue or group.
… oh that’s it, in the whole of Microsoft Office System. So IBM is following Microsoft’s vision on this more or less
Frankly, it’s high time IBM got into the real-time collaboration game. The good news is Hannover promises more content-management capabilities than its competitors, which bodes well for collaborative companies whose employees routinely share documents across projects or teams. Hannover will let them store and manage all the information affiliated with a project in one place (one that is decidedly not the user’s inbox).
ok, so it promises more content management capabilities; lets’s wait and see, afterall the competition is not waiting and doing nothing afterall, it is not 1st half of 2007 yet ..
The new software also supports composite applications, so developers can integrate Lotus Notes with line-of-business application components to solve specific business problems and create role-based tools for employees. And the vendor hasn’t lost sight of its roots: some of the upgrades are e-mail centric, and include new ways to view, sort and filter e-mail.
Wonder how this compares to Microsoft’s initiatives like Information Bridge FrameWork and developments like Mendocino, a joint intiative of SAP and Microsoft ? IBF and Mendocino are true examples of a contextual approach, providing information workers with access to relevant information from backend systems directly in their MS Office environment.
IBM Lotus’ news has the following impacts:For IT executives: IBM users waiting for their version of a real-time communications dashboard should get it soon, and it looks great. The one downside today: no federation with other presence sources, such as Microsoft’s Live Communications Server or AOL. For vendors: IBM has been relatively silent on the presence-driven front. As that situation changes, they will no doubt become more of a threat to both their traditional and non-traditional competitors, especially among their (often loyal) installed base.
So seriously lacking federation support, not a strong point for a collaboration solution. Here’s some information of Microsoft’s Live Communications Server 2005 and it’s Federation solutions
Comprehensive report on Collaboration in The Register
The Register has published a very comprehensive report on collaboration; it based on feedback of some 3400 respondents. Some findings from the article and the link to the report:
Reg Readers on Collaboration | The RegisterNot surprisingly, e-mail was regarded as a business critical application by over 70 per cent of respondents, with most of the rest saying that it was important. It was also no surprise that the vast majority of organisations make use of information repositories of one kind or another to share information internally, though a bit more interesting to see 30 per cent of you telling us that these repositories have now been opened up to customers, partners, and so on for external access. It seems as if some of the portal technology such as Sharepoint and Workplace that is designed particularly for internal and extranet use, is taking root. Turning to more real-time collaboration, the picture is mixed with traditional telephone conferencing. About half of respondents overall told us they used telephone conferences frequently in place of face to face meetings, though usage was skewed towards larger organisations who are more likely to have the necessary internal infrastructure in place. This points to a clear need for cost effective services from the likes of BT, for example, whose charges for teleconferencing services are higher than many smaller businesses are willing to pay. Disappointingly for many enthusiastic vendors, the picture for video conferencing is extremely bad (forgive the pun). Many larger corporates have invested in dedicated video conferencing suites, but they just sit there gathering dust in 60 per cent of cases, with very little usage. Respondents also made it clear that the jury is still out on the relevance and user experience of desktop conferencing. But instant messaging (IM) is becoming hot for business use, with a surprisingly high 40 per cent of organisations now formally accepting its use and about another quarter acknowledging more ad hoc adoption by users. And distribution of activity is quite an eye-opener also. Adoption is polarised, with high levels of use in the very large organisations who have been investing in enterprise class IM facilities, and small organisations working under a relatively relaxed IT regime in which public IM services may be used freely. There’s lots more details and some other interesting stuff on push-to-talk mobile services, use of integrated desktop collaboration tools, and which types of communication people regard as being part of the formal record, so please download your copy of the report here.
What’s Microsoft’s position in the world of Portals and Collaboration ?
There still is a lot of perception about Microsoft’s position in the field of Portal solutions and as a collaboration platform. Recently released research materials hopefully will help change this perception.
Gartner Group recently released the Magic Quadrant for Horizontal Portal Products, 2005 which clearly shows Microsoft’s position in this field :
Microsoft moves into the Leaders quadrant for the first time. SharePoint Portal Server 2003 continues to improve, and the Office franchise continues to grow. A key part of the Microsoft Office System, Windows SharePoint Services, is being widely adopted, which has created a pull-through effect for SharePoint Portal Server. Microsoft had the highest growth rate of all the portal product vendors during the past year.
The report can be downloaded from the Microsoft website here.
Also Forrester has released some interesting research material on the market for collaboration solutions. Here’s what Forrester has to say :
Microsoft emerges as an early collaboration platform leader. Trends in messaging server and broader collaboration platform deployments favored Microsoft in 2004.
Microsoft has also begun to establish a lead as a collaboration platform provider to ISVs. PLM vendor UGS and collaboration software vendor CorasWorks built the current generation of their collaboration products (UGS Teamcenter Community and CorasWorks Workplace Suite, respectively) on top of Microsoft WSS. System integrator Capgemini developed a healthcare portal solution on top of WSS and SharePoint Portal Server. Additionally, vendors like Groove Networks and SAP support WSS as a document repository. These ISVs have chosen wisely; within two or three years, SharePoint will be virtually everywhere — it will be used, at least in experiments or pilot mode, by most organizations that have rolled out Windows Server 2003.
The report can be downloaded from the Microsoft website here.
Enhancements Make Microsoft’s Mobile E-Mail ‘Good Enough’
Enhancements Make Microsoft’s Mobile E-Mail ‘Good Enough’: "The messaging enhancements make Microsoft’s offering a viable alternative to more-expensive gateway-based solutions from providers such as Research in Motion"
Overlooked this one a few days ago. Thanks Michael for being so thorough 🙂 . Once all of the pieces of the puzzle are fully operational (Windows Mobile 5.0 devices yet have to be released), more can be expected.
Embrace collaboration tools or fall behind, says expert
"Embracing new collaboration tools will be the key competitive advantage for businesses through 2009. Those that falter will fall behind, says an industry expert.
According to Kathy Harris, group vice-president and specialist in applications manager analysis at technology research firm Gartner, knowledge workers are picking up new technologies on their own faster than enterprises can begin to understand them.
Employees have been using a lot of technologies such as instant messaging and blogs in their jobs, but businesses are only just starting to invest in these technologies to drive up productivity, she said."More at source : Embrace collaboration tools or fall behind, says expert – Software – News – ZDNet Asia
Experts say Microsoft’s XML play won’t backfire | Tech News on ZDNet
Experts say Microsoft’s XML play won’t backfire | Tech News on ZDNet: "Microsoft’s move to create new XML-based file formats for three of its flagship Office products may make it easier for customers to consider rival software, but industry watchers aren’t predicting an exodus just yet. Conventional wisdom has long held that if Microsoft were to embrace XML as its default file format for Office and discard the proprietary underpinnings that have ostensibly handcuffed customers to its products, businesses might jump at the chance to move to other software providers, or at least start using rival offerings alongside Office more frequently. And now that Microsoft has announced it will employ XML formats in the versions of Excel, PowerPoint and Word included in its upcoming Office 12 package, the issue is front and center. ‘It has to be one of the first questions you ask when you see (Microsoft’s) XML plans: Will this encourage people to look at new products, especially open source?’ said Forrester Research analyst Bob Markham. But Markham and others say the predictions of a mass departure won’t likely be proven correct, at least not right away. Markham said customers in Europe and Asia may start more seriously considering alternatives such as the open-source software made by OpenOffice, but he believes most businesses will wait to find out how Microsoft’s new designs could help them achieve existing goals with XML before they start looking for help elsewhere. One of the most compelling elements of Microsoft’s new allegiance to XML is that it should let customers and other software developers more easily integrate their IT systems with the company’s dominant Office product line, a longstanding pain point for both camps."
Facts & Figures: Mobiele telefonie – gebruik wereldwijd
De statistieken rondom mobiele telefonie zijn echt ongelofelijk. Meer dan 1,3 miljard gebruikers, waarvan alleen al 300 miljoen in China; bijna net zo veel als in heel Europa. Kijk ook eens naar het aantal SMSjes dat werelwijd is verzonden in het 4e kwartaal van 2002 : 95 Miljard. Dat zal dus sinds die tijd waarlijk alleen maar meer geworden zijn.