Group items tagged

Diigo is a social bookmarking tool that has practical research applications, for both personal and enterprise purposes. Diigo is a self-described "collaborative research platform" [1] and has been lauded as an effective research tool by a number of sources [2] [3]. Diigo allows users to bookmark and annotate links, adding tags and private commentary much like many other social bookmarking tools (e.g. Delicious). However, Diigo extends this functionality with a browser add-on that includes a highlighting tool and the ability to attach one's annotations in the form of a "sticky note" [4]. Provided the user is logged in at the time, any subsequent return to annotated pages in the future results in the presentation of those annotations. In this respect, Diigo could be a valuable knowledge management and research tool for corporate needs. Given the functionality to create and manage groups, Diigo is applicable to an enterprise that undertakes regular research and sharing of collated information [2]. Diigo has also been suggested as a useful academic collaboration tool, particularly for group work [5]. Keep up to date with Diigo developments on the Diigo blog at http://blog.diigo.com/

While traditional methods for information gathering are still popular (i.e. physical libraries and cataloguing), today's preferred method of research however, has moved to the web with business and professional practices integrating social tagging as part of their independent information sharing and distribution [3] and is especially popular among the younger generation whose "basic assumptions about information today have changed" as they expect everything to be on the web. [1] According to Wikipedia, social book-marking (also known as 'social tagging') "is a method for Internet users to store, organise, search and manage bookmarks of web pages on the internet with the help of metadata" [2] and can be tagged "according to their own terms or definitions". [1] As this information is stored in the bookmarking cloud, it can be searched for and retrieved from any computer with access to the Internet or through a Diigo iPhone application (where you can download web pages for offline browsing). [4] For this reason, Diigo helps in overcoming the isolation felt caused by the distance barrier and breaks down communications barriers and engages interaction between management and remote project teams as well as between off-campus students and their tutors [1] and turns research into a social collaborative activity. Create personal networks consisting of people who share the same information categories through the 'MyNetwork' feature. This feature helps foster discussions around the content you are researching or are interested in. Build a knowledge-management, knowledge-sharing group or community online and enhance team collaboration with Diigo. Receive email alerts of new posts, hold threaded discussions and comment both on or off the article of interest. [4] Diigo is a free online collaboration tool and supports all major browsers such as FireFox, Internet Explorer7, Google Chrome, Opera and Safari there is no installation of softwa

References: [1] Redden, C. (2010). 'Social Bookmarking in Academic Libraries: Trends and Applications'. The Journal of Academic Librarianship. ScienceDirect. DOI: 10.1016/j.acalib.2010.03.004. Retrieved from URL - http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6W50-4YR8B2D-2/2/6f8737ad459312295b39c7b1a8c40b43 [2] Social Bookmarking. Wikipedia. Accessed from URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_bookmarking [3] Abbas, J. et al. (2007). 'Who is tagging information?'. Proceedings of the American Society for Information Science and Technology. Vol. 44, No. 1, pp 1-4. Wiley Interscience. DOI: 10.1002/meet.1450440120. Retrieved from URL: US: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/meet.1450440120 [4] Diigo. Accessed April 14, 2010 from URL: www.diigo.com

Skype was founded in 2003 and is now a well known worldwide application on the internet. Skype has voice and video calling, IM and SMS systems and operates on a wide variety of mobile systems and differing operating systems. Skype uses a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) system. Skype Business concentrates on allowing businesses to operate effectively by means of effective and fast communication whilst saving money on communication. Skype offers a Business Control Panel which they state that "You can allocate and manage your employees' Skype Credit balances centrally, plus keep track of their, and your company's, expenditure with built-in reporting tools." Skype offers a business version of the Skype Application which main features are "Main features * Free Skype-to-Skype calls. * Free video calls. * Free instant messaging. * Call phones and mobiles, send SMS. * Voicemail. * Forward calls to a phone when you're offline. * Screen sharing * Send contacts " Myhill et al sums up Skype by stating "Calls between Skype users are free and with a standard broadband internet connection, it is a simple matter to run other Web 2.0 applications (e.g. Google Documents) and Skype at the same time - so that collaborators can talk to each other in real time and even work on the same documents simultaneously. Skype has well-over 300,000 million accounts worldwide and is a very popular facility. In the context of the VRE, Skype offers additional, global communications benefits which take the researcher well beyond other, less-intrusive means such as e-mail or wikis." Brkan states that "Collaborating or doing business with different parts of the world is far easier when you can speak to people in realtime, without worrying about the phone bill." For online collaboration such as conferences Skype is a cheap and accessible alternative to other options.

References Brkan, B. (2090, September 22). 5 Ways Skype Helps Your Business | FreelanceSwitch. FreelanceSwitch | Freelance job listings, freelancers directory, resources and thousands of articles.. Retrieved April 11, 2010, from http://freelanceswitch.com/working/5-ways-skype-helps-your-business/ Myhill, M., Shoebridge, M., & Snook, L. (2009). Virtual research environments - a Web 2.0 cookbook?. Library Hi Tech, 27(2), 228-238. Retrieved October 10, 2010, from the Emerald Group Publishing Limited database. Skype for Business - solutions. (n.d.). Skype " Make free calls and great value calls on the internet. Retrieved April 11, 2010, from http://www.skype.com/intl/en/business/solutions/

As has been examined, Skype is a very useful tool for business in relation to both collaboration and the reduction of communication costs . InnerPass further extends Skype's reach in the area of collaboration. [1] Virtual meeting rooms and screen sharing are the main added areas of functionality, with the service offering a free plan for person use. The need for increased meeting rooms and increased data transfer storage attract business rates from $4.95 to $14.95 a month. As Mashable state "InnerPass is most useful for small or medium sized businesses that have a lot of travelling, presenting, or telecommuting built in" [2] References: 1. https://www.innerpass.com/ 2. InnerPass turns Skype into a Virtual Business Collaboration Tool retrieved 18th April 2010 from http://mashable.com/2009/04/07/innerpass/

http://www.swivel.com/ References [1] IPSN'07 Overview. Data sharing and Interoperability on the world-wide Sensor Web. http://research.microsoft.com/ [2] Features page 2010 from: http://www.swivel.com/ [3] Cuff, D et al. 2008 Urban Sensing: Out of the Woods. Communications of the ACM. Vol 51, No 3.Retrieved on 3/4/2010 from: http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.slv.vic.gov.au/ehost/

Swivel Co-founders Dmitry Dimov and Brian Mulloy describe their company as "YouTube for Data." The Swivel site allows users to upload any data and display it visually to other users. Users can upload any type of data for rating, commenting and bookmarking by other users. Graphs of the data can also be used and embedded into other websites. (Arrington, 2006) Any data on Swivel can be compared to any other data regardless of whether or not there is any correlation. Arrington (2006) remarks that it is possible to compare data as diverse as "gas prices to presidential approval ratings or UFO sightings to iPod sales". Not all data is made public though. Swivel provides a free service for public data but also offers a premium service whereby, for a fee, data can be stored privately, still allowing the owner to compare their private data to public data sets. (Arrington, 2006) In comparison to Swivel, similar data sharing capabilities are offered by IBM's Many Eyes http://manyeyes.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/. Many Eyes allows users to create more complex graphs such as network illustrations, which depict nodes and connections as well as treemaps that present data as groups of nested rectangles. (Butler, 2007) Brent Edwards, director of the Starkey Hearing Research Center in Berkeley, California, points out that journals could move science forward much more effectively by using the Internet to share information. He says "I'm often frustrated by my inability to analyse in a different way data that are printed in peer-reviewed publications, when I'm interested in looking at a relationship that the authors didn't think of". If journals and research organisations linked the raw data behind their papers to collaborative software tools such as Swivel and Many Eyes, he argues, "it would have considerable value to the scientific community as a whole". (Butler, 2007)

References Arrington, M. (2006, December 5). Swivel Aims To Become The Internet Archive For Data . TechCrunch . Retrieved April 7, 2010, from http://techcrunch.com/2006/12/05/swivel-to-launch-this-week-communitize-your-data/ Butler, D. (2007). Data sharing: the next generation. Nature, 446, 10-11. Many Eyes. (n.d.). Many Eyes. Retrieved April 7, 2010, from http://manyeyes.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/

Confluence is commercial intranet software produced by Attlassian. It comes in both hosted or dowload options. It is an enterprise Wiki suited to larger organisations as it allows teams to collaborate and manage knowledge. It provide a single place where people can create, share, comment and edit content together. It comes with source code so it can be integrated with the organisations existing systems and processes.[1] [4] Reportedly it is in use in over 8,100 organisations in 94 countries around the globe across government, education and technology sectors. There is a catalogue of over 100 plug-ins available. The plug-in architecture allows organisations to develop their own.[4] Spaces are created for teams and individuals and permission access secures these spaces. It appears to balance user-friendliness, functionality, scalability and security [3] In using this wiki software as a project management tool users report that it feels polished and professional and is a notch above other offerings like Basecamp or MediaWiki (the platform that powers Wikipedia)[2] [3]. Descriptions like "more robust" and a "real workplace tool' [3], "world's most popular" [4] and the evidence that this product enjoys an active open source community creating plug-ins for all to use, signifies its value in the workplace.[3]

The exchange of information easily and freely in modern business would have to be considered necessary to survive. As stated by Happel (2009) "Exchanging information is vital for the success of modern organizations." Confluence by Atlassian provides a Wiki type service for business that allows the exchange of information. One of Confluences strengths is that it can be adapted and integrated into an organizations system to ensure productive process. Confluence has been adapted and used for collaborative group projects. Some of the reasoning for this is as follows: The Australian Research Council's Network for Early European Research (NEER) uses confluence for interaction with its digital base repository PioNEER. Burrows (2008) states that "Confluence is marketed as 'enterprise Wiki' software, which simply means Wiki-type software with various additional features, including the ability to control access to specific spaces and pages." And that a key element in the process of designing new structure is interoperability between Confluence and PioNEER. Networking Computing's, Anderson (2006) states that "Our Editor's Choice, Atlassian Software Systems' Confluence 2.1.2, has all the features that suit an enterprise wiki. It's easy to install and set up, yet flexible and extensible." Infoworld ranked Confluence highest out of four Wiki Collaboration tools compared and Heck, 2007 stated "It doesn't go overboard with extraneous features, yet still stuffs in an amazing amount of functionality - all surrounded by a good-looking, friendly interface." As a business collaboration and knowledge management tool Confluence offers a wide range of flexibility at competitive pricing.

References Enterprise Collaboration and Wiki Software - Confluence . (n.d.). Atlassian - Software Development Tools and Collaboration Software . Retrieved April 15, 2010, from http://www.atlassian.com/software/confluence/ Anderson, R. (2006, March 30). Review: Wikis In The Enterprise - Network Computing. Network Computing. Retrieved April 15, 2010, from http://www.networkcomputing.com/unified-communications-voip/review-wikis-in-the-enterprise.php?p=5 Burrows, T. (2008). DEVELOPING A DIGITAL REPOSITORY FOR A HUMANITIES RESEARCH NETWORK: THE PIONEER PROJECT. New Review of Academic Librarianship, 13(1), 1-11. Happel, H. (2009). Social search and need-driven knowledge sharing in Wikis with Woogle. International Symposium on Wikis, 13. Retrieved April 15, 2010, from the Acm Portal database. Heck, M. (2007, January 5). Wikis evolve as collaboration tools | Applications - InfoWorld. Business technology, IT news, product reviews and enterprise IT strategies - InfoWorld. Retrieved April 15, 2010, from http://www.infoworld.com/t/applications/wikis-evolve-collaboration-tools-644

Office Interactive is an online Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software designed for small to medium sized business. The software contains everything you need to run and streamline your business. It is easy to use by simply dragging and dropping to customise your own business application [1]. Features of the Office Interactive software include: Collaboration: This module is used to share and communicate with all your team members on one page. It is an essential tool for organising your businesses day-to-day activities. Sales: This module is an easy to use Sales Force Automation (SFA) system. It is a total solution for small to large sales teams. Customer: This module allows you to see absolutely everything in relation to a customer including all correspondence and sales. It is also a centralised system to store data such as customers Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and how to deal with customer complaints. Marketing: This module allows you to keep track of where your leads and customers are coming from. It can also be used to send marketing emails to your customers. Billing and Expense: This module is a full financial solution to keep track of your income and expenses [1]. CRM is extremely important for most businesses. Using a centralised system such as Office Interactive allows all staff to access data from any location [2]. CRM also allows you to put the customer first by making the most of your customer relationships as it allows you to keep in touch and personalise communications with customers easily [3]. [1] Office Interactive (2010). Simple, Powerful, and Revolutionary CRM Solution. Retrieved 16 April, 2010, from http://www.officeinteractive.com/ [2] e-Business Guide (n/d). Planning - Researching the Opportunities - Customer Relationship Management. Retrieved 16 April, 2010, from http://www.e-businessguide.gov.au/planning/researching/crm [3] Martin, J.A (2010). Put Cloud CRM to Work. Retrieved 16 April, 2010, from

Most internet users have a list of favourite websites they visit regularly and depending on what browser you use they are known as "bookmarks" or "favourites". Bookmarks can end up being a long list of unorganized information and can be frustrating if not kept updated and maintained. Also if you use more than one computer it can be difficult to keep track and ensure bookmarks are current. Delicious is a tool which alleviates these problems. Delicious enables "users to tag, save, manage and share web pages from a centralized source" [1]. Not only are you able to share your bookmarks with your friends but you also have access to the most current information on the web. You can look at the most popular tags discussing the information you are interested in. There is also a space to leave a comment or description of the site. As Stolley suggests, Delicious allows users to build a network of users who are interested in the same topics and from a workplace perspective everyone in a work environment can access the same valuable information [2]. Delicious is about sharing information and with so much information publicly available on the web today it makes it easier to have other people find the information you require. As with any tool it is important to be organized and tag relevant websites appropriately otherwise it loses its value and it can become useless for other users. To get the most out of Delicious you need to build a network of friends who have similar interests. References [1] Delicious. Retrieved 11 April 2010 from http://delicious.com/help/about [2] Stolley, K. (2009). Integration Social Media Into Existing Work Environments: The case of Delicious. Journal of Business and Technical Communication 2009; 23; 350. Retrieved 11 April 2010 from http://jbt.sagepub.com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/cgi/reprint/23/3/350.pdf

Del.icio.us is a social bookmarking manger website, which allows individuals to save, tag, manage and share their collection of bookmarks with others. (About , n.d.) The website is a database of bookmarks, creating a collaboration of users bookmarked websites. Its "a growing source of human generated content." (Kolay & Dasdan, 2009) Previously to save a website URL, users would bookmark them in their web browser located on one computer. With no order, URL's would be hard to find. Now Del.icio.us allows users to bookmark their URL's in an organised online space, on any computer with an Internet connection. Introduced in 2003, (Millien, Feinberg & Kerr, 2005) this free website, allows anyone to register and create an account. Once registered, Del.icio.us buttons are installed and appear on the web browser. (LeFever, 2009) These buttons assist in making bookmarking quick and easy. When bookmarking a site, a users clicks on the Del.icio.us tag button, which allows the users to add tags and keywords. (LeFever, 2009) These are words that are related to the website and help searching for the webpage at a later date. By using tags, it allows users to search by tag or keyword, narrowing search results and saving time. Del.icio.us creates a network, with constant updates of new and interesting bookmarks being added to the website. (LeFever, 2009) Bookmarks are made public so anyone can search the Del.icio.us website by tag or keyword and a list of websites collaborated from registered users are displayed. This creates greater search results.

Reference: About. (n.d.). Retrieved April 18, 2010, from http://delicious.com/help/about Kolay, S. & Dasdan, A. (2009). The Value of Socially Tagged URLs for a Search Engine. International World Wide Web Conference. April, 1203-1204. Retrieved April 18, 2010, from ACM Database. LeFever, L. (2009). Social Bookmarking in Plain English, for the rest of us. Retrieved April 18, 2010, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeBmvDpVbWc Millen, D., Feinberg, J. & Kerr, B. (2005). Social Bookmarking in the Enterprise. Queue, 3, 28-35. Retrieved April 18, 2010, from ACM Database.

Commentary by Louwna. Posted to Diigo on: 1/4/2010 http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/Pages/Default.aspx from a discussion by Craig on 31/03/2010 As recent as November 2009, Microsoft was warning businesses about security, privacy issues specially differing jurisdiction when considering cloud computing as a means of collaboration. "Privacy protections are essential to building the customer trust needed for cloud computing and the internet to reach their full potential." Stafford warns that a lot of cloud computing services don't have their own infrastructure but rent from others. This will necessarily be the smaller companies. Customers of SharePoint can be assured that "sophisticated controls for securing company resources" have been thoroughly integrated into the product as it is backed by years of research from Microsoft. (Stafford, P. 2009) SharePoint encourages 3rd party developers to develop custom modifications or to incorporate SharePoint into existing collaboration software. Microsoft Sharepoint 2010 Social Fest was a, 'competition by invite', to ten, cloud-collaboration, IT companies who each came up with some unique new way of utilizing SharePoint into their own collaborative platforms. SharePoint has a built in editor that allows some customization. SharePoint 2010 will provide deeper integration with Office 2010 soon to be available for retail sales. This version of Office will support Office Web Apps coming with Office 2010. Online support called "SharePoint Online Services" is already supporting more than a million users on line. Microsoft promises; "We're going to be more Internet-focused and cloud focused than ever before." ( Johnston, S.J. 2009) (Stafford, P. 2009) Retrieved on 31/03/10 from: no

Central Desktop is a SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) social technology tool that allows global online collaboration between multiple users within organisations. The flexibility of Software-as-a-Service or SaaS for short, is that it allows organisations to rent the use of developed software, without the costs involved in maintaining licensing and continual upgrading to the latest product [5]. Central Desktop offers low cost, scalable SaaS solutions, advanced enterprise security, support, secure online meetings, centralised IT and staff resources and Salesforce.com integration. In 2009, Central Desktop announced Zoho Projects as online spreadsheet partner [2]. Central Desktop offers a range of plans to cater for different industries, with a 30-free trial option. Plans are available as the Workgroup edition, the Enterprise edition and the Community edition. Central Desktop offers risk free, Upgrade Anytime and Cancel Anytime options and no cancellation fees. The upgraded 2.0 version announced in February of 2010, offers wizards, templates with drop-down menus and an online file viewer that is compatible with Microsoft Office, Adobe PDF and Photoshop, JPEG and TIF [3]. YouTube [4] offers an overview of the database features available through Central Desktop. According to Central Desktop it "is a Web-based collaboration software solution that allows users to securely organize, share and communicate from a single online location. With no software or hardware to install, organizations using Central Desktop can increase revenue, maximize productivity and improve project management. Central Desktop offers a full suite of collaboration tools, including wikis, document sharing, Web conferencing, task management and shared calendars. Central Desktop also features a fully integrated micro-blogging tool that allows users to post their status and syndicate their updates out to other social networks like Twitter and Facebook" [1].

Customers of Central Desktop include the Humane Society of the U.S., CBS, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Avid Technology, Omniture, InterContinental Hotel Group and the University of Wisconsin-Madison [1]. Central Desktop has received a range of awards and recognition from industry peers since it's founding in 2005. The latest awards received are the 2010 Hot Technology Companies and the 2010 Hot 90 Award - Southern California [1]. References: [1] CentralDesktop (2010). Retrieved April 09, 2010 from http://www.centraldesktop.com/about-press [2] CrunchBase (2010). Retrieved April 09, 2010 from http://www.crunchbase.com/company/central-desktop [3] PcWorld (2010). Retrieved April 09, 2010 from http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/189948/central_desktops_20_upgrade_focuses_on_user_interface.html [4] CentralDesktop overview (2007). Retrieved April 10, 2010 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MG_ajNsJvqU&feature=related [5] What is SaaS (n.d.). Retrieved April 09, 2010 from http://www.whatissaas.net/

With 275,000+ customers……"Central Desktop is a heavy-hitter in the online collaboration arena. It's used by companies such as Sony, Adobe, J.D. Power and Associates and Greenpeace…" [1] Benefits of central desktop are: * Does not require you to download any software. It is 100% web based. * Data can be exported from CentralDesktop ®. * Three types of workspace options for teams, the company at large, and external customers. * Avoids the need of using multiple passwords, usernames, and products to share information and collaborate with teams. * 5 different levels of security and protection. * Strong support from customer base that is over 200,000 strong and received a number of awards touting the software. " [2] "Central desktop offers real-time collaboration for your team members. With the web meetings and audio conferencing features you can also collaborate with customers or partners by voice, sharing screens or remote presentation. Central Desktop also integrates with Skype (with voice supported), Yahoo, MSN Messenger, AIM, ICQ and Jabber, centralizing all your communication".[1] "Their next moves include upgrading mobile device support, and providing an enhanced API, as well as increasing the ability to customize for verticals. Recent research has indicated that collaboration will be one of the major growth uses of mobile devices so this is timely. Central Desktop also plans to set up a marketplace where customers can share templates. [3] References: [1] The Mobility Guy http://www.themobilityguy.com/2009/06/27/mini-review-online-collaboration-with-central-desktop/ [accessed April 14, 2010]. [2] Business Services Insider, http://www.businessservicesinsider.com/Web-Conference-Calling-Services/Central-Desktop-Review.html [accessed April 14, 2010]. [3] Appopedia, http://www.theappgap.com/reviews?product=Central+Desktop [accessed April 14, 2010].

Scribblar is a fun, free, multi-user online collaboration tool that is especially effective for online training and brainstorming in an e-learning environment, with the sharing and exchanging of image and text files. Scribblar, developed in 2007, is the brainchild of UK-based muchosmedia.com, providing the online collaboration market with a social interaction tool that acts as a whiteboard with live audio, text-chat etc. Muchosmedia has been recognised by Adobe as global experts in developing Flash applications, serving on Adobe' industry advisory board [5]. Scribblar PRO is also available to users for a fee, allowing the integration of your own logo and customised features onto your website without the hosting and bandwith costs. With instant access to audio, video, live chat and powerful drawing and editing tools, Scribblar PRO can easily be incorporated within any website design with varied access and privilege levels [1]. Mainly, Scribblar is a great, flash-based education tool and has been designed to allow multiple users to interact simultaneously, without interruption. A major feature of Scribblar is the facility to upload an image for enhancing, editing, commenting or collaborating by multiple users, by utilising its drawing, text and sound tools [2]. A review done by a media library specialist, Kathy Pierce [3], highlights the interaction and educational value of integrating Scribblar in schools. For a comprehensive tutorial, visit YouTube [4] for a step-by-step explanation of each tool available on the Scribblar whiteboard for online collaboration. References posted below.

References: [1] Walsh, K. (2009). Online Interactive Whiteboards. EmergingEdTech Retrieved 14 April, 2010, from http://www.emergingedtech.com/2009/04/online-interactive-whiteboards/ [2] theDAILYAPP. (2008). Scribblar - Online Collaboration Design Room. Retrieved 14 April, 2010, from http://thedailyapp.com/media/photos/scribblar-online-collaboration-design-room [3] Ferris, B. (2009). Collaborate simply, graphically, with Scribblar. Retrieved 14 April, 2010, from http://blogs.learnnc.org/instructify/2009/10/20/scribblar-collaborate-mindmap-brainstorming/

References: [1] Muchosmedia (2010). Retrieved April 11, 2010 from http://www.scribblar.com [2] Free Technology for Teachers (2008). 'Creative Collaboration with Scribblar'. Retrieved April 11, 2010 from http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2008/09/creative-collaboration-with-scribblar.html [3] Library Media Musings (2009). Retrieved April 11, 2010 from http://librarymm.blogspot.com/2009/11/collaborate-online-with-scribblar.html [4] YouTube (2009). 'Scribblar Demo'. Retrieved April 11, 2010 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByZenKhLVRg [5] Haschke Ink (n.d.). 'Muchos Media Content'. Retrieved April 11, 2010 from http://haschkeink.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/Muchos_Media.46100818.pdf

ProjectSpaces provides secure online collaboration working space for project management teams, workgroups and committees. Flexibility is a main feature, with companies able to customise their workspace for co-ordinating and knowledge sharing. A review of ProjectSpaces by KillerStartups.com, found its user-friendly interface a major factor in attracting users as well as its level of control [3]. Document management is easy with version control and the organisation and management of files with smart folders, RSS feeds, blogging and discussion tools. Some features include [1]: * Support of any document file type, with multiple file uploading * WYSIWYG editor * Email notification * Export of Workplan to Word and Excel * Announcements with related links * Calendar and Contacts with photo uploading facility to identify users * Export of contacts to Excel and any email client e.g. Outlook * Customisable user level rights with password restriction * Integration with reporting tools such as Google Analytics The user-friendly interface helps users to locate information quickly with no training course needed and the help of an online video tutorial is available via YouTube [5]. OnlinePMTools rated ProjectSpaces five stars on ease of use [2]. Mashable.com compared ProjectSpaces with Basecamp and found it the better product: "ProjectSpaces, from ForumOne Communications, is like Basecamp on steroids…I tried using Basecamp for a project a while back and I found it infuriating…for those who crave more features, ProjectSpaces seems like a good option" [4]. ProjectSpaces also offer the option to host on your own servers and can easily transfer hosting to another server as needed. Customers of ProjectSpaces include THiiNC Health, Smartlife, Englin Consulting and the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center (GNOCDC), who after Hurricane Katrina relied on ProjectSpaces to keep the team working together across several states.

References [1] ProjectSpaces. (2010). Homepage. Retrieved April 12, 2010, from http://www.projectspaces.com/ [2] ProjectSpaces. (2010). Testimonials. Retrieved April 22, 2010, from http://www.projectspaces.com/section/testimonials [3] ProjectSpaces. (2010). Full Feature List. Retrieved April 12, 2010, from http://www.projectspaces.com/section/features/featurelist [4] Mehmet. (2008). Review: Manage your projects online with Projectspaces. GabFire Web Design. Retrieved April 22, 2010, from http://www.gabfire.com/manage-your-projects-online-with-projectspaces/ [5] Cashmore, P. (2006). ProjectSpaces - Project Collaboration (And a Potential Basecamp Rival). Mashable. Retrieved April 12, 2010, from http://mashable.com/2006/01/03/projectspaces-a-basecamp-rival/ [6] Gunderloy, M. (2007). ProjectSpaces Offers Collaboration, Web 1.0 Style. WebWorkerDaily. Retrieved April 12, 2010, from http://webworkerdaily.com/2007/04/18/projectspaces-offers-collaboration-web-10-style/ [7] ProjectSpaces. (2010). ProjectSpaces vs. SharePoint. Retrieved April 22, 2010, from http://www.projectspaces.com/section/features/projectspaces_vs_sharepoint

[8] ProjectSpaces. (2010). Pricing. Retrieved April 22, 2010, from http://www.projectspaces.com/section/pricing [9] PRLog. (2008). ProjectSpaces Releases Self-Hosted Perpetually Licensed Version of Its Online Collaboration Platform. Retrieved April 12, 2010, from http://www.prlog.org/10120142-projectspaces-releases-self-hosted-perpetually-licensed-version-of-its-online-collaboration-platform.html

"Work better together on Acrobat.com" [1]. "Adobe has introduced Acrobat.com Workspaces, an extension to its online collaboration service that provides shared workspaces to enable teams to easily share project documents and other files when working on projects" [2]. Adobe is a major player in the field of producing solid software and it seems they too are joining the world of online collaboration by developing Acrobat.com Workspaces and more. Launched in 2009, Acrobat.com lets users "store and share documents, convert files to PDF, share their screen using Adobe ConnectNow, and create documents using online applications such as the Buzzword word processor and Acrobat.com Tables for spreadsheets"[2]. At the moment the paid prescription is available to North American customers only and some other regional Beta versions are available. Although this availability is a weakness, particularly at this stage for Australian clients, Adobe does offer a free alternative for everyone until the Workspaces are available widely. The alternative is a limited, but useful service; "Get an online workspace, five PDF conversions total, three person web conferencing, online office applications and forum-based support" [3]. One of the biggest strength's to the workspaces is the usability of the product and its fresh outlook. The product offers great potential for clients as regardless of what application you use to create a document; Acrobat.com Workspaces includes a PDF conversion which can make the final document industry standard.

References/Notes [1] Adobe - tagline, https://acrobat.com/#l [accessed April 5]. [2] Robinson, D., (2010). Adobe adds shared workspaces to Acrobat.com, http://www.v3.co.uk/v3/news/2260392/adobe-adds-shared-workspaces, V3.co.uk. [3] Acrobat.com Workspaces, https://acrobat.com/#il=1&page=signup_only&su=1 [accessed April 5]. [4] Acrobat.com Mobile Workspaces, https://acrobat.com/features_mobile_access.html [accessed April 5]. [5] Adobe.com Workspace features, https://acrobat.com/features_online_office_applications.html [accessed April 5].

Placeholder interested in this for my work, so I'll comment after further research

Google Docs is a free application provided by Google in which team members can collaborate online for free. Google Docs offers the ability to create documents, spreadsheets and presentations online. Google Docs offers you the ability to share your documents with whoever you choose and has different settings depending on your needs. You can set the file to either be viewed by other people and or edited as well. One of the advantages of an application such as Google docs is that you have no need to download or upload data. Online storage also reduces the risk of loss of data due to computer crashes. Google Docs offers a number of export options and formats which you can save your files in. Google.com states that they offer "DOC, XLS, CSV, ODS, ODT, PDF, RTF and HTML formats." Online collaboration can take place in real time so that employees can automatically follow the changes and or contribute. Murray, 2010, Describes Web 2 applications such as Google Docs as "Web 2.0 technologies can be modified, remixed, adapted, and displayed in a multitude of variations, allowing for highly customizable workflows to be developed with little effort." Dekeyser and Watson state that "We found the interface to be very usable, effective, and efficient. In addition, setting up collaboration with colleagues proved to be exceedingly simple. We suggest that Google Docs is an excellent platform for ad hoc collaboration on document creation." Overall Google docs is an excellent option for a free collaboration tool that will allow you to operate anywhere. Google is currently improving Google Docs with new features such as being able to upload any file and language translation. Google States that "We're still working to make Google Docs a better place, and we're listening closely to your suggestions".

Commentary on specific collaborator features of Google Docs Google Docs is a great document editor and word processor alternative to Microsoft Word which makes collaboration on a document easy. Before the introduction of Google Docs, you were required to send documents around via email, hover over your colleagues back or ensure that only one of you were editing the document at a time and still require a method to ensure the document is going in the direction desired. Then Google Docs introduced the ability to have more than one person edit a single online document in much the same way as a wiki. You would edit, save, refresh, see and take into account your partners' edits who would then repeat the same process. Recently Google Docs has adopted a feature from another Google product, Wave, something that had been present in the Docs spreadsheet application for a while but absent from Google Docs Document, Presentation and Drawing. Google Docs introduced real time collaborative editing (Rochelle, 2010). Real time collaborative editing allows two or more people to work on a single document simultaneously and instantly see the changes each other is making (Rochelle, 2010). To aid this Google Docs integrates a chat feature (Rochelle, 2010) and comments. Chat allows real time communication outside the document but in the same window maintaining focus. Comments allow commentary on specific parts of a document to be made. Useful when you want to suggest a change but are not entirely sure or you dislike the change your colleague has just made. Unlike chat, the contents of comments stay put between edits, allowing notes be to left for when another person is editing the document.

Google Docs also integrates version tracking for documents allowing you to see which changes were made by who and when (Ross, 2009). The ability also exists to revert to previous revisions of a document (Google, 2010) in case you make a mistake or a decision does not pan out. These revisions are created during auto-save and when you specifically save (automatic on exit of a document). Google. (2010). Tools: Revision history. Retrieved April 21, 2010, from Google Docs Help: http://docs.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=92199 Gralla, P. (2010, April 22). Google Docs better; ready to take on Office? Retrieved April 22, 2010, from BusinessWeek: http://www.businessweek.com/idg/2010-04-22/google-docs-better-ready-to-take-on-office-.html Rochelle, J. (2010, April 12). A new Google Docs. Retrieved April 20, 2010, from Google Docs Blog: http://googledocs.blogspot.com/2010/04/new-google-docs.html Ross, G. (2009, August 10). Google Docs Review. Retrieved April 20, 2010, from Notebook Review: http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=5281&review=google+docs+review

SugarCRM is an open source database management system. It is important to be able to manage customer databases without having to collate numerous spreadsheets of customer information. With SugarCRM it simplifies being able to organize and track people, companies and sales opportunities [1]. Another advantage of SugarCRM is the ability to measure and report customer information across your company [2]. SugarCRM Community Edition is a free application and it is open source so the software can be altered to suit the users' needs. Not all companies have the same requirements when it comes to implementing a CRM, so the advantage of using SugarCRM is it gives users the flexibility to modify the source code [3]. To gain greater benefits of SugarCRM there is a professional edition for US$360 per licence or the Sugar Enterprise Edition for US$600 per licence [4]. A CRM solution will focus on automating and improving current processes and practices mainly supporting sales, marketing, customer service and support as Gupta & Shukla (2002) attest [5]. Implementing a CRM can be a risky business according to Bohling, et al (2006) [6]. Depending on the size of the organization and the current CRM system in operation, if any, implementing a CRM requires plenty of planning and preparation. Also, once a system is up and running, it is important to evaluate the success of the CRM and continue to refine and develop the CRM. References [1] Organise & Share Customer Information. Retrieved 12 April 2010 from http://www.sugarcrm.com/crm/resources/crm-new [2] Measure & Report Across your Company. Retrieved 12 April 2010 from http://www.sugarcrm.com/crm/resources/crm-advanced [3] Open Source CRM. Retrieved 12 April 2010 from http://www.sugarforge.org/content/open-source/ [4] Sugar Editions. Retrieved 12 April 2010 from http://www.sugarcrm.com/crm/products/editions.html [5] Gupta, M.P., and Shukla, S. (2002). Global Business Review 2002; 3; 99. Learnings from Customer Relationship

In comparing SugarCRm to another similar product - 'TigerCRM', these are the results:
SugarCRM Advantages " Sugar Suite is an excellent choice due to its advanced features, and is convenient to organizations from all sizes and industries. The installation of SugarCRM, as well as the installation of additional modules and language packs is quite easy and trouble-free, and the admin area offers a great variety of options and tools." [1]
SugarCRM Disadvantages "While providing more capabilities and reliability, Sugar Suite loads slower than vTiger CRM and is not so easy to use. Problems may also arise if a user doesn't lock the Installation after finishing it. Contrary to vTiger CRM, some of its add-ons are not free for installing and should be ordered additionally. Another disadvantage of SugarCRM is the very resource-consuming upgrade process. A SugarCRM upgrade can rarely be completed successfully on a shared server because the upgrade times out." [1]
But the latest release of version 6, raves about the following:
"SugarCRM has completely re-written a new user interface that places a premium on speed, simplicity, and interoperability with other web applications and mobile devices. Larry Augustin, CEO of SugarCRM, said "Sugar 6 delivers a look, feel and user experience that consumers of popular social networking and other collaboration tools will appreciate." [2]
"SugarCRM has also moved its mobile application to Appcelerator Titanium so it could have one version of its application run on Apple, Google's Android, BlackBerry, Palm, and other devices without the need for their engineers to build completely different versions. " [2] References: [1] SiteGround, http://www.siteground.com/sugarcrm_vtiger.htm [accessed April 14, 2010]. [2] SugarCRM announces release of ver

Microsoft Office Communicator (OC) is the replacement for Microsoft's previous instant messaging client, Windows Messenger. OC has been expanded to incorporate a larger range of communication capabilities than its predecessor. OC is a unified communications tool that integrates instant messaging and chat with voice and video, and enables sharing of desktops for collaborative work. It also integrates with Microsoft Office programs [1]. The software can be extended into the enterprise environment by linking in with Microsoft Office Communications Server (OCS) and many mobile devices support instant messaging functionality through OC, for example, the popular Blackberry devices [2]. To get the most out of OC, IP phones should be utilised along with web cams; there are a range of IP phones to choose from [3]. OC has received praise over their VoIP services [4] and have conducted a large amount of research and development into their proprietary IP phone [5]. A disadvantage of any VoIP service is the absolute dependence on network availability - without LAN service, the IP phones do not work. OC runs in real time and does not require a virtual private network (VPN), allowing you access through internet-enabled devices or PCs [6]. This constitutes a significant cost saving, particularly if your company conducts business via long distance teleconferencing or videoconferencing services. Essentially, OC is a method of "streamlining" all communication needs into one integrated application [6]. This can prove useful for team collaboration and online meetings particularly for members who are geographically separate. Other business benefits include the Presence feature and a comprehensive audit history. Presence allows you to quickly see if someone is out of the office, on a call, or otherwise busy. This feature works off Outlook calendars and IP phone status and is similar to the statuses of Windows Messenger denoting "away", "busy" etc and has the

added benefit of integrating directly with Outlook (e.g. if you create a new email message, there will be a presence indicator next to the recipients' name(s))[7]. For auditing purposes, all communication history is recorded in the form of audit logs of calls and IM sessions. This is important for appropriate recordkeeping of business records. References [1] Microsoft. (2010). Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 R2 Product Overview. Retrieved April 10, 2010, from http://office.microsoft.com/en-au/communicator/HA102037151033.aspx [2] Blackberry. (2010). BlackBerry Instant Messaging for Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2005. Retrieved April 10, 2010, from http://na.blackberry.com/eng/services/server/exchange/office_communicator.jsp [3] Microsoft. (2010). Phones and Devices Optimized for Microsoft Office Communicator. Retrieved April 10, 2010, from http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/office/ocs/bb970310.aspx [4] Poe, R. (2007). Microsoft's Office Communicator Blows Away IP Phones. VoIP-News. Retrieved April 10, 2010, from http://www.voip-news.com/feature/microsoft-voip-high-grade-030807/ [5] Microsoft. (2010). Device Highlight: Polycom® CX300. Office Communicator Team Blog. Retrieved April 10, 2010, from http://communicatorteam.com/archive/2010/03/03/978.aspx [6] Microsoft. (2010). Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 Datasheet. Retrieved April 10, 2010, from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=6306ae9c-6ede-4908-800f-256a75bebc75&displaylang=en [7] Howorth, R. (2007). Office Communicator 2007. ZDNet.co.uk. Retrieved April 10, 2010, from http://www.zdnet.co.uk/reviews/communication-and-collaboration/2007/10/16/office-communicator-2007-39290042/

Mindjet [5] is best known for its mind mapping software but with the introduction of Catalyst [5] in October 2009 Mindjet released the power of their mapping software to the web. Catalyst is an online mapping tool that is delivered on a subscription service across the web. It enables team members to co-edit a map in real time. Members can brainstorm ideas, design business process, store their documents in a secure and centralised workspace and keep a work log of all changes. Catalyst also augments the support of social networking tools to help share the vision [1]. Currently the service is delivered as a subscription service charged at $25/user/month plus an extra $25 for web conferencing moderators. Catalyst runs on all major browsers [4] but it must have Adobe Flash Player 9.0 enabled. "We think better in picture than text and how that can that be related to business process" Scott Raskin CEO of Mindjet (Howlett, 2009). "Catalyst team members can simultaneously video-conference while modifying a shared document on an online " (Chapman, 2009). While this online collaborative mapping tool is impressive an area of consideration is the fact that it does not alert team members of asynchronous changes [3] via IM or email. Alerting team members of change during a project is an important feature for collaborative tools as discussed in the research study by Daniela Damian M. Sc. [2] which looks at how real projects actually use collaboration tools and what were their main areas of use and importance are. However, with the inclusion of social networking tools like Facebook and Twitter this oversight could be overcome with good project management practices.

References [1] Chapman, G. (2009, Oct 8). Mindjet boosts online collaboration with Catalyst. Retrieved April 13, 2010, from Google (AFP): http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jAtF77pDeYcjJL7H5N3Z7ykx4n3w [2] Damian, D. (2010, Feb 1). Case study of feature based awareness in a commercial software team and implications for the design of collaborative tools. Retrieved April 16, 2010, from UVicDSpace: https://dspace.library.uvic.ca:8443/dspace/handle/1828/2133 [3] Howlett, D. (2009, October 6). Mindjet takes on Cisco with Catalyst. Retrieved April 16, 2010, from ZDNet: http://blogs.zdnet.com/Howlett/?p=1377 [4] mindjet. (2010). Catalyst - Technical Requirements. Retrieved April 16, 2010, from Mindjet: http://www.mindjet.com/products/mindjet-catalyst/requirements [ 5]Mindjet. (2010). Catalyst. Retrieved April 16, 2010, from Mindjet: http://www.mindjet.com/products/mindjet-catalyst/overview [6] Mindjet. (2010). Mindjet. Retrieved April 16, 2010, from Mindjet: http://www.mindjet.com/

Review Basics was created by Sharp Styles Lab and is an online collaboration tool that allows you to annotate and comment on documents, images on videos. Content is secured and password protected so it can only be viewed by people in your organisation that have been invited. You are able to invite as people as you like [1]. Review Basics is a web-based application so you do not need to download any software but Adobe Flash does need to be installed to provide feedback using the simple drag and drop tools. The application can also be used by anyone in your organisation from any location in the world. It supports many file formats and if you find a file format that is currently unsupported, Sharp Styles Lab will do their best to accommodate you. [1]. With Review Basics you can upload draft proposals and invite staff to provide feedback and exchange ideas [1]. It is ideal for organisations that are geographically spread. Even in smaller businesses it can be difficult to organize staff for face-to-face meetings, so collaborating in this way makes discussion much easier and allows everyone to be involved in a decision making process [2]. It also allows for members to think about a proposal more thoroughly before offering feedback or making any comments [3]. [1] Sharp Styles Lab (2010). Review Basics. Retrieved 16 April, 2010, from http://www.reviewbasics.com/Home.aspx?NoCache=592c3049-fe2b-4e16-8e03-bd5d27dd494b [2] Cohen, A.S. (2008). The Collaboration Effect: The Second Wave of the Internet. Retrieved 16 April, 2010, from http://blogs.cisco.com/collaboration/comments/the_collaboration_effect_the_second_wave_of_the_internet/ [3] Cranor, L.F. (1996). Internet Collaboration: Good, Bad, and Downright Ugly. Retrieved 16 April, 2010, from http://www.acm.org/crossroads/xrds2-3/lorrie.html

ReviewBasics is a free website, that creates a safe and secure online space, where users can upload content and gather feedback about their content. The website is aimed for businesses in "creative and design, opinion research, film and video and legal." (Ruby, 2007) It can be beneficial for businesses that require feedback on projects, bringing comments together in one location. By doing this, it avoids the dilemmas of keeping track of feedback in emails. When a project is set up, users upload one or multiple files, to a total of 25mb per account for reviewing. (Q&A, 2010) Supported files include: * Microsoft Word™ and PowerPoint™ (DOC/DOCX, PPT/PPTX) * Images (JPEG, GIF, PNG, TIFF) * Adobe Acrobat (PDF) * Video (FLV, WMV, AVI, MPEG) (Q&A, 2010) Once uploaded, people can be invited to review the content via email invite. With a simple click on the link, the person can be taken to the project where they enter a password provided and begin giving feedback using the tools. Different tools such as the "Callout", similar to a speech bubble, "Arrow", "Emoticon", "Selection" and "Drawing" can be used to give feedback, with a simple drag n' drop onto the page. (Products, 2010) Account holder can limit what feedback, each invited person can see. Once feedback is made, email updates are sent notifying users that comments have been left. This can save businesses time by not waiting for notification by email or phone, and can help complete projects much faster, creating greater efficiency. Anytime during the project or upon completion, an annotated PDF file can be downloaded with all reviews made. This file can be stored and accessed at a later date. (ReviewBasics, 2010) ReviewBasics provides a cost effective collaborative tool that allows project reviews to be saved in one place, creating greater efficiency and helps complete projects faster.

Reference: Products. (2010). Retrieved April 16, 2010, from http://www.sharpstyle.com/ Q&A. (2010). Retrieved April 16, 2010, from http://www.reviewbasics.com/QandA.aspx?NoCache=b22b65c6-80ce-4e4f-81fd-d7ad193c6cc1 ReviewBasics. (2010). Retrieved April 16, 2010, from http://www.reviewbasics.com/Home.aspx?NoCache=c327e07a-ff88-4fc1-be88-2606073523a2 Ruby, B. (2007). A review of ReviewBasics. Retrieved April 16, 2010, from http://cmsreport.com/blog/2007/review-reviewbasics

Backpack by 37 Signals. Backpack is a product created by 37 signals which allows the user to store information, documents, discussion and schedules with your workforce in a secure online environment which is accessible all the time. 37 Signals states that "Over 3 million people use our web-based apps to get things done the simple way." One of the features of Backpack is its interaction with email. When file attachments are sent to Backpack they automatically update on your pages. The backpack pricing plan allows you to start out small and upgrade your package when your business grows. This allows flexibility in the pricing system to suit your business needs at any given time. Backpack can also work with other applications like Google Calendar and a variety of other devices such as iphone apps, third party desktops and widgets. The Backpack accounts are protected with password protection with SSL security that ensures your information is safe at all times. Backpack capabilities are described by Gomez de la Torre as follows "1. Important scheduling information 2. Shared and easily modifiable check list of things to do 3. Personal knowledge and experience of prior dealings with clients 4. Identification of files necessary for the meeting 5. Repository for other tacit knowledge" Backpack creates a powerful user interface which allows workers to be in touch and informed whether they are office based or mobile. Backpack has been reviewed by a number of sources some of which can be perused in the reference section. Richard Cobbett from Pc Plus sums up Backpack as "Backpack allows you to manage all your data across multiple PC's with ease. Backpack is hands-down the most flexible of the online organisation tools, and it just keeps evolving. " Further information can be found about Backpack at http://backpackit.com/

References: Cobbett, R. (2009, March 3). 37signals Backpack review from TechRadar UK's expert reviews of Other software. TechRadar UK | Technology News And Reviews. Retrieved March 31, 2010, from http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/software/utilities/other-software/37signals-backpack-34109/review De la Torre, V. G. (2005, December 8). Knowledge Management Systems Research Paper: Knowledge Management Systems and Web 2.0 Tools & Technologies. The University of Texas at Austin School of Information. Retrieved April 1, 2010, from www.ischool.utexas.edu/~i385q/archive/gomez_web2.0.pdf Intranet, Group Calendar, Small Business Organizer: Backpack. (n.d.). Intranet, Group Calendar, Small Business Organizer: Backpack. Retrieved March 31, 2010, from http://backpackit.com/ Kelly, W. (2007, July 1). PC Today Article - 37signals Backpack . PC Today - Your Mobile Computing and Wireless Authority. Retrieved March 31, 2010, from http://www.pctoday.com/Editorial/article.asp?article=articles/2007/t0507/24t07/24t07.asp&guid= Schmidt, A. (2006). PRODUCT PIPELINE.. Net Connect, 131, 18-19. Retrieved April 1, 2010, from the Business Source Premier database.

Backpack is quite similar to Microsoft's SharePoint Services in that it allows for files to be uploaded and shared in the one place; allows the sharing of information and calendar events (Backpack, 2010a). As Backup is hosted online and offsite, stress can be alleviated in the event of fire or theft. SharePoint on the other hand is stored on internal servers hosted by the business. This may incur an expensive fail safe back-up plan. It seems that Backup is more user friendly than SharePoint and will work well in an online collaboration environment. Both SharePoint and Backup allow for allow for a whole range of third party extras and add-ons (Backpack, 2010b; SharePoint Solutions, 2010). This allows businesses to customise their intranet and use the tools that work for them. 37signals, the company behind Backup, also design other products that help businesses achieve their goals, these include: Highrise, Basecamp and Campfire (37signals, 2010). Although 37signals offers that Backpack has the ability to add-in extras, they do not however take any responsibility in the event that something goes wrong. "Note: These apps and integrations are not endorsed or tested by 37signals. 37signals does not assume responsibility or liability for any issues caused by the use of third party products." (Backpack, 2010b). More importantly, solutions that allow users to read, reflect and collaborate also take more time than a conventional face-to-face meeting/ discussion. "Computer-Mediated Communication not only takes longer than a face-to-face communication, but they produce more ideas and produce greater opportunity for each person to participate." (Bordia, 1997, p99) This can be said for all solutions that offer users time to "think" on events that they have been asked to collaborate on. 37signals (2010). 37signals Retrieved April 1, 2010, from http://37signals.com/ Backpack (2010a). Backpack Retrieved April 1, 2010, from http://backpackit.com/ B