August 6, 2008
Written by Ameed Taylor
Kitchener, Ontario based IGLOO’s foundation began with a not-for-profit research centre called the Centre for International Governance(CIGI) founded by Jim Balsillie, Co-CEO of Research In Motion (RIM)
In 2003, CIGI, created a free online research network called IGLOO (International Governance Leaders and Organizations Online) that connected researchers, practitioners and educators around the world.
By 2008 Igloo.org had further evolved into a for profit firm with a focus on creating On Demand Corporate Social Networking software with Web 2.0 tools for content management, collaboration, social networking and administration.
IGlOO offers 3 versions of it’s Corporate Social Networking (CSN) software:
- Lite Edition
- Pro Edition
- Enterprise Edition
IGLOO’s Lite Edition contains IGLOO’s content management platform and social networking tools and is optimized for corporate pilots, or group work spaces for teams. Priced at $4,999 USD annually or 449 USD per month, the Lite edition comes with a basic self service support portal.
IGLOO’s Pro Edition is designed for company-wide networking and knowledge sharing. Pro Edition adds Corporate Social Networking tools, Blogs, Wiki’s and forums. Data Storage and Data Transfer are increased to 50 GB in the Pro Edition. Pro Edition is priced at $9,999 USD annually or $999 USD per month.
Available add on support packages for both the Lite and Pro Editions include a Silver level of Support for $1,000 USD per year and a Gold Level of Support for $2,500 USD per year.
IGLOO’s Enterprise Edition is designed for use outside of the corporate firewall and adds multiple domains, up to ten online communities, multinational deployment support and free silver level support. Data storage and data transfer clock increase to 100 GB in the Enterprise Edition. Pricing for the Enterprise Edition is based on a number of factors and is not disclosed on the IGLOO website.
IGLOO offers a Wizard based Setup for each of its edition’s. The Setup Wizard allows a user to choose what WEB 2.0 features will be used in the CSN, look and feel of the CSN in addition to administrator tasks such as permission setup and reporting.
IGLOO Web 2.0 tools are similar to tools in competing CSN offerings with the IGLOO differentiator being that the tools are a bit more polished than some of the newer entrants in the CSN Space.
IGLOO is utilized by 150,000 end users at customers including Amnesty International, Arizona State University, Deloitte, Motorola and the Royal Bank of Canada. Future updates of IGLOO will include features like social graphing, Microsoft Outlook integration, additional mobile device support and connectors to Enterprise Apps and Microsoft SharePoint.
IGLOO offers a very comprehensive Corporate Social Network solution that can fit any size non-profit or corporate site. Smaller companies and non-profits may have a hard time digesting the pricing of the Lite Edition but the pricing of IGLOO’s offerings is in line with most of its competitors.
July 23, 2008
Written by Ameed Taylor
Mindtouch announced today a new version of its Opensource collaboration and collective intelligence platform. The new version of Mindtouch Deki, “Kilen Woods” introduces new data connection and enterprise integration tools to what is already a very robust Wiki platform.
Aaron Fulkerson, co-founder and CEO, said that:
“MindTouch Deki has evolved into a powerful platform that is the connective tissue for integrating disparate enterprise systems, web services, and Web 2.0 applications, and enables real-time collaboration and collective intelligence - dynamic data collection and application integration.”
New Enterprise Adapters introduced in MindTouch Deki include adapters for:
- SugarCRM
- Salesforce
- LinkedIn
- MySQL
- Microsoft SQL Server, Access and Microsoft ADO.NET
- VisiFire
- PrinceXML
- ThinkFree Office
- WordPress
This new functionality helps MindTouch Deki jump to the front in terms of competing Wiki Platforms as now within a single platform users can create mashups, dashboards, reports etc from within the Wiki interface. This type of enterprise integration will make Wiki’s (if more Wiki platforms are able to catch up with MindTouch and add this type of integration in the future) an easier sell for companies as integration with existing applications is always at the top of the list of wanted features.
MindTouch Deki also differentiates itself from other Wiki platforms in that its existing feature set allows drag and drop in a GUI interface for most of its functionality. This makes adoption within a company a lot easier than other wiki tools in that users do not have to learn html markup etc to create content.
Will be interesting to see if MindTouch can build upon the list of current adapters with integration for high end ERP (SAP, Oracle etc) and CRM (Seible) applications. MindTouch Deki “Kilen Woods” should be available for download by the end of July
July 8, 2008
Written by Ameed Taylor
You know that you are officially in the acceptance (and some would say hype) stage of a technology when writers begin to churn out titles in the genre.
Niall Cook’s new book “Enterprise 2.0 - How social software will change the future of work” is due to be released on 21 July 2008.
In Niall Cook’s words:
“Enterprise 2.0 helps you navigate the emerging social software landscape and introduces you to the key concepts that make up ‘enterprise 2.0’. I explain how the culture of most companies will need to change as a result of the different ways of working that social software enables. The four Cs model at the heart of the book uses practical examples from some of the best-known companies in a range of industry sectors to illustrate how to apply these techniques to encourage communication, cooperation, collaboration and connection between employees and customers in your own company.”
This should be an interesting title as Niall seems to understand the core of Enterprise 2.0 with his focus in the book on the 4 C’s. Also Enterprise 2.0 adoption has been hindered a bit to date by a lack of of clear Enterprise 2.0 use cases and examples and Niall makes extensive use of use cases and examples throughout the book.
Finally “Enterprise 2.0″ has an associated wiki on SocialText that the author hopes will be used as an extension to the book.
My only quibble with the book is that it is only available in its first run as hardcopy (who in this day and age can carry around a heavy 180lb 180 page hardcopy book?) Hopefully future printings will be available in pdf and or paperback.
June 11, 2008
Written by Ameed Taylor
Heading back to Arizona today after a very interesting and informative Enterprise 2.0 2008 conference.
Had a chance to meet with the founders and CEO’s of a number of Enterprise 2.0 firms and have come away very impressed with the software solutions, business models, channel partner plans and ROI of most of the firms products.
There has been much speculation in the consumer Web 2.0 space as to when the bubble will burst on both the irrational valuations and fantastical (made up word:) revenue models based on advertising that consumer Web 2.0 has been built upon.
It not only is clear that Enterprise 2.0 firms are a different breed from their Web 2.0 brethren , it is also clear that many of these firms will not only survive the current economic slowdown but are thriving now that companies are looking for ways to contain cost. On Demand hosted solutions for the Enterprise are really gaining steam at the moment and look likely to increase in market and mind share based on the enthusiasm I have seen from attendees at the Enterprise 2.0 conference.
A few of the Enterprise 2.0 firms (and Enterprise firms like Sun and IBM) I had a chance to meet with whom I will post follow-up articles and reviews about over the next few weeks include:
- Liquid Planner
- Serena Software
- Atlassian
- GroupSwim
- Small World Labs
- Sun for Project SocialSite
- IBM for Lotus Connections and Mashup Center
- Oracle for Sales Prospector
- Aegeon for Spaceo.us
- Veodia
- Igloo
- WorkLight
- Bungee
Stay tuned….
