The document discusses the evolution and importance of communication, collaboration, and content (3C) within the context of various software platforms, particularly highlighting competition among major players like IBM, Microsoft, Google, and Oracle. It outlines a framework for understanding 3C dynamics including historical perspectives, key concepts, and cultural considerations, emphasizing the need for effective integration and user experiences across different tools. Additionally, the document explores the idea of 'co-opetition,' where companies both compete and collaborate to enhance their offerings in the realm of enterprise communication and collaboration.

1. Communication/Collaboration/Content Competition, "Co-opetition," and Culture: Opportunities for Traction Software and its Customer Community TUG 2010 – 2010/10/13 Peter O’Kelly [email_address] pbokelly.blogspot.com

2. 3C Competition, "Co-opetition," and Culture Agenda A brief history of and framework for communication, collaboration, and content The battle of the titans Where Traction fits in Cultural considerations Discussion

3. 3C History and Framework The big picture Communication and collaboration are about Connecting people with information resources and other people In order to get things done Content is basically anything not well suited to a traditional relational database management system Resources and relations… Communication, collaboration, and content are, collectively, fundamentally important for Productivity Responsiveness and agility Including the ability to work in distributed teams, and across organizational boundaries Effective time and attention management Information governance and regulatory compliance

4. 3C History and Framework A couple historical snapshots 65 years since “ As We May Think ” Also see http://www.dougengelbart.org/events/vannevar-bush-symposium.html

5. 3C History and Framework A couple historical snapshots 50 years since PLATO http://www.platohistory.org/conference/50th-anniversary/

6. A 3C Framework Communication Collaboration Synchronous Asynchronous

7. Blurring Boundaries Optimization opportunities Evolving from specialized and proprietary applications to simplified and integrated services on the Internet platform

8. Core 3C Concepts Key themes Workspaces Information items and models Tools Composite views Activities and programming models Templates Integration

9. Market Dynamics Enabling 3C Optimization Some recent drivers Contextual activities Social content and social networking XML information architecture Integrated work and personal tools The software + services shift

10. 3C Competition, "Co-opetition," and Culture Agenda A brief history of and framework for communication, collaboration, and content The battle of the titans Where Traction fits in Cultural considerations Discussion

11. IBM’s 3C Platforms Overview IBM has three largely distinct communication/collaboration platforms, with Different underlying application and information models A business model partially predicated on perpetuating protracted professional services engagements and legacy software licensing revenues A sometimes politically-motivated standards policy This approach has resulted in an often confusing, cumbersome, and costly enterprise communication/collaboration value proposition

12. IBM Lotus 3C Platforms: Notes/Domino Notes 1.0 (1989) Source: Ray Ozzie

13. IBM Lotus 3C Platforms: Notes/Domino Communication Collaboration Synchronous Asynchronous *Note: IBM announced at Lotusphere 2009 that future releases of Sametime would be based on WAS and DB2

14. IBM Lotus 3C Platforms: WAS-based Communication Collaboration Synchronous Asynchronous

15. IBM Lotus 3C Platforms: SaaS Communication Collaboration Synchronous Asynchronous Note: the full LotusLive suite includes a mix of Notes/Domino and WAS/DB2, along with Outblaze- and WebDialogs-derived services

16. IBM’s 3C Migration Mandate IBM’s Enterprise Customer Dilemma Two incomplete communication/collaboration platforms, with IBM pushing migrations to the WAS platform Despite the fact that the WAS suite does not include enterprise messaging Notes Domino WebSphere DB2 Collaborative applications Enterprise messaging Web applications Information management

17. Microsoft’s 3C Platform Overview Microsoft has a consistent and coherent communication/ collaboration architecture Addressing most facets of the communication/collaboration continuum, with A singular focus on unified information architecture and platform services The same architecture, tools, and user experiences for both software and services On-premises, cloud-based, and hybrid The deepest integration with the tools most information workers use every day (Office applications) Significant new innovation in Office 2010, SharePoint 2010, and Visual Studio 2010

18. Microsoft’s 3C Platform Communication Collaboration Synchronous Asynchronous With the Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite, the same solutions are used on-premises and on-line

19. Another View of Microsoft’s 3C Platform Reflecting a multi-year shift to a unified architecture

20. Google’s 3C Platforms Google is attempting to redefine the enterprise 3C landscape

21. Google’s 3C Vision Communication Collaboration Synchronous Asynchronous

22. Oracle’s 3C Platforms Taking another run at communication/collaboration Oracle has failed with at least 3 major communication/ collaboration offerings since the early 1990s, most recently with Oracle Collaboration Suite Oracle is also determined to become a more significant 3C player, however, in part because Collaboration and content decisions now drive DBMS deployments, directly impacting Oracle’s primary platform franchise Threat: being displaced, especially by SQL Server (via SharePoint) Opportunity: expand Oracle Database role in content management via XML information management Oracle’s application businesses can be usefully extended with contextual communication/collaboration services Oracle understands the IBM Lotus installed base is in transition, and seeks to capitalize

23. Oracle’s Communication/Collaboration Vision Communication Collaboration Synchronous Asynchronous

24. Cisco’s 3C Vision Source: Cisco “Transforming Collaboration Through Strategy and Architecture” white paper

25. Cisco’s 3C Vision

26. Cisco’s 3C Platforms Scrambling to move beyond voice communications Some related acquisitions WebEx (2007/03, Web conferencing) PostPath (2008/08, open source Exchange Server clone) Jabber (2008/09, IM/real-time communication) Cisco Quad “ This enterprise collaboration platform combines the power of social networking with communications, business information, and content management systems. At the same time, it meets IT's needs for policy management, scalability, security, and ease of management.” Source: http:// www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps10668/index.html Cisco’s likely success level in this 3C leapfrog attempt is still tbd Burton Group (2010/10/05): “ Cisco's WebEx gambit is in its opening moves and, therefore, enterprises should adopt a wait-and-see approach concerning Cisco's development of its SaaS 3C strategy and technologies. Enterprises can safely add WebEx web conferencing to their short list but should evaluate the other WebEx offerings carefully because of their technology gaps. In particular, WebEx Connect and WebEx Mail should only be implemented in limited circumstances where they fulfill needs for lightweight communications.”

27. 3C Competition, "Co-opetition," and Culture Agenda A brief history of and framework for communication, collaboration, and content The battle of the titans Where Traction fits in Cultural considerations Discussion

28. Traction Among the Titans A collaborative hypertext journaling pioneer Traction considerations “ Best of breed” versus suites Focused and fast-moving E.g., not attempting to pull a Web app server platform or comprehensive programming framework History and team expertise Including many of the most advanced customer deployments “ Co-opetition” Competitive for generic blogs, wikis, social networking, … Complementary for Beyond-the-basics hypertext collaboration Synergy with multi-vendor enterprise deployments

29. Traction Among the Titans Very well aligned with the Internet platform TeamPage can serve in multiple roles, including Blogs and wikis for asynchronous communication/collaboration Hypertext-based compound document management Social software services Taxonomy/other metadata-driven information item classification Hypertext application platform Traction software developer kit and SDL (Skin Definition Language) “to extend or customize Traction TeamPage's appearance, behavior, and connections to other systems” The underlying Traction meta-model – its collaborative hypertext journaling system – is a key enabler

30. 3C Competition, "Co-opetition," and Culture Agenda A brief history of and framework for communication, collaboration, and content The battle of the titans Where Traction fits in Cultural considerations Discussion

31. Cultural Considerations Some key themes We’re in a “paradox of abundance” 3C product/service phase With an incredible selection of cost-effective alternatives Effective 3C-conducive culture is a perennial challenge, however Many of the same challenges faced with Lotus Notes 1.0 20+ years ago Avoid “Field of Dreams” (if you build/deploy it, they will come) wishful thinking Organizations must provide clear guidance on what to use when Promote effective communication, collaboration, and content management Train people to communicate and collaborate via hypertext content But also to avoid over-sharing and other risks The explosive growth of social software is a mixed blessing Making 3C less of a hard sell But also introducing new challenges, e.g., in terms of encouraging information workers to use the right form-follows-function-fit tools/services

32. Cultural Considerations Example: tool guidance Document library Discussion forum Web content, including wikis Work product File collections Information item collections arranged by topic Web sites with hypertext pages Life cycle Process- or project-oriented; library for results Persistent discussion threads Purposefully organized Web pages User conceptual model Folders, files, and activities Topics and responses; channel-based updates Semi-structured Web pages

33. 3C Competition, "Co-opetition," and Culture Agenda A brief history of and framework for communication, collaboration, and content The battle of the titans Where Traction fits in Cultural considerations Discussion

34. Additional Content

35. Core Collaboration Concepts Key concepts Workspaces Information items and models Tools Composite views Activities and programming models Templates Integration

36. Core Collaboration Concepts Workspaces Workspaces are simply spaces (real or virtual places) wherein people collectively engage in activities Workspaces are composed of Information items Tools Membership-related services such as the ability to identify workspace participants and their respective access control privileges Some workspaces are optimized for ad hoc projects, such as collaboratively composing a customer request-for-proposal (RFP) response These workspaces are, ideally, retired after the final work products are transferred to other systems of record Workspaces may also be general-purpose and/or otherwise ongoing, such as a wiki workspace for tracking and discussing best practices for a given business domain

37. Core Collaboration Concepts Information items and models Information items are the artifacts used to facilitate collaboration in workspaces In general, there are two primary types of information items Documents are typically used for narrative content that is optimized for human comprehension, and organized in terms of hierarchy (e.g., sections and subsections) and sequence Documents are not limited to print-oriented tools such as word processors; modern document-oriented information items also include wiki pages and other types of hypertext Web content Lists : list-based information items are generally data-centric, used to describe real-world things such as customers, project tasks, and calendar events Lists are ideally application context-independent, so that the list information may be shared by multiple applications (and also used with standards-based query and analysis tools)

38. Core Collaboration Concepts Information items and models (continued) Information models are used to define how information items may be related Document-oriented information models are typically based on hierarchies and links A discussion forum, for example, includes hierarchies of topic and response documents Document directories, with folders and sub-folders, are also used to manage hierarchical relationships among collections of documents Wiki pages, as a third example, are more likely to be related by hypertext links List-based collections of information items may also be related through links, but they are more generally related by shared data attributes (a.k.a. schemas, in the relational model)

39. Core Collaboration Concepts Tools Information items are viewed and edited with a variety of tools for specific information item and model types The tools range from relatively simple document viewer and editors to more elaborate tools for domains such as calendar and project management In all cases, the tools are used to manipulate specific types of information items Or collections of similarly-structured information items

40. Core Collaboration Concepts Composite views Composite views are used to combine a variety of types of related information items into a shared view context, typically in the form of portal- or dashboard-centric pages A customer-focused composite view, for example, might centrally focus on a specific customer request and peripherally include lists of recent customer-related orders and meetings (likely with links to views with more detailed information) Most wiki page tools are also composite views, composed of a page editor along with lists of related information (such as links to related pages, along with people who have recently edited the current page) Since Web-centric composite views are now mainstream, in both enterprise and consumer-oriented computing contexts, it’s increasingly redundant to refer to “portal-centric” pages Such pages are now the norm rather than the exception, and portal-related capabilities are pervasively included in modern collaborative application platforms

41. Core Collaboration Concepts Activities and programming models Activities and programming models are used to facilitate taking actions on information items or collections of information items Activities can be Simple, e.g., checking out a document, creating a new document version, or submitting a document for team review and feedback Not so simple, e.g., people collaborating to create a detailed customer RFP response Complex, e.g., coordinating and managing a multi-month services engagement Information item collection-oriented activity examples include assigning a set of project tasks to a workspace participant, or escalating overdue project tasks to a supervisor In all activity and programming model scenarios, related goals include Using declarative constructs whenever possible, in order to minimize low-level coding (that can be more complex and difficult to maintain) Maintaining a clean separation of structure, presentation, and activity (also known as “behavior”) concerns

42. Core Collaboration Concepts Templates Templates are used to minimize rework and maximize consistency Some examples: Information item templates are used to specify information item structure, presentation, and activity details Document templates, often referred to as form definitions, are commonly used when creating new document instances Tool templates combine information item types and models along with activities and programming models appropriate for a given tool context (such as document libraries and discussion forums) Workspace templates typically include multiple tools and information item templates A project team workspace template, for example, is likely to contain document library, discussion forum, and project calendar tools

43. Core Collaboration Concepts Integration There are two high-level categories of integration for collaborative applications and content The first involves platform services, including Identity, authentication, and authorization Encryption and information rights management Indexing and search Tagging and other means of categorizing information items Subscription and notification (including XML syndication, e.g., via RSS) Workflow services Contextual presence awareness and real-time communication tool invocation Storage, including caching and synchronization

44. Core Collaboration Concepts Integration (continued) The second category of integration involves other applications and information management solutions, such as external (to the workspace) databases For example, it’s useful be able to integrate workspaces with existing systems for human resources (such as organizational structure), product/service, and customer information, rather than maintaining duplicate copies of the information With this approach, corporate systems of record maintain control over shared information resources, and synchronization challenges are minimized

45. Market Dynamics Enabling Communication/Collaboration Optimization Some key drivers Contextual activities Social content and social networking XML information architecture Integrated work and personal tools The software + services shift

46. Contextual Activities Taking actions in preferred, familiar tools There is no one-size-fits-all solution People have different work styles and tool preferences To optimize information worker time, attention, and productivity, IT must be able to seamlessly integrate communication and collaboration tools into familiar work environments such as productivity applications and browser-based user experiences On PCs and other device types, including smartphones Information workers can then have a consistent user experience for activities ranging from business intelligence to ERP transaction entry Blurring the traditional boundaries among applications, documents, and Web-centric user experiences And IT can apply and capture data and metadata required for operations and record-keeping policies without placing additional burden on information workers

47. Social Content and Social Networking Connecting people with other people as well as content Social software generally refers to a mix of Blogs Wikis Bookmarking Tagging Rating Expertise and social search Podcasts, videos, and other means of facilitating social collaboration Domain-specific communities including some or all of the above Social software tools are increasingly familiar to information workers from services used outside of the workplace And non-trivial to robustly provide in a model that addresses all enterprises concerns and requirements

48. XML Information Architecture A fundamental information management advance Industry standards such as Open XML and OpenDocument Format (ODF) make it possible to seamlessly manage productivity application content using structured, schema-backed XML Blogs, wikis, and other more social interaction models are also XML-based And have ushered in a shift to hypertext models – focused on collections of information items rather than traditional documents and files Modern database management systems (DBMSs) have no-compromise support for data and content (e.g., XML documents) With significant potential to consolidate around fewer moving parts, and to improve end-to-end information management

49. XML Information Architecture A fundamental information management advance The XML-based service orientation shift also makes it possible for modern information worker tools to seamlessly integrate with back-end systems and Web-based resources This is a significant advance relative to earlier, proprietary, and binary content models Creating new options for application development and information management Providing an opportunity to reduce dependencies on specialized tools and application-specific user experiences

50. Integrated Work and Personal Tools Removing boundaries without sacrificing governance Work and personal domains are both challenged with growing information and communication intensity Mobile devices are now essentially small form-factor, Internet-connected personal computers To optimize information worker time and attention, it’s critical to make communication and collaboration tools available in models that provide consistent and seamless user experiences Making it possible for information workers to maximize their focus on work activities while also staying on top of personal concerns Across all of their preferred tools and device types While simultaneously ensuring enterprise resources are protected and policies consistently enforced

51. The Software + Services Shift Sustainable synergy There can be considerable financial and administrative benefits from moving from on-premises to online solutions It’s not an either-or equation, however Information workers can, ideally, continue working in familiar tools Application developers shouldn’t need to learn new languages and frameworks IT can benefit from a hybrid approach, e.g., using services for some employee roles and on-premises solutions for sensitive or regulated activities and information Business management can optimize a mix of new opportunities and maximized return on existing investments