Surf, Dive or Die ... the Wave is coming

You most likely have been reading about Google Wave already, like Robert Scoble who finds it "Much more mentally challenging" or Louis Gray who provides a good summary what Google Wave is today: "... an opportunity to further eliminate distance ... ". I understand their points but they are too much focused on what Google Wave is today and not what it's going to be.

For me Google Wave is the biggest threat to the ECM space since the introduction of SharePoint. Google already offers a wide range of content and communication related services like Google Docs, GMail, Google Analytics and with Wave now also a collaborative and social (net)working environment. But more important those are real web services ... no software, no investment, no budget. You don't believe me? Imagine this:

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. May 19, 2010 - Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement pursuant to which Salesforce.com will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Google.

That puts an interesting perspective on the topic, isn't it? And it underlines my point from last month's conversation about innovation in the WCM space: It's over, isn't it? I actually agree with some of the comments made there (standards, usability, etc) but it is not even close to innovation, especially in light of above's scenario.

In know, Google Wave is far from being ready but so was (is?) SharePoint. Do you recall the introduction of SharePoint? You could find hundreds of comments, blogs and news about how bad it is and still, it is the #1 content infrastructure. Imagine now Google and Salesforce.com presenting a web-leadgeneration-collaboration-social-content-mail-contact-network-service for 1$ per user ... would you still pay 250k for a single system, when you can have it all for 1$ ... ?

The one thing that keeps Google out of the enterprise is trust but if they combine their ability to innovate with Marc Benioff's ability to sell ... you remember what happened to Siebel? As a vendor you have two options: Ride the wave: see what NewsGator is doing with SharePoint or Dive deep like Open Text does with SharePoint and SAP by providing back-office infrastructure to a front-office offering.

So what are you up for: Surfing or diving or ...


PS: Never heard of Google Wave? See this two minute summary:

It's over, isn't it?

Every time a software company gets acquired the relevant community starts spinning. Employees fear for their jobs, customers are concerned about their projects, analysts write another paper and of course the competition has a field day. The recent acquisition of Vignette by Open Text has been no different. Of course Open Text needs to reduce head count since Vignette has been reporting losses since before the term WCM was even invented. Everybody that followed Tom Jenkins and John Shackleton over the years knows that burning cash is not an option. But before you bitch about it: 2.2 billion in market cap suggest they doing something right...

When we talk about the products the situation seems complicated. But unlike many "experts" believe, the actual product is not really the issue. If customers would buy software from a startup with a handful of developers, why would they be concerned if a billion dollar company maintains a handful of those developers to keep the product alive? Do you know of any customer of Gauss or Obtree that was forced to migrate to RedDot? Face it: every player is going to get acquired at some time and keeping a product alive keeps the maintenance revenue consistent.

Don't get me wrong, just maintaining a product is always easier (and cheaper) than to innovate. But we also need to admit that the WCM market hasn’t innovated for a long time. What actually happens is that as the products mature and become more stable they work better within the orchestra of tools we need to run a business. But real innovation is not happening. And just to be perfectly clear, social media doesn't count. The fundamentals have been invented 15 years ago and it doesn't count as innovation just because we call it "social" instead of "collaboration" adding some AJAX and better usability. In the auto industry they call that a facelift. Ask your vendor about the top 3 minds behind their social media product and I am sure you'll find 2 of 3 being a collaboration or communication veteran.

But there is something with this deal, which is different. It's the last big one! Believe it or not, there are no more fighters for the greater good in that market; no more idealists that are on a mission. Over are the days when Vignette and Interwoven outsmarted each other to charge a million $ for a website, over are the days of RedDot kicking both their asses :-) Do you even remember Stellent? What is left is a long list of small or smaller companies. Believe me, many are decent businesses run by good managers but still: it is time to exit my friends.

Vendors have two options. Focus on a niche market and sell later or sell the business now. I am happy to discuss my logic behind that but if you follow me for a moment, that leaves two options for customers - either buy from a big player and get an 80/20 solution or buy from a smaller, more focused player and deal with them being acquired sooner or later. Both options come with pain and your decision depends on how mature you think WCM truly is.

So is it over?

Enterprise 2.0 / Make Love not War

I enjoyed some great days in Boston this week, visiting the Enterprise 2.0 conference and gaining new perpectives on strategy at MIT Sloan.

At the E2.0 conference it seemed that Social Media has entered the main stream. Big sponsors includes IBM, Microsoft, EMC, Novell, SAP ... so basically the who-is-who of corporate IT. While not much progress has been made on the product front since last year's event I was very pleased to see my friends at Open Text release their Social Media offering. You may recall that this was originally presented as part of the overall Bloom vision.

What I found most interesting about the E2.0 show this year was not what was presented but what was missing: Customer Focus & Strategy. With the economy down and budgets tight, you would have expected everybody to be 100% focussed on the customer, with clear use cases, easy to implement solutions and a solid strategy how to not just implement a piece of software (or to turn on a service) but how to achieve real results. But interestingly the focus was again entirely on products. Sure we need good products but I have to agree with Craig Hepburn from Open Text that we need "more education and understanding".

This brings me to my second stop, which was just across the river in Cambridge. I had two exciting days with Professor Arnoldo Hax from MIT Sloan. In his executive training session "Reinventing Your Business Strategy" he presents a remarkably simple and compelling strategy model (the Delta Model) that puts the customer in the center of the strategy. Instead of fighting your competition (war) you should care about your customer (love).

I wish that concept would also be applied to by all stakeholders in Social Media: focus on the customer, care so much about them, that you even base your strategy on that. I strongly believe that Social Media will have a major (and positiv) impact on the way we do business. The Social Workplace and the Social Marketplace are going to be a reality very soon. But in order to be successful we need put the customers and their needs in the centre of our thinking.

It’s all about people – it’s all about You!

Everybody can change the Web

This was the RedDot tag line many years before the term Web 2.0 was created. We started in a time when the Web was only for those with technical skills or deep pockets. And now we see a world where the people manage the experience and the best Web initiatives are truly social. You have achieved this!

Time to Bloom

Most recently I have been driving what I believe to be the most strategic initiative an ECM company could consider. I worked with an amazing team and learned a tremendous amount about not only breaking new ground but this fascinating momentum we have in the Social Web. Bloom is a movement I truly believe in, I see the world Blooming – growing in ways I was only dreaming for when I started in the Web space so many years ago. It is up to You now to deliver on that dream.

I believe!

The first day I set foot in this company I knew this was going to be different. The people did not work here, they believed in it. Believed in our product, believed in our mission … and after many successful battles believed in me. I will always remember this trust and believe, as it was the most rewarding experience in my entire professional career. It was You that turned me into a believer.

Thank You

I was privileged to work with some of the greatest people I have ever met. It was a pleasure to work with you every day. It was an honor to fight with you side by side to make this business one of the greatest in the industry. I hope the team continues to prosper and finds the enthusiasm to keep our momentum moving forward but for those that know me I am sure you will also understand why I have to start this next adventure in my career.

I leave those that have been so instrumental in my career the wisdom of Yoda: "Do, or do not. There is no 'try'." … and for me, now is the time to DO.

Sicherheit & Social Networking

Das Fraunhofer Institut - Sichere Informations-Technologie hat sich mit dem Thema "Privatsphärenschutz in Soziale-Netzwerke-Platformen" beschäftigt. Auf 124 Seiten (!) kann man in derStudie alles darüber lesen warum diese Netze nicht immer den optimalen Schutz bieten.

Dabei stellt sich die Frage, ob es eine Privatsphären in Social Networks im klassischen Sinne überhaupt geben kann. Ich bin sich

er kein Vertreter der "alles offen" Philosophie aber wenn ich meine Informationen in ein öffentliches Netz stelle muss ich damit rechnen, dass diese von anderen gefunden, gesehen und verwendet wird. Hier ist allerdings auch zu beachten, dass es verschiedene Level an Sicherheitsbedürfnissen gibt und diesen jeweils Rechnung getragen werden muss.

Auf jeden Fall bietet die Studie einen guten Einblick wie Social Networks funktionieren, wie Daten erhoben und verwendet werden und wer Zugriff auf diese Informationen hat. Gerade wer sich neu mit diesen Themen auseinandersetzt, wird hier viele Informationen finden. Darüber hinaus bietet die Studie eine gute Basis für die interne Überzeugungsarbeit und den Fragen den man sich im Rahmen der Einführung einer Social Networking Infrastruktur stellen

muss.

Auch wird durch die Studie schnell klar, dass öffentliche Social Networks für den Einsatz in Organisationen nur bedingt geeignet sind. Für den "Enterprise" Nutzer finden sich gute Informationen worauf man beim Aufbau von eigenen Social Networks in Organisationen wie Firmen, Vereinen, Parteien, etc. achten sollte. Entgegen den öffentlichen Social Networks sind hier sehr viel komplexere Zusammenhänge zu beachten. Das beginnt bei simplen Zugangsberechtigungen bis hin zu rechtlichen Verpflichtungen aus dem Compliance Bereich, die ich als Organisation zu erfüllen habe.

Siehe auch Pressemeldung meiner Firma zum Thema Sicheres Web 2.0.

Siehe auch Candy & AspirinBlog (Englisch) meinerOpen Text Kollegin Cheryl McKinnon.

Artikel zum Thema:

Deutschland verpasst den Zug bei Social Networking?

Die Fazit-Unternehmensbefragung besagt, dass 64% der Unternehmen Kooperationen mit anderen Unternehmen, Hochschulen oder Forschungseinrichtungen unterhalten. Insbesondere das Thema Produktentwicklung (80%) spielt hierbei eine besondere Rolle.

Das Spannende ist, dass etwa 2/3 dieser Kooperationen auf Basis regelmäßiger informeller Treffen gepflegt werden. Das bedeutet, die Soziale Interaktion stellt eine bedeutenden Komponente in der Pflege von Kooperationen dar. Mit dem starken Fokus auf Produktentwicklung entsteht ein Bild der kommunikativen, informellen Innovation in Deutschland ...

Das erschreckende an der Studie ist allerdings, dass nur etwa 30% der Unternehmen ein Intranet betreiben (leider sind keine Angaben zu Extranets in der Umfrage enthalten). Des weiteren nutzen nur etwa 9% der Unternehmen Social Networking. Da bereits 70% der Unternehmen einen Webauftritt haben und mehr als 76% der Befragten angeben von den entsprechenden Möglichkeiten des Social Networking zu wissen, stellt sich die Frage was die Firmen zurück hält dies zu verwenden.

Diese Frage wird umso interessante, wenn man eine andere Größe hinzunimmt. Statistiken zu Facebook belegen, dass das Wachstum weiter anhält und mittlerweile die Zahl von 150 Mio. Teilnehmern überschritten wurde. Hierbei besonders spannend ist die Tatsache, dass die Altersgruppe von 35-54 Jahren mit 276% zulegte. Das ist ein weitere Anstieg der Wachstumsrate von zuletzt 172%. Gerade diese Altersgruppe stellt die Leistungsträger in vielen Unternehmen.

Fassen wir zusammen:

Firmen unterhalten Kooperationen, insbesondere in innovativen Bereichen wie der Produktentwicklung und pflegen diese vor allem durch informelle Treffen. Genau diese Firmen nutzen allerdings die neuen Möglichkeiten von informellem Informationsaustausch durch Social Networking kaum, obwohl die Kernaltersgruppe mit grossen Schritten in diese Richtung marschiert. Es bleibt abzuwarten ob dies nur eine Momentaufnahme oder eine besonders konservative Schicht der deutschen Unternehmer darstellt. Es sollte uns in jedem Fall zum Denken und dann auch zum Handeln anregen.

Hinweis: Ergebnisse beziehen sich auf die siebten FAZIT Unternehmensbefragung (Herbst/Winter 2008 von baden-württembergischen Unternehmen, landesweite Ergebnisse können abweichen. Details Verfügbar unter www.fazit-forschung.de.

Noch wenige Stunden und es geht los: CeBIT, die größte IT Messe der Welt ...

Das Team hat wieder Großartiges vorbereitet und natürlich kann man sich all die neuen Dinge (und auch eine Vorschau auf das was noch kommen wird) live auf der Messe anschauen. Siehe auch die offizielle PR.

Aber es gibt noch mehr spannendes zu berichten. Wie bereits erwähnt, haben wir unsere eigene 2.0 University eingerichtet. Das Open Text Research Centre of Digital Media unterstreicht unser Commitment zu Web 2.0 oder besser unserer Enterprise 2.0 Strategie besser bekannt unter Bloom.

Dazu passend hat heute Tom Jenkins, Chairman meiner Firma Open Text einen Artikel veröffentlicht, in dem er die Digital Revolution für Kanada fordert. Während der Artikel seine kanadischen Landsleute daran erinnert, dass die Digitale Economy in Kanada evtl. hinter den USA und Europa zurück bleiben könnte, enthält er auch einen für uns alle wichtigen Punkt:

"Today's teenagers – tomorrow's work force – are immersed in the digital world, constantly connected to friends via text messages and social websites. They will lead a cultural shift in the way people collaborate and share knowledge in the workplace, with a premium placed on openness and the free flow of information."

Ich mag besonders: "a premium placed on openness and the free flow of information." Ist das nicht der Kern der ganzen 2.0 Bewegung? Ich bin auf derCeBIT zu erreichen und freue mich auf Feedback zu unseren Ideen der Digitalen Revolution und wie wir das in unseren Alltag einbauen.

Bloom Basics February 2009

View more presentations from Daniel Kraft. (tags: enterprise text)

CeBIT & the Digital Revolution - a great day!

I have been working all day to prepare for CeBIT the largest global IT show starting tomorrow. We are ready to go and from what I can see it is going to be a great event. Most of what the team what has been working on will be available for you to see live on the floor. For more check-out the official PR.

But that's not all. You may have seen my earlier post about our very own 2.0 University we launched last year. The Open Text Research Centre of Digital Media underlines our commitment to the Enterprise 2.0 movement best know as Bloom.

Today Tom Jenkins, Chairman of my company Open Text has posted an article about the Digital Revolution that is over-due in Canada. While the article reminds the Canadians that the digital economy requires some action to keep pace with the US and Europe, he states something that holds true for all of us:

"Today's teenagers – tomorrow's work force – are immersed in the digital world, constantly connected to friends via text messages and social websites. They will lead a cultural shift in the way people collaborate and share knowledge in the workplace, with a premium placed on openness and the free flow of information."

I especially like: "a premium placed on openness and the free flow of information." Isn't that core of the entire 2.0 wave? Let me know if you'd like to learn more about our ideas on the Digital Revolution and how we can help implement that into our daily work.

The Best Team Ever!

Many technology companies talk about the concept of “shoemaker’s children”. Well, at Open Text we to often suffer from this challenge. We have great technology (shoes) and provide amazing solutions for our customers but internally we sometimes go without shoes. This week, our team not only cobbled us a great pair of shoes but exemplified what team work and imagination can bring to an organization.

Many of you may find yourself in a similar challenge so I would like to share our success from time to time in an effort to motivate your organization to achieve the same. So as I congratulation our team, you will get to know what drives us, and why we love what we do at Open Text.

Last week we had the opportunity to pitch our latest Web Solutions offering to a group of industry experts. The team has done a wonderful job! The overall goal of the meeting was to show how marketing organizations can use our technology and mature throughout a series of online marketing initiatives.

Everything from creating multi-lingual sites (see Web Solutions for Multisites) to driving engaging social experiences online. I saw true passion come from the team delivering a story for marketing driven initiatives that included:

• Personalization managed directly by the marketing team - even I could do it - incl. preview for different personas and times: you can go forward in time and see how it will look in the future, e.g. when you kick-off a campaign
• Fully integrated rich media management to manage all your marketing assets (BTW: we got rated best marketing asset management in the industry)
• Facebook integration: have a look at the SwitchedOn Widget
• Whole set of web analytics, incl. Google Analytics integration as well as governance & popularity reporting
• Campaign management with integration into Salesforce.com

And of course my favorit presentation was a full set of 2.0 capabilities (incl. Blog, Forum, Tagging, Voting, Wiki) and a full featured community solutions (enterprise class scaling and mobility support for iPhone and Blackberry) ... the true reality of our Bloom strategy we launched at Content World. And as you would expect from a leader in compliance we also showed Social Compliance: the amazing combination of Enterprise 2.0 with the Web Compliance Manager

I know this post has some more marketing to it, but our team truly did an amazing job and what I realized was that as with many solutions, the technology works great, but it’s the story that captivates the audience. The energy, the team work and passion about the web is driving our Web Solutions team. Want to learn more, meet us at CeBIT ... I am going to be there and happy to tell you more about us!

Bloom Basics February 2009

View more presentations from Daniel Kraft. (tags: enterprise text)

The end of an era - the start of a journey

Time to say good bye.

On December 2008 we had to say good bye to one of our dearest friends - the RedDot. In an emotional ceremony all of his fellow co-workers gathered together to share great stories and express their respect for one of the greatest web visionaries of all times. When we had to enable everybody to change the web, RedDot was there for us! When 3,000 companies knocked on our doors to help them with their web solutions, RedDot was there for us! When two Canadian software companies looked for a great acquisitions in WCM, RedDot was there for us. He was always there for us, our great friend, co-worker and admired leader. We have to say good bye now, but we promise that we will keep RedDot in our hearts, we promise to finish what we have started, and we'll make the Web vision a reality while Open Text Blooms."

You may have noticed that we have made some adjustments to the branding of the Web Solutions Group. Entering 2009 we decided to focus on the Open Text brand for all teams within the group, including RedDot. This is the final step of a 2 year project aligning the operation. RedDot as a product and dedication to WCM does not go away, in fact as we have become an integrated ECM offering our strength in Web Solutions will continue to grow. RedDot is now the Open Text Web Solutions Group and Web Solutions is a continued focus for Open Text.

Many customers may ask, what does this mean for me?

Over the last two years we have made excellent progress providing a fully integrated ECM strategy. It turned out that WCM is a strategic component for many of our customers and with a completely integrated approach we allow you to not only to buy a long term path for your organization with Open Text orchestrating strategic success. As a current customer, our dedication continues and our support network is expanding. For new customers, you can turn to Open Text for the WCM expertise we have gathered over the last 14 years with RedDot while joining Open Text in the journey to be Content Experts.

Join me as we say our farewell to RedDot as a brand but hello to Web Solutions a strategic component of Open Text's ECM strategy. Share with us your opinion on this journey so we can ensure that your investments in Open Text continue to drive more ROI in the future.