Michael Sampson

Daily Report for June 30, 2007

Team Collaboration

• Centric Team Elements ... Centric CRM released a preview version of Centric Team Elements, a suite of Enterprise 2.0 applications for its customer relationship management offering. "Centric Team Elements is the first complete, open source, Java-based Enterprise 2.0 product. It ties together discussions, wikis, blogs, RSS feeds, issue tracking and trouble-ticketing, project management, document management, and federated search in a single, unified application running on a relational database. Centric Team Elements is the only team collaboration product to offer all of these capabilities within a single application." Available immediately as 0.9; 1.0 is due in 3Q2007. MarketwireCanada


• MessageWare CalendarShare 3.0 ... MessageWare released Version 3.0 of CalendarShare, an add-on for Outlook Web Access that supports calendar delegation. "The only calendar enhancement software for Outlook Web Access, CalendarShare 3.0 builds Outlook-like calendaring functionality into OWA, the world’s most widely used corporate web mail solution. Using CalendarShare 3.0, users can now set delegate access to calendars from within Outlook Web Access--acting as a delegate, requesting and accepting meetings and scheduling appointments for someone else. One can also assign permissions for others to view their entire calendar. In addition, the solution retains current, popular features, including the ability to view up to five calendars side-by-side, viewing multiple calendars in day, week and month formats, tracking meeting attendee requests and convenient resource booking." Available immediately. MessageWare


• PeopleCube WebEvent ... PeopleCube released an updated version of WebEvent, its online event scheduling and calendaring offering. New features: enhanced search capabilities, improved email reminder functionality, and new UNIX platform options. Available immediately. PeopleCube


• Microsoft Live Futures ... Microsoft announced plans to release an integrated suite of communication tools under the Windows Live moniker, combining a Windows desktop client and a series of online services. "The new suite of applications will include Windows Live Messenger for instant messaging; the currently beta Windows Live Mail for unified e-mail that could include Hotmail and any other standard e-mail service, Windows Live Writer for blog authoring and Windows Live Photo Gallery. Further down the road, Microsoft hopes to add Windows Live OneCare, the company's consumer security service. There will also be a mobile version of the suite." More details forthcoming in 3Q2007. InformationWeek


• Calgoo Apps 1.0 ... Calgoo came out of beta with its first full-edition, supported by a $25 fee per user per year. "Of course this program is extremely unique in that it can synchronize your Outlook calendar with Google Calendar in both directions. You can hop online to the Google Calendar if you’re on the road and need to add an appointment. Then when you return to the office Calgoo will automatically update your Outlook calendar so that it is perfectly in sync." New features: revised user interface, improved calendar support, synchronization of Outlook contacts, a new database engine, and more. Available immediately. CybernetNews


• Sunbird and Lightning 0.5 ... Mozilla released Version 0.5 of Lightning and Sunbird, two calendar clients. Sunbird is standalone and separate from email; Lightning is integrated with Mozilla Thunderbird. Key features: support for multiple calendars, some support for Google Calendar, improved printing functionality, and meeting invitation sending by email with Lightning. Available immediately. CybernetNews


• Google Docs & Spreadsheets Facelift ... Google updated the look-and-feel of its Docs & Spreadsheets online offering. Bruce Elgort


• Three Barriers to Adoption ... Todd lays out three barriers to adoption of collaboration tools: (1) lack of awareness of what's available, (2) lack of education on how to use it effectively, and (3) unwillingness to use whatever is available. He concludes with, "Are their other barriers? Yes, but solve this group and the rest won’t matter." Collaborage


• Amicus MessageKeep ... Amicus released MessageKeep, a hosted email archiving add-on for Zimbra email users. "MessageKeep seamlessly and efficiently clones a copy of each message into your archive, where it is stored safe from crashed hard drives and errant deletion. Enhanced with custom retention settings and delegated personal web access to user-specified archive audit sets, MessageKeep delivers enterprise-strength capabilities for compliance with archive and discovery regulations such as the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) and corporate policy best-practices." Available immediately. PR Leap

Mobility

• Laplink Everywhere for iPhone ... Laplink announced that Version 5 of Laplink Everywhere, its remote access software for accessing PCs from mobile devices, will support the Apple iPhone in 3Q2007. "Laplink Everywhere 5 will be squarely aimed at the mobile device market, with a free version of Laplink Everywhere that allows a mobile user to quickly and easily execute a remote search of their desktop PC and then forward files or email resulting from that search – all with very little data actually transferred to or from the mobile device." Laplink


• Visto Mobile for iPhone ... Visto announced Visto Mobile for iPhone, thus providing access to corporate email servers from the just-about-released Apple iPhone. "Through Visto, iPhone users will be able to experience secure mobile access to current and legacy versions of both Microsoft Exchange and IBM Lotus Domino corporate messaging platforms. Visto will enable access that is easy to implement and administer and will alleviate IT concerns regarding security and reliability. Available 3Q2007. Visto

Productivity

• 20 Time and Energy Drains ... Leo catalogues 20 time and energy drains to avoid. Freelance Switch

Daily Report for June 29, 2007

Team Collaboration

• Groove vs. SharePoint ... Microsoft published a brief overview of where Groove and SharePoint differ, when you should use one vs. the other, and where they work best together. Summary: use Groove for small virtual teams and short-term projects; use SharePoint for publishing information permanently and distributing it widely; and use both together to take intranet content offline and share that content externally. Microsoft


• ROI for Enterprise 2.0 ... Forget it, says Robert Kaplan from Harvard University. Among other reasons, "The productivity and improvements are micro-tasks. It’s akin to doing operations research studies with a stop watch on the benefits to using email. Did anyone get fired because Microsoft Office was released? I highly doubt it. Wikis shift work from email and documents to wiki pages and a more facile method of collaboration. Measure it? Spend your time in more fruitful endeavors." RadioWalker


• AKG Seminar on SharePoint ... Applied Knowledge Group is presenting an in-person seminar, "How to Improve Collaboration and Create a Robust Virtual Office with Microsoft SharePoint", on September 21 in Washington DC. "Learn how to better integrate SharePoint into your business environment. Our proven technology adoption process helps you incorporate technology and keep your business competitive. True virtual collaboration allows you to share critical business information in a secure environment regardless of physical location." Registration required. AKG

Mobility

• iPhone to Exchange? ... There are some well-placed sources who say that Apple will announce a licensing deal for the Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync protocol, enabling the Apple iPhone to work with Exchange. Peter de Haas, MacNN


• iZoho for the iPhone ... Zoho announced iZoho, a suite of its online applications for mobile devices such as the iPhone. Zoho Writer, Sheet and Show will apparently work on the forthcoming iPhone, although expect some tweaks in the immediate days following the iPhone's launch. Zoho (hat tip, Read/Write Web)


• AT&T's Service Plans for the iPhone ... AT&T unveiled three new service plans for the Apple iPhone, which will be released in the US on Friday. Prices range from $60 to $100 per month. "The three unlimited data plans include 450 monthly call minutes for $59.99, 900 minutes for $79.99 and 1,350 minutes for $99.99. Each also comes with 200 SMS text messages, unlimited mobile-to-mobile calling and access to the iPhone's new Visual Voicemail, a feature that lets users select specific messages from a list rather than having to listen to each in turn. The two higher-priced monthly plans provide unlimited night and weekend minutes -- for AT&T, night hours start at 9:00 p.m. local time -- while the least expensive sports a 5,000-minute allowance." ComputerWorld


• Apple Weighs in on the iPhone Keyboard ... Apple released a video showing the elegance of its virtual keyboard, and argues that it is better than a physical keyboard. ComputerWorld. Note also that Walt Mossberg thinks that the keyboard works fine after about 5 days of learning how to do so.


• iPhone Hype ... George lists 13 reasons why he thinks the iPhone will flop, including (13) no GPS, (12) a lack of a physical keyboard, and (11) it's ugly. ComputerWorld


• Nokia E61i and E65 ... Nokia released two new smartphones for the US business executive: the E61i replaces the E62, and has an inbuilt QWERTY keyboard. The E65 runs the same software, but doesn't have the keyboard. SmartPhone Today

Productivity

• Take Small Breaks; Get More Done ... Don't try and slog through a complete day without breaks. It's bad for you. "Aside from limiting the actual amount of time I can work on the computer, I also take more breaks every hour. I use a spiffy little tool that makes sure that I take a 30 second break every 8 minutes, and a 10 minute break every 50 minutes. However, I’ve found that taking breaks doesn’t just mean going over to the water cooler. It’s during these 10 minute breaks that the real magic happens." Zen Habits


• Get to the Top of Your Field ... Ten steps from Leo to get to the top of your field: (1) learn from the best, (2) read, (3) practice, (4) get feedback, (5) analyze, (6) practice some more, (7) edit, (8) focus, (9) experiment, and (10) reflect. Freelance Switch


• Extreme Email Addiction ... Mike reports on some figures from Tim Ferriss re email addiction and information overload, and concludes "I don’t know about you, but I find this disturbing. It is almost like we will do anything rather than be fully present where we are. Something to think about." Michael Hyatt

Other Stuff

• For Princess Bride Fans ... Eric introduced me to this movie, and I laughed out loud when I saw this ... (hat tip, Michael)





• Calling all Bag Lovers ... Rushfaster is having its half yearly sale until midnight June 30. Lots of cool things to choose from ... some/many at up to 50% off. rushfaster

An Interview with Derek, Nick and Glen from CORE Ed

I was in Christchurch yesterday afternoon for a meeting with my PhD supervisors, but before heading out to the University, I had the privilege of meeting Derek, Nick and Glen from CORE Education. Peter, a mutual friend for Derek and I, had made the introduction as what I'm interested in professionally within an enterprise / organizational setting, Derek and his colleagues are interested in within an educational setting. We had a great 45 minute discussion, covering a wide-range of topics.

Here's a summary of my notes:

• The founding ideas of CORE Education come out of work done at the Christchurch College of Education by Nick (and others) on developing an ICT strategy for New Zealand schools.


• CORE Education was set up in 2001/2002 in New Zealand, originally focused on professional development of educators within New Zealand. It had a different name originally, modelled on a similar organization in the UK, but changed its name to CORE Education when there was a parting of the ways. Professional development remains a central tenet of CORE Education.


• e-learning is at the heart of CORE Education's philosophy and approach ... how to cultivate it, how to ensure effectiveness and success.


• CORE Education does quite a bit of visioning work for education and e-learning futures within New Zealand, and has established relationships with the government and schools for implementing some of these ideas. One of the current projects is to think about the opportunities that the Advanced Network offers educational institutions.


• Derek and Nick are two of the three directors of CORE Education. I didn't meet the third ... Vince ... but apparently he spearheads a research focused part of CORE Education on topics like ICT effectiveness in education, the impact of online games and gaming on education, and more.


• There is a growing interest across New Zealand in creating and supporting online environments for communities of practice. CORE Education has recently run a fully online conference for New Zealand teachers, that attracted about 1400 participants from across the nation. As a result of its success, CORE Education has linked up with the K-12 online conference work out of the US.


• Glen is one of the technology leaders at CORE Education, and is spearheading the technical platform for CORE Education's work and offerings. He originally developed Interact, a platform for online education.


• What is ... (or from a visioning perspective) ... what could be the impact of the huge penetration of mobile phones and devices among school aged children for the delivery of education? Eg, if you think out five years, and assume that every child has a mobile device that's connected to a fast wireless network, what does / could that mean for educational delivery and effectiveness?


• "Collaboration" via online tools may be a foreign concept to those over 30, but for today's teenagers and 20somethings, it's just a reality / fact of life. Online collaboration is just how they live their lives. While that has big immediate impacts for educational institutions, it equally has big / huge impacts for enterprises and organizations in 5-15 years.


• Web 2.0 tools such as blogs and online documents, eg, Google Docs, are changing the practice of working together. Derek said that it is very common for him to attend a meeting and have someone at the end say, "I'll throw up a Google Doc so we can work on that".


• CORE Education has 37 staff within New Zealand, 12 of whom work out of the head office in Christchurch.

It was great to meet with Derek, Nick and Glen. If you are involved in the future of education and need some thought leadership, get in contact with CORE Education.

Upcoming Visit to Wellington - Monday July 16 and Tuesday July 17

I'm going to be in Wellington (New Zealand) on Monday July 16 and Tuesday July 17 ... I have some client meetings scheduled, and also have some spaces for opportunities and possibilities. If you want to talk about common interests ... business collaboration, SharePoint, collaboration strategy, Enterprise 2.0, moving beyond email ... or perhaps you're up for an inhouse SharePoint for Business seminar, drop me a line and let's talk.

Daily Report for June 27, 2007

Team Collaboration

• IMAP to Google Mail ... Google added the ability for users to migrate email from any IMAP-compatible email server into Google Gmail. It does impose some new ways of working, however. "Additionally, in the case of this announcement, GMail is unlike most other e-mail solutions in that it doesn’t use folders as a means of organizing e-mails. Instead, it uses a tagging system that’s very much like foldering, but that could take some getting used to. In fact, when migrating accounts from an IMAP-based server to GMail, e-mail that’s stored in some folder ends up getting tagged with that folder’s name instead." ZDNet


• 2.0 at Procter & Gamble ... More details and insight into how Procter & Gamble are approaching the use of Enterprise 2.0 tools for fostering innovation and information sharing. itnews.com.au


• eProject Summer 07 Release ... eProject released its Summer '07 Edition of PPM6, its Web-based project and portfolio management hosted service. "The new edition is highlighted by eProject's DeskDocs, a new way to access documents within eProject's Web repository directly from a user's desktop, tight integration with Microsoft Outlook, timesheet enhancements and login improvements for greater security and ease of access." Available July 2007. BusinessWire


• Hosted MindAlign ... Parlano announced a strategic partnership with mindSHIFT Technologies for the offering of a hosted edition of Parlano MindAlign and Microsoft Live Communications Server, for financial services organizations. Includes trusted federation capabilities, industry chat channels, and integration services, among others. Parlano


• New Compliance Capabilities in MindAlign ... Parlano announced new compliance capabilities in MindAlign 2007, for compliance with industry regulations and ensuring that people who shouldn't talk to each other can't. "Parlano also announced the immediate availability of enhanced functionality in MindAlign 2007 to proactively enforce "ethical walls" that prevent group chat between parties with conflicts of interest, such as energy traders and energy producers, or equity traders and mergers-and-acquisition professionals. The enhanced capability utilizes pre-defined "channel categories" that determine channel membership from Microsoft Active Directory domains, organizational units, and/or groups." Available early July. Parlano


• Collaboration White Paper ... Interaction Associates released a white paper on how collaborative leadership drives innovation and value creation in business today. "Collaboration is at the core of a huge shift in business today, from traditionally hierarchical companies to flexible, nimble, and often matrixed organizations. It's also emerging as a key ingredient at many of the most innovative and successful companies in the world." The white paper is available at no charge. PRWeb

Mobility

• Motorola Good Mobile Messaging 5 ... Motorola released Version 5.0 of Good Mobile Messaging, its mobile email offering for business users and IT professionals. New features: improved task and calendar management capabilities, a mobile RSS reader, greater IT control, and more. Available September 2007. Motorola

Productivity

• Time and Place Matrix ... The EOC from the UK has a new way of visualizing "work" ... mapping dependence on location against dependence in time, resulting in four categories: timelords, shift-shapers, time-stretchers, and remote-controllers. From James ... "... the report .... says "for the majority of people, the reality of work is still fixed hours at a set place of work, which no longer fits the way they lead their lives" . It moves on to look at more flexible approaches and divides up jobs based on whether they are location dependent/independent and time dependent/independent." Equal Opportunities Commission (hat tip, James)






• An Hour a Day for Solitude ... Leo summarizes 15 ways to carve out an hour a day for solitude and quiet contemplation. "Finding time for solitude is extremely important, and yet it’s an area that is often neglected. I don’t mean time alone, where you’re watching TV or surfing the Internet or reading or watching the news. There’s nothing wrong with those activities, but they aren’t conducive to contemplation, to getting to know yourself, to reflecting on what you’ve been going through, for thinking about your dreams." The strategy: take time from other low-value activities. zenhabits

Other Stuff

• Pitfalls of IT Management ... Five pitfalls of IT management to avoid: (1) continual reactivity, (2) breeding conformity rather than innovation, (3) failing to set a reasonable pace, (4) failing to share knowledge, and (5) not separating the big rocks from the little rocks. eCommerce Times

The SFO International Airport WiFi Network by T-Mobile is AMAZING

I was last at the San Francisco International Airport two years ago, and the wi-fi network was so-so. This year it is super-amazing ... congrats to T-Mobile.

I had a number of phone calls with international and domestic locations, blogged a number of posts, and even had a video conference with a certain person down the state ...

Daily Report for June 22, 2007

Wow, a whole week has gone by without me even posting a Daily Report. Am I slack blogger or what! ;-)

Team Collaboration

• 10 Rules of Virtual Teams ... The WSJ recently published an article on how to make virtual teams more productive. Lynda proposes 10 rules based on surveying more than 1500 virtual teams. Isaac has the list. Central Desktop Blog


• NewsGator for SharePoint ... NewsGator announced NewsGator Social Sites, an add-on for the NewsGator Enterprise Server that adds tagging capabilities and real-time AJAX interfaces for Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and WSS 3.0. Key capabilities: tagging of tasks / calendar entries / announcements in SharePoint, integrated presence, simplified navigation, and enhanced RSS capabilities, among others. Available immediately in beta; in production in July. NewsGator


• Lotus Connections Available ... IBM released Lotus Connections, the enterprise Web 2.0 offering that it uncovered at Lotusphere in January 2007. "Featuring a suite of five Web 2.0-based components -- activities, communities, Dogear (bookmarking), profiles and blogs -- Lotus Connections helps people quickly connect and build new relationships based on business needs. With Lotus Connections, users can easily find subject matter experts in profiles, create and join like-minded communities, and exchange ideas and resources through blogging and shared bookmarks." Available immediately. IBM


• Near-Time OEM ... Near-Time released Near-Time OEM, a turn-key Web 2.0 platform for collaboration between distributed groups and across organizational boundaries. It includes integrated e-commerce services, for monetization of visitors. "Unlike traditional collaborative platforms that have been e-mail based and targeted at business processes inside the firewall, Near-Time OEM leverages wikis and weblogs to bring together collaboration, publishing and knowledge management. Near-Time OEM is integrated with Near-Time’s patent-pending commercial and roles and permissions platform that provides e-commerce functionality allowing for monthly, annual and recurring charges to be made. Value added resellers can set user pricing based upon the value-add of their services, and, using the new services, they can achieve unprecedented margins of up to 90%. " Available immediately. Near-Time


• Mindquarry 1.1 ... Mindquarry released Version 1.1 of its open source team collaborative software platform, with a new activity timeline feature that plots all content types over time. This is the first step toward a grander vision ... "The 'time machine' activity timeline allows teams to view older versions of files, Wiki pages and tasks as a first step toward an ultimate undo/redo for all team content." Available immediately. MarketWire

Mobility

• Everyone.net Mobile Email ... Everyone.net (the company I use for my michaelsampson.net email) released Everyone.net Mobile for its Business Mail customers ... so that they can send and receive email from a variety of smartphones. "Smartphones and wireless devices supported by Everyone.net and Business Mobile Email include RIM BlackBerry, Palm Treo (600, 650, 680, 700p, 755p, 700w, 700wx, and 750), Motorola Moto Q, Apple's iPhone, Nokia S60 smartphones, and those with Windows Mobile or the Symbian operating system." Available immediately, at no extra cost. everyone.net


• mNotes 5 Beta Licenses for Free ... Individuals who have previouly purchased a CommonTime product and have a valid / current maintenance license for that software may be able to get one of 2,000 mNotes 5 beta licenses. mNotes provides mobilization of Lotus Notes email, tasks, contact and calendar information. You'll still have to buy the software when it goes to full release in September. CommonTime

Productivity

• Use Pen and Paper for Reflection ... Software tools are good for collecting information, but when it comes to reflection and creativity ... nothing beats pen and paper. "More than anything, the act of putting pen to the paper, organic, when compared to a computer, is one that opens up brain’s windows. For instance, I have been thinking about some widgets related posts, a chip-sector thought piece, and several other essays that need careful contemplation." GigaOM


• Human Factors Issues with Collaboration Tools ... Shawn summarizes eight key thoughts on why people don't use collaboration tools. #4 was of particular interest to me ... "Most people have poor listening, communication and collaboration skills, and these tools don't solve (and can exacerbate) this underlying problem of ineffective interpersonal skills." Anedote


• Email Can Be Distracting ... Mike is reading that book on the four hour work-week, and thinks it is brilliant. He is changing his email behavior as a result of reading the book. "Based on Tim’s advice, I have resolved to check e-mail only twice a day. It is already having an enormous impact." Michael Hyatt


• Four Keys to Focus ... Jason shares four keys to focus: (1) think about what you are thinking about, (2) envision success, (3) practice the "big things" on the "small things", and (4) stay engaged. Jason Womack

Other Stuff

• Microsoft Outlook Team Blog ... The Outlook team at Microsoft released a new blog. Outlook Team Blog


• The Productive Worker ... 23 very nice slides comparing a "busy worker" with a "productive worker". (Hey Eric ... have a Mac helps too!) SlideShare.net


• Microsoft Groove Team Blog ... The Groove team at Microsoft has a new blog, or at least, new to me. TechNet

I've Got to Say It Again ... the CMP folks put on an outstanding conference ...

I'm sitting here at San Francisco International Airport awaiting my connecting flight back to New Zealand, and it's struck me again how flawless all of the technical details of the Enterprise 2.0 conference went. The hotel wide wireless network worked almost 100% of the time. There was power available in the seats. There was coffee, water and food available regularly throughout the day. The presenters could be heard (when they spoke into their microphones) in all of the sessions. The wireless mics worked. The temperature of the conference location wasn't too hot or cold. 1000 and 1 so-called "little" details coalesced into a symphony of greatness ... well done CMP. You have raised the bar for conference excellence.

Visualizing the Organization: Jeff Stamps Unlocks the Hidden Networks of Organizations

For the past 25 years, Jeff Stamps and Jessica Lipnack have been researching, writing and speaking about the change from small groups, to hierarchies, to bureaucracies, and now to the network, which is the defining characteristic of organizations in the information age. With the emergence and refinement of network science, Jeff and Jessica have been investigating whether the organizational hierarchy is the network. In conjunction with a large global organization, they have been looking at how to model the organization in this way, starting with the formal hierarchy.

To support their work, they have created a software tool called "OrgScope", which takes information from the corporate HR system (or an LDAP directory), and as long as it includes the name of each person's manager, can graphically model the organization using techology licensed from Inxight Software (recently acquired by Business Objects). See NetAge for a Web-based version of this.

Information that can be seen easily and graphically includes:

• How many people are reporting to each role? There are various ways of quickly highlighting which managers have very large numbers of direct reports.


• What does the organization look like as a network of groups? Of locations? Of people? It's very easy to switch between the different views.


• ... and many more.

Jeff has some clear ideas about how he would like to expand the utility of this model through additional data sets ... all I can say is "watch this space".

I greatly encourage you to check out Jeff's work ... this is a must for any HR organization in large enterprises.

Altus Releases the Video of LaunchPad ... Way Cool

Wow, these Altus Learning Systems people do way cool stuff. Here's the video recording and transcription of the LaunchPad event that I moderated at the Enterprise 2.0 conference this past week in Boston MA.

Looks like you need to run Internet Explorer to get the best result ...