Web-based collaboration services take online to next level

RELATED NEWS Websense reveals 2007 Security threat predictions Websense to acquire PortAuthority Technologies, Inc Nifty BSE | NSE 10/02/12 Are Mutual Funds betting on Nifty?

Modern-day communications have advanced at such a rapid pace that it is now possible for remote teams and workers to communicate and collaborate effectively using value-added tools and technologies such as Web-based collaboration services. This new class of value-added online services is a powerful enabler for highly efficient communication between groups of distantly located people, without requiring huge investments in complex and expensive infrastructure.

 

"Web-based collaboration services integrate tried-and-tested forms of collaboration such as Web conferencing and instant messaging with newer technologies such as desktops, workspaces, wikis and podcasts," notes Frost & Sullivan Senior Industry Analyst Dominic Dodd. "They form a core component of the growing 'Software as a Service' (SaaS) market."

 

Frost & Sullivan ( http://www.conferencing.frost.com ) finds that the Global Web-based Collaboration Services Market generated revenues of $682.7 million in 2005, and estimates this to reach $2,644.5 million in 2010.

 

Currently, Web conferencing contributes a significant portion of these revenues. However, this is likely to change over the forecast period, as synchronous or real-time and asynchronous collaboration service technology increasingly merge due to the growing need for tools such as shared virtual workspaces and online collaborative authoring of documents.

 

Contd on page 2.....