Low cost collaboration tools

We often use JotSpot as a very cost effective collaboration tool - an ideal SaaS based intranet.  However, I recently sat through a presentation by Neil Darracott of a small company called Xolve, explaining how they use Groove Networks product for project collaboration.

I'd heard of Groove, because of their recent acquisition by Microsoft, but didn't know much about it.  This is a different approach to collaboration.  You download the tool and it creates a peer to peer link for you between the various computers you or your team use.  It allows you to share folders and files between the team, using your normal desktop applications and the Windows Explorer you use now (with an extra button added).  If you are working on a file off-line, Groove synchronises it with the other team members the next time you are connected.  It costs a one off licence of $69/$179/$229 depending on the features and options you chose.

But on further investigation I discovered Microsoft had also acquired Foldershare, which seems to be the same basic technology as Groove, but is available as a free download - a very cost effective approach to collaboration!  These products are going to be components in the forthcoming "Live" products that Microsoft announced recently.  It will be worth your while keeping track of them.  Marc Olson writes this blog covering the way Groove will be integrated with Office 12.

I still believe the SaaS based approach has significant advantages, but the pricing of these products ,and their integration to MS Office, ought to make a number of the current collaboration tool vendors just a little uneasy!
Technorati Tags : SaaS, collaboration, Goove, Foldershare, intranets, Live, Microsoft

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