This research service reviews the emerging market for web-based collaboration services, comparing these new service opportunities with the related, developing technologies of conferencing and collaboration applications, Software as a Service (SaaS), and the Web 2.0 paradigm. The environmental drivers and enablers are examined to understand the history and background from which this new class of service has come. The varying types of technology and tools deployed in services now available is also reviewed, together with an analysis of a sample of the many companies now operating in this area - both older, larger players and new start-ups.
Research Overview
This Frost & Sullivan research service entitled Pushing the Boundaries of Online Collaboration - The Web-based Collaboration Services Market provides a comprehensive analysis on the relatively new area of Web-based collaboration services. It explores the major drivers and restraints governing these emerging services, and reviews the different tools and technologies that service providers are offering to support remote teams and workers.
Market Sectors
Expert Frost & Sullivan analysts thoroughly examine the following market sectors in this research:
- Web conferencing services
- Workspace or Intranets
- Software as a Service
- Web-hosted IP telephony services
- Web desktop
Technologies
The following technologies are covered in this research:
- Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)
- Ajax
- Web 2.0
Market Overview
Ability to Enable Remote Teams and Workers to Communicate Effectively Boosts Web-based Collaboration Services
Web-based collaboration services represent a new class of value-added online services that have emerged out of the growing need to enable groups and teams of people working remotely to collaborate effectively. The resurgence of new business start-ups, rapid pace of globalisation and high rates of broadband communications deployment combine to create tremendous opportunities for the providers of web-based collaboration services to support the processes and operations of various organisations or individuals.
"The advent of more widely available fast Internet access and the emergence of Web 2.0 technologies are together answering the communications and collaboration needs of small office-home office (SoHo) users, small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), remote or teleworkers and even large global organisations," says Dominic Dodd, senior industry analyst covering conferencing and collaboration. The adoption of web-based collaboration services demonstrates the increasing trend among enterprises to move from discrete and unconnected information flows to more integrated and cohesive communications. By integrating tried-and-tested forms of collaboration such as web conferencing and instant messaging with newer technologies such as workspaces, wikis and podcasts, groups of users work efficiently and remotely, without having to invest in expensive technology and software.
Current Trend towards Functional Specialisation Likely to be Replaced by More Generalised Services
The web-based collaboration services market is still an emerging one, undergoing constant change and development. The market has numerous participants, both large and small, all of whom are contributing to the ongoing innovation, and revenues are expected to increase from $682.7 million in 2005 to $2,644.5 million in 2010.
A high degree of functional specialisation prevails in the market, with most service providers focusing on three or four core functions alone. These include group virtual workspace, file and document storage, wiki, blogs, message boards, web and audio conferencing, project management and database tools. However, this trend towards specialisation is expected to eventually give way to more generalised service providers offering integrated online services that support all these collaboration tools. "Over time there will be a further migration to vertically specialised web-based collaboration services which incorporate many of these functionalities into specific business applications," notes Dodd.
