The Collaborative Strategies Real Time Communication and Collaboration Industry Report 2003 can be ordered in its entirety (best value) or by volume.

Please scroll through the descriptions below for more information.

Report/ Volume Descriptions:

1. Real Time Communication and Collaboration Industry Report 2003
   [Overview]
2. Volume 1 - e-Meetings [Overview] [Outline (pdf) ]
3. Volume 2 - Virtual Classroom [Overview] [Outline (pdf) ]
4. Volume 3 - Large Events and e-Presentations [Overview] [Outline (pdf) ]

If you wish to order the entire report or any of the volumes please contact Mike Dressler at Collaborative Strategies at (415) 282-9197 to place your order.

About Collaborative Strategies LLC
About The Lead Author

Real Time Communication and Collaboration Industry Report 2003

Three core technologies comprise the RTC tools marketplace: audio conferencing, video conferencing and data/Web conferencing. While instant messaging (IM) and asynchronous collaboration technologies are playing an increasingly significant role in the market, they haven’t yet reached the level of integration and robust cross-functionality that real-time audio, video and data/Web conferencing and have achieved. Several factors are driving the adoption of RTC:

• Reduction in travel and the associated time, money and productivity savings
• The need for converged, rich business communication/collaboration has increased
  Awareness of RTC tools/technologies/solutions has increased
• More sophisticated “solution” oriented offerings are available today, not just technology
• RTC technologies have improved dramatically in key areas (quality, scalability, etc.)
• IP connectivity and computing power are rising even as RTC system prices are falling
• The population buying RTC is shifting from early adopters to the early majority

Let’s briefly explore each of the three core technologies of RTC in turn, starting with data/Web conferencing. CS breaks this space into three core functions:

1. e-Meetings, which require support for rich, ad hoc e-collaboration; these events typically range from 2-20 participants (the focus of Volume 1).
2. e-Learning and e-Training, which tend to be classroom sized groups led by from one to three designated instructors/subject matter experts (SMEs); such events generally include limited interaction between participants and range from 20-100 individuals (the focus of Volume 2).
3. Large events and e-Presentations, or “Webinars,” which tend to have a clear leader/moderator and support very limited interaction (and often only back to this leader or his/her behind the scenes helpers); these events are designed for a large numbers of participants (100-1,000+; the focus of Volume 3).

CS profiled 39 data/Web conferencing system vendors in the three volumes of this report. Key trends in the space are explored, leaders identified (based on revenues, customers, and number of paying end users) and market growth estimates along several metrics through 2006 are detailed. IM technologies also receive significant analysis, and the growing channel for such products and services is explored.

Audio Conferencing can be divided into two core elements: PSTN (analog) and VoIP (digital). We size each of those markets, forecast growth through 2006, outline key trends, identify market leaders and separate out hardware from service provider generated revenues.

Like telecom, Video Conferencing has been hit hard by a number of converging factors over the past few years. It’s a complex market that crosses over between hardware and software, equipment and services. CS details many key aspects of this dynamic marketplace, including key trends, market leaders and revenues through 2006.

Perhaps more importantly, the convergence between all these technologies is explored in a way that no other firm has been able to tackle. It is the synergies and interaction between these markets that we believe is fostering a groundswell of interest and usage. No other report addresses the space in a holistic manner, allowing both vendors and users to cut through the hype and hyperbole out there and extract the core ideas and action items that can make the difference between success and failure.

It’s clear the RTC market is one of the few “hot spots” in high tech today. CS research found that the combined RTC marketplace generated well over three and a half billion dollars in 2002. We anticipate RTC should grow to nine and a third billion dollars by the end of 2006. A detailed understanding of where and how this market is growing the fastest is a necessity for every vendor. And our in depth of analysis of every key system provider in the market means that users and vendors can have a clear “field of vision” as we head into a time of what CS believes will experience massive consolidation.

A partial summary of RTC highlights detailed in this report include:

• Barriers and gating factors
• End user survey data (selection criteria, concerns, future plans, etc.)
• Vertical market as well as horizontal department/process adoption analysis
• An in depth analysis of the significance of the Microsoft acquisition of PlaceWare
• An summery of the evolving visions for RTC at IBM/Lotus, Oracle and Centra
• The rise of value networks and the drive toward real-time adaptive enterprises
• The B2C implications of RTC and the impact of new regulations
• Vendor and user recommendations (road maps for success)
• The two core RTC business models and their relationship to vendor consolidation
  

The e-Meetings space is the “sweet spot” of Web/data conferencing today. Our research suggests it’s by far the largest functional use of such systems, and we anticipate this to remain true through 2006. Interestingly, the market has shifted over the past few years from large group presentation-oriented services toward “in house, on net” software systems.

e-Meetings is clearly a different “animal” than e-Learning or e-Presentations. Just a few of the core characteristics of such providers include: Deep integration of voice, video and data, data persistence (this goes well beyond record and playback), robust security and IM (ubiquitous presence detection). In this volume, CS details characteristics for this sub-segment of Web/data conferencing including: revenues, number of customers and users (each by leading vendor), trends in pricing and usage, etc.

This volume is approximately 400 pages in length and contains over 100 figures and tables.

Volume 2 - Virtual Classroom

Key trends explored in this volume include: blending and multi-channel learning, relating e-learning to human resources practices (HR/HCM), the issue of security versus reach, and vendor consolidation. This report is designed to help vendors navigate today’s turbulent waters by outlining tactics that will help set them apart. It also provides user organizations with a methodology for selecting or augmenting appropriate virtual classroom systems, and outlines e-learning strategies that identify common pitfalls.

CS also details several characteristics for this sub-segment of Web/data conferencing, including: revenues, number of customers and users (by leading vendor), trends in pricing and usage, etc. Discussions with executives from Centra, Arel and other vendors augment this analysis, and we include insights from noted speaker and consultant Elliot Masie. Additionally, this volume includes e-Training specific user data and a case study that highlights the difference between corporate use and higher education oriented distance learning.

This volume is approximately 300 pages in length and contains roughly 75 figures and tables.

Volume 3 - Large Events and e-Presentations

An increasing number of large events, conferences and campaigns are being moved online. Coordinating and managing all aspects of such events and campaigns can be a massive undertaking that rivals the work required to mount a traditional face-to-face event or campaign. Much of this revolves around pre- and post- logistics and trying to remove the complexity of running such events. However, help is on the way. A growing number of customers are discovering that virtual events and e-Presentations can be as valuable – arguably more valuable since they can be recorded, etc. – than their real world counterparts. And of course, these events can be produced at a fraction of the cost.

One distinction here is events that occur on a network and those that include external constituents that attend over the Internet (where QoS is lower and security issues arise). Another key issue addressed is how much interaction is required for a given event (balancing streaming versus feedback), as this also impacts QoS, etc. CS outlines key trends and offers vendors and users a roadmap for success. This volume also details several characteristics of this sub-segment of Web/data conferencing, including: revenues, number of customers and users (by leading vendor), trends in pricing and usage, etc.

This volume is approximately 300 pages in length and contains roughly 75 figures and tables.

About Collaborative Strategies LLC

Collaborative Strategies is a San Francisco-based Technology Analyst and Consulting firm focused on collaborative technologies and knowledge management (KM). Founded in 1990, Collaborative Strategies believes people are critical in knitting together technology and culture to form vibrant organizations. Collaborative Strategies provides objective, timely research and expert advice to vendors and users of interpersonal and interactive technologies for electronic collaboration and KM. Our ability to meet and exceed client expectations is based on a commitment to the use of collaborative behaviors, methodologies, and technologies. Our clients have more time to focus on their core competencies because we devote our time to their specific information requirements. Collaborative Strategies can be found on the Internet at www.collaborate.com or contacted by calling 877-209-2455 (US toll free) or 415-282-9197.

About The Lead Author

Lewis Ward is a Senior Research Analyst at Collaborative Strategies. Mr. Ward joined the company in the fall of 1997 and has since written functional and technical analyses of hundreds of software platforms and applications. Areas of expertise include audio, video, and data/Web conferencing, e-learning and e-training, and distributed project management. He received a BA in English from the University of California at Berkeley in 1994 and continues to write articles for a variety of internationally distributed magazines including IT Professional, e-Business Advisor, and BCR. Previously, he held an editorial position at Ziff-Davis.