Adobe Connect Re-Run

In the "World Web Conferencing Market Report, 2006, Chart 1.15, by Frost & Sullivan, Breeze/Adobe Connect was listed in the "Others" category for market share meaning that Adobe Connect has less than a 0.3% market share in the on-demand space. WebEx has a 60%-plus market share in the same report. More on Adobe Connect

Many people do not know that Macromedia originally acquired the Breeze technology in 2003 from now defunct, Presidia. Then in 2005, Adobe acquired Breeze from Macromedia and rebranded it Adobe Connect and launched it as a new Adobe product offering. Most analysts have expressed their concerns that Adobe Connect is now part of a much larger product family which could hurt Adobe Connect in terms of resources, budget, and R&D.

According to the TMR Report, Q2 2006 by Helen Gallagher, Breeze received 2 our of 4 stars for ease of use. "Breeze is a challenge to learn, even for those with experience with other synchronous tools. Breeze does not have the ability to create breakout rooms and does not have an e-commerce capability." Overall, WebEx received 4 our of 4 stars, the highest mark of all solutions evaluated in the same report.

In NetworkWorld's recent test of web conferencing products, Breeze was ranked 9 out of 11 competitors, suggesting that the Breeze performance might not be at the same level as some of its peer products. More on Adobe Connect

An interesting comparison might be to look at the number of companies Microsoft has acquired and how many of the technologies generate revenue for the company compared to Adobe. After looking at the list, you'll agree that most of the listed companies and their respective technologies are ones you have never heard.

List of Microsoft Acquired Companies

My suspicion is that something similar with happen to Adobe Connect when compared to Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop Suite, Dreamweaver and Flash, etc, it will eventually fall into the abyss of forgotten products. More on Adobe Connect

Thanks,
David Chao
The Web Conferencing Expert

SugarCRM

SugarCRM is an open source CRM application built on LAMP stack: Linux OS, Apache server, MySQL database server, and PHP language. With their open source architecture, over 2,000,000 downloads of their solution have taken place! Though they are not the current market leader in the on-demand CRM space, they are creating waves because of their unique value proposition: flexibility, customization, integration, and of course, the fact that it is open source. They could give Salesforce.com a run for their money with the right mix of marketing and partnerships.

Speaking of partnerships...

About a month ago, it was announced that SugarCRM Professional would be available on the WebEx Connect Application Grid. (Today, SugarCRM serves over 800 customers in 40 different languages.) The key to success for any open source solution with a low price point like SugarCRM is VOLUME. What better way than to immediately tap into the WebEx Connect Application Grid that currently has close to 30,000 companies and 2-3 millions of users connected to it!

Integrating SugarCRM and WebEx provides customers with an end to end, on demand solution so they can effectively manage their customer relationships with a 360 degree view.

How to Become a WebEx Connect Partner

Thanks,
David Chao
The Web Conferencing Expert

WebEx Connect Strikes Again

You can check out http://davidchao.typepad.com also....

The WebEx Connect Strategy is already gaining acceptance and traction in the marketplace with recent partnership wins with Business Objects, Mindjet, FaceTime, Spring CM, BMC Software, OpSource Optimal, DreamFactory, AdvenNet/Zoho, and SugarCRM.

The idea behind WebEx Connect is to extend the WebEx Network to 3rd party partners so they can instantly penetrate a population of 25,000-plus companies and over 3.5M WebEx users who understand WebEx, who understand the SaaS market. The ability to instantly market to this many companies without having to spend significant marketing dollars is of tremendous value.

It's an equal benefit for individual companies and end users to know that they can access readily available and out-of-the-box integrated technologies to help them optimize their business performance and efficiency. If you are a buyer or a seller of applications, you'll probably find what you are looking for through WebEx Connect.

I also came across an equity report from Brad Whitt, an analyst from RBC Capital Markets Corp. (November 10, 2006). One of his comments caught my attention:

How is Connect Different From AppExchange (Salesforce.com's Saas Platform)?

• "We struggle to find any significant similarities in the two strategies. WebEx provides a collaboration platform (essentially the glue that binds), AIM Pro and the 'killer app' - web meetings. AppExchange is not a collaboration platform and the core application is a database intensive SFA (sales force automation) tool. Unlike AppExchange, WebEx Connect is 'application agnostic' and open to working with on premise and on demand applications. Interestingly, none of the partners presenting at the WebEx analyst meeting see value in partnering with AppExchange."

With WebEx Connect, WebEx is truly extending the value chain across their customers, their customer's customers and 3rd party partners, creating a symbiotic environment where all parties need each other equally. Over time, I think that the WebEx Connect strategy will demonstrate WebEx's ability to make major contributions to their customer's business success and advancement of their customer's strategic initiatives.

Thanks,
David Chao
The Web Conferencing Expert

Web Conferencing Market

According to Frost & Sullivan, the web conferencing market is currently valued at $725.4 million and projected to reach $2.9 billion in the next 5 years, which equates to a market growth rate of 24.4%! Even more shocking is that the web conferencing technology penetration rate is less than 5%!

Frost & Sullivan also states that the web conferencing companies that are focused on integrating their technologies with Instant Messaging, VoIP, and video conferencing will benefit the most from the explosive growth over the next 5 years. WebEx already has WebEx AIM Pro Business Edition for enterprise instant messaging, built-in VoIP and video built on the H.264 video codec. Add WebEx Connect and you have a recipe for long-term success.

Thanks,
David Chao
The Web Conferencing Expert