Last modified: December 19, 1996 10:00 AM PST
Software for rent
A handful of software makers have already begun bringing collaborative tools such as threaded discussion, calendaring, and scheduling capabilities to the mass market of small and mid-sized companies--which normally could not afford to buy the tools--through software rental programs.
Among the early arrivals in what analysts expect to be a major new marketplace for collaborative software are IBM (IBM) subsidiary Lotus Development, Oracle (ORCL), and Digital Equipment (DEC). Lotus and Oracle are partnering with Internet service providers (ISPs) that rent the software as a business service to their customer base. Digital has launched a "virtual office tower" Web site where anyone with a browser can set up an "office suite" for a free two-month trial lease.
These early entrants herald broad new market opportunities not only for groupware makers, but also for ISPs, that will retail the services. And, independent software developers will likely get the business of scaling groupware applications to ISP systems and customizing software into a series of industry-specific applications.
The new trend is destined to remake the groupware market, said Ian Campbell, an analyst with International Data Corporation.
"It is going to be a very important market," as groupware makers team with more ISPs to clear away economic and technology barriers and offer the services more widely, Campbell said.
He said America's wealth of small and mid-sized entrepreneurs, who have never before had the computer savvy and deep pockets needed to deploy groupware, will see an array of new collaborative services. Since pricing will be set by market-sensitive ISPs, Campbell and other analysts predict that these companies--that make up the vast majority of U.S. businesses--will take advantage of new low-cost, pay-as-you-go services.
Last week, Oracle put some of the features of its InterOffice groupware online through Digex, a Washington, D.C.-based ISP that caters to business customers nationwide. A few thousand customers have already signed up and are using the email, calendaring, and scheduling as part of a free 90-day offer, the company said.
Earlier in the year, Digital opened up ForumForum, a "virtual office tower" that offers collaborative tools accessible from any of the tower's 2,000 floors of "office suites." Like Digital's AltaVista search engine, the virtual office tower is primarily a public relations effort, which Digital hopes will result in sales of its Forum collaborative software. After two months of free rent, ForumForum tenants can buy the software and set up their own Web pages that may be linked to the office tower or function as standalone sites, the company said.
Lotus too promises to get a similar Domino Service Provider Application off the ground before the end of the year. Lotus is working with Netcom and other ISPs and telephone carriers on the project to provide both companies and regular Netizens with prefabricated Web sites that can be rented on a temporary basis.
As if they were working on a corporate intranet, groups of Notes users would be able set up the sites to access and share databases as well as to conduct group scheduling and threaded discussions by way of a standard browser.
