Is the Future of Web 2.0 in the Enterprise?

Tim O'Reilly has some ideas about what's next for the web. Web 2.0 has been around for awhile and Web 3.0 although continually evolving, has officially given birth. Is what's next Web 2.5 or Web 4.0? Regardless, O'Reilly thinks it's time for the Web to get smarter.

Much like an infant who learns to crawl, the web is developing along a similar course. Using all of its senses, more information can be gained and access. Among his predictions include voice activated search for the iPhone, a Compact Disk Database, an OpenID for our carbon footprint, a global warming sensor system and the IBM Smarter Project. 

Easier, Richer Communications

Tim Bray, Director of Web Technologies at Sun Microsystems also has predictions. In a recent interview he said that "as long as the Internet grows, its primary effect will be to facilitate easier and richer communications between human beings, the infrastructure we use to build that effect is to be invented."

But what does this mean for CMS? What does the future of the Web 2.0 have in store for document management at the enterprise level? Surely, none of what O'Reilly suggests could even take shape without some system capable of storing, organizing and sharing the very information they need.

Perhaps this is too big picture. There are many smaller scale projects taking place that are helping to shape the future of the web. Among them is ShareMethods (news, site), who, when we last reported had just released ShareSpaces, a sort of social workspace. We had a chance to speak with CEO, Eric Hoffert about Sharespaces and its impact in the Web 2.0 world and beyond.

ShareMethods aims to offer a more social, collaborative role in document management, with an advanced collection of tools at an affordable cost. With more than 200 companies in 40 countries, ShareMethods connects companies outside the firewall (like vendors and customers) across desktops, laptops and servers.

Merging Social Networking with the Enterprise

Harnessing the flexibility and agility of invitation-based social networking tools like LinkedIn and Facebook combined with the security and control of enterprise cloud computing platforms like salesforce.com and Google, ShareSpaces blends flexibility and security, delivering content sharing matched to collaboration within, across and beyond business boundaries. Users can select the vendors, customers and colleagues with whom they want to share documents, specs or designs as well as designate the appropriate permissions.

Fig. 1: Users can choose with whom they want to share documents and the type of permissions.      

ShareSpaces incorporates ShareMethods’ flagship collaborative document management technology, as well as integrates with Salesforce.com, Oracle CRM On-Demand and EchoSign, which enables documents in a ShareSpace to be automated for electronic signature.

Using Salesforce.com's AppExchange, companies can create an unlimited number of ShareSpaces and they are variably priced based on per user, per month usage.

Fig. 2: ShareSpaces' integration with Salesforce
 

Personalizing Communication with the Poor, Huddled Masses

In these trying economic times, Hoffert notes that  the masses require a more personalized, fluid communication that allows for private, secure, but branded work space. Capitalizing on the content rich experience of social networking, users can create, build and share their work within ShareSpaces across a secure enterprise.

In the realm of Web 2.0, ShareSpaces has positioned itself between social networking and the enterprise. Hoffert says that companies initially start smaller and grow into the fullest capabilities that ShareSpaces offers. As well, they begin to understand the utility of Web 2.0. And that's is the where the real future of the Web 2.0 lies.

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