A VC - Latest Comments in Can You Build An Enterprise Only Web App?

Re: Can You Build An Enterprise Only Web App?

evbart — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 13:24:53 -0000

There's no revenue in it, but Yammer seems like a good fit for universities. Just like facebook its closed to people with the right email address. Wonder if students can get their universities to pay for it at a $1 per users? Haha

Re: Can You Build An Enterprise Only Web App?

self — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 01:54:30 -0000

As a professional video editing software, video editor for mac provides quite many functions to help you edit the video for mac os x. With it, you can trim or crop video files, adjust video effects like brightness, contrast, saturation and video volume, and even merge multiple files into one file. So many functions to let you perfectly finish the video editing.

Re: Can You Build An Enterprise Only Web App?

Mark — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 14:52:14 -0000

Yammer has many hurdles to climb. People are used to using Twitter and introducing a new application into their life will be hard. Also, Twhirl can now connect to laconi.ca (the open-source equivalent of Twitter) so users could connect both their public Twitter account and private laconi.ca account from one application. It will be interesting to see how Yammer overcomes these hurdles. Eventhough

Re: Can You Build An Enterprise Only Web App?

Elizabeth Hanson — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 08:45:26 -0000

Mr. Wilson, Regarding Yammer's top prize, we're mildly astounded about that - and feel quite validated in the functionality we've built in the upcoming version of Upswing. The Yammer product represents just a basic group messaging feature that we have built similarly in the purposeful CRM/virtual workspace application for business teams that is Upswing 360. We agree with Dennis Howlett of ZDNet and his view about Yammer when he writes that the "Enterprise won’t come kicking and screaming into the enterprise 2.0 world unless content, context and purpose are aligned." ...That's Upswing 360: focused and relevant content for a specific business purpose - CRM - among a working group who share the same mission. Read more on our blog: http://www.upswingcrm.com/b...

Re: Can You Build An Enterprise Only Web App?

stephanelee — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 13:03:06 -0000

Totally agree with you, Jevon.

Thinking that a few early adopters will force companies to change policies, and that bottom-up rules is so naive...

Of course Internet changes many things, like the fact that employees know more web-based solutions to specific tasks/problems, that they can recommend to decision-makers. Sometimes they can adopt a web app without refering to their hierarchy, and sometimes the hierarchy can approve mainly because of lack of time to find a suitable alternative.

But until further reports, it remains to be seen that Internet users suddenly can help vendors "cross the chasm" (cf Geoffrey Moore Law).

BigCorps just can't use start-up products until some point, because they have a integrate the process into complex legacy environments, security standards and the like. Maybe the features they ask are overkill or useless, but they fit into policies that have been established over the years.

External facing is different, because then Entreprises want to appeal to their target users, and if the target is early-adopters, then it's better for them to adopt "the new whiz kid on the block".

That being said, I wish all luck to Yammer which is a great product, yet just a feature for an entreprise product.

Re: Can You Build An Enterprise Only Web App?

Sander van Zoest — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 17:17:04 -0000

I actually think that this is missing the point. Yammer isn't another IM system. It is more of a bulletin board of short messages that can be received by the whole company, quickly. This is very handy for things like: "the site is back up, please ping me if you run into any issues". Or, lunch runs, etc.

Re: Can You Build An Enterprise Only Web App?

fredwilson — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 13:29:10 -0000

Good point christmas gorilla

Although I would consider blogging platforms to be ³outward facing
communications² and it seems that in that space, the consumer facing
services have seen a lot of adoption in the enterprise

Re: Can You Build An Enterprise Only Web App?

dean collins — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 10:07:23 -0000

with so many enterprise grade server based options for corporate IM out there why use Yammer if you are worried about content snooping.

Spend some money and live in peace if thats what you feel you need.

Cheers,
Dean Collins
www.Cognation.net

Re: Can You Build An Enterprise Only Web App?

pkitano — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 01:28:06 -0000

Since employees have essentially adopted their social media applications, why fight the upstream battle to train and force participation on a proprietary enterprise social system? It's easier for employees, old and new, to use familiar apps... Yammer fits this bill because it works like Twitter. Solutions have already been proposed to cobble together a free-source Yammer: http://www.chrisbrogan.com/...

The enterprise's most workable option is to maintain two knowledge management systems - one internal and one external. Eventually Enterprise 2.0 will be forced to accept the "outsourcing" of their employee knowledge management systems to Twitter/Yammer, del.icio.us and google reader shared items. At least it won't cost enterprise software bucks. http://mediatransparent.com...

Re: Can You Build An Enterprise Only Web App?

David Ing — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 01:21:29 -0000

I think the best approach is where you take something familiar (like IM, or Email or an Intranet) and just provide enough decent improvement to get it adopted. Ironically, too much technology can be an inhibitor.

We've tried to add some Enterprise 2.0 additions to email at http://www.taglocity.com and the reaction has been very positive so far. The trick seems to be to be useful enough to grow from the 'bottom-up' user base while still being able to answer the compliance/deployment/security/support concerns of the 'top-down'.

Also, one very important aspect, is that the application has to bring everyone along, as in, present a solution that all in the team will be familiar and happy to use. There have been plenty of fads seen in enterprise software that tend to get played with by the early-adopting few but then still fail to 'take' in the business mainstream. The aim is to improve the familiar rather than rewrite all the rules - people have jobs to do and need quick, tangible benefits whatever the technology.

Re: Can You Build An Enterprise Only Web App?

Brian — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 20:42:37 -0000

I think it is tough to build an enterprise-only web app, but it can happen. Businesses really need to embrace the app deep into their company culture.

Brian
http://www.konnects.com

Re: Can You Build An Enterprise Only Web App?

ilan — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 18:30:36 -0000

Fred, couldn't agree more on Entreprise 2.0, since we're exactly working on this with Producteev.com, the Wired blog even mentioned us while announcing Yammer's grand prize (we actually do Collaborative Task Management for teams, and implemented a twitter like communication system for events within the team...)
http://blog.wired.com/busin...

Re: Can You Build An Enterprise Only Web App?

kidmercury — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 18:26:13 -0000

the shocking truth about enterprise 2.0:

1. it start with open source apps
2. big monetization opportunity: firms that integrate open source apps to create custom enterprise solutions that are seamlessly integrated. these firms will be quite radical and will be truly edge-focused (as they start by looking at the open source world around them, not with their own intellectual property). i'm gonna go umair haque on you and say this will end up revolutionizing our notion of the firm.

we can try to play enterprise 2.0 as a SaaS game, and there may be enough time left to try that, though open source is going to be the big disruptor to the enterprise, as it will allow for better integration and fewer IT security concerns in comparison to SaaS.

jeff nolan dropped some truth on the open source enterprise revolution a couple days ago: http://jeffnolan.com/wp/200...

Re: Can You Build An Enterprise Only Web App?

Brian — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 17:41:13 -0000

Thanks for the tip.

Re: Can You Build An Enterprise Only Web App?

Tom Hughes — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 16:40:58 -0000

It's a pretty deep market, and the answer will depend on how your organization runs sales . I've seen a good discussion of this exact question on LinkedIn, I would be sure to look there. I often hear it said, "don't build what you can buy," but for a lot of sales applications, you might do better building something simple and effective using, say, SharePoint (if you are Windows-centric) or Drupal.

Re: Can You Build An Enterprise Only Web App?

charlie crystle — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:56:55 -0000

That's anecdotal, but yeah, I can see that. But there are also many enterprise environments where you can't use your personal choice of tools.

Re: Can You Build An Enterprise Only Web App?

Don Jones — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:49:03 -0000

Jon - just signed up - like your twitter click-tracking concept.

Re: Can You Build An Enterprise Only Web App?

jonsteinberg — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:13:35 -0000

Fred-

You and Charlie are right. Time and time again the consumers (employees) drive adoption. When I was on Wall Street it was amazing to me that the defacto information exchange platform between the buyside and sellside (even for trading) was AIM. Wish I could CC Howard L and Roger E on this post because I'm sure they would affirm that fact. Despite all the enterprise IM solutions promising more security rolled out to Wall Street, everyone used AIM, and the firms were forced to install security ON TOP of the defacto platform.

Same story with the RIMM Blackberry, where employees began to just buy the devices and install desktop redirection bypassing IT Departments. Enough employees eventually had them forcing IT departments to buy Blackberry Enterprise Servers.

This is what I'm doing with twittertise.com - notice how it takes the existing behavior of brands on Twitter like Comcast, Nortel, etc. and provides a layer on top of the platform and methodology they have chosen to adapt. Twittertise provides a scheduling and tracking (via bit.ly) layer on top of the existing tool the consumers have chosen.

The consumer ad hoc behavior always seems to lead the way

Re: Can You Build An Enterprise Only Web App?

NICCAI — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 13:09:31 -0000

I agree with BillSeitz. I think a successful enterprise 2.0 app will come from the consumer/end user side. I see a number of opportunities for monetization by building on top of the growing but free consumer end.

Re: Can You Build An Enterprise Only Web App?

Jay Parkhill — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 12:33:48 -0000

My law firm is completely virtual- no offices at all. Creating community within the firm is a real challenge. Private Twitter would be fantastic (then I wouldn't have to cross-post to Twitter and Yammer) but I am pushing everyone to try out Yammer in the meantime.

Yammer or something like it could be great for routine work communications, but even more important for building a relationships within our distributed environment.

I would rather see Twitter doing this stuff itself, but it is great to see someone pushing the work-community concept forward.

Re: Can You Build An Enterprise Only Web App?

Melanie Baker — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 11:07:16 -0000

I admit I had to laugh when I read over how Yammer works. Employees signing up on their own, using company addresses, and with the ability to invite whomever else internally that they want. Externally hosted, with a high likelihood of proprietary information discussed. (I used to work in insurance - holy privacy nightmare, Batman!) App downloads required. Integration with mobile devices - and not necessarily only company-issued ones.

These are all daily nightmares that a lot of IT departments spend a lot of time trying to prevent, and, in fact, directly contradict user policies of more than one company I've worked for. But hey, I'm sure getting upper management approval for an enterprise-wide rollout of an internet app that encourages chitchat wouldn't be a missionary sell at all... right?

These days I'm at a web startup, so we're all over new toys and it's the sort of environment where tools like this could find fairly easy adoption, but web-centric startups and the folks who tend to work at them aren't really mainstream. Enterprise means a lot bigger, a lot more established, a lot slower-moving, a considerably different culture, and a whole lot more policies. I think companies could certainly benefit from new tools like Yammer coming out (call centres are one environment where they could be very useful), but I can't see them being adopted any time soon.

Re: Can You Build An Enterprise Only Web App?

Jevon — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 11:02:10 -0000

I think Yammer is more in line with your thinking that you realize. Their model is to get the employees to make the decision, and then let management buy it if they want to get some control, just like GetSatisfaction.

That said, if you look around, it is hard to find any evidence that management ever does buy something because of that. It just isn't how enterprise software gets bought, and the crux of your argument stands: Will the employees choose something different than the tools they love.

Back to your point though. I would guess that if you looked at blogs that are used inside the enterprise (not their public facing blogs), then you would in fact see that the vast majority aren't build on wordpress or typepad/MT, but instead on Sharepoint and Notes and a few other ugly systems.

Sad, but true. Sharepoint and others have some of the WORST blogging tools out there, but they have an incredible amount of success inside mid->large companies. The biggest reason is simply that they have enterprise-level features. Permissions, workflows, etc. They hook in to all of that. I'm not sure the governance/security obsession in the enterprise is helpful, but it is very real.

In that sense, Yammer, and many many other "Enterprise 2.0" tools, just aren't Enterprise at all, they are Small Business. Which is fine, if Small businesses are your target ala 37 signals, but if someone says "look, my market is 2.5bn in sales last year", then you have to build software that that market can actually buy.

So, I guess my question is: How many actual Enterprise-ready 2.0 startups come in the door at all?

Re: Can You Build An Enterprise Only Web App?

Brian — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 11:02:01 -0000

Interesting comment.

What are some of the other tools that are doing a better job than Salesforce.com at creating tools for how salespeople work?

I am doing some research for my company on the subject.

Re: Can You Build An Enterprise Only Web App?

cosguru — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 11:00:11 -0000

Fred.

I beg to differ.

We began using internally at our office (aprox 35 employees) when it launched and it is an amazing tool especially for Small Businesses that have resources spread virtually to keep in synch with the culture within the main office.

I will agree with you though that time will tell. Now it's hot in our office. Lets see how it embeds itself into the overall workflow. Will it continue to explode or fizzle out in 2 weeks.

Re: Can You Build An Enterprise Only Web App?

christmasgorilla — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 10:47:36 -0000

Fred, I'd be curious if you could clarify something a little bit. It seems that you're talking about tools that facillitate communication within the enterprise. If that's the case, then I definitely agree with the notion of letting individuals bring the tools they want, most of the time.

The interesting flipside is tools that allow enterprises to engage in outward facing conversations. There are plenty of web-based platforms that have done that well (ConstantContant, Eloqua, etc).