Email has proven to be the first killer app for cloud computing, and today businesses can choose to rent email as a service from IBM, Microsoft, Google, Oracle, Cisco, or numerous smaller vendors. It is the first step in a larger shift in which, over the next decade, much of the computing and data storage that takes place in corporate data centers will migrate to the cloud. Now that our emails are “up there”, our documents are next, and vendors are battling to provide the leading cloud-based solution for documents because, let’s face it, if you manage a company’s email and their documents, you have them locked in.

However, online storage is only part of the value that business users want from the cloud when it comes to their documents. They also want to be able to collaborate with other users, and they don’t want to be forced to use a different office productivity suite. Oh – they also expect their files and those files belonging to their collaborators to render perfectly regardless of the format the file was created in. At eXpresso, we know this because we’ve been engaged with customers that have told us these things for the past 4 years.

With budgets constantly scrutinized, the software giants and not-so-giants who are contending for the title of Collaboration King will need to accommodate a world where their users need to collaborate with something other thanMicrosoft Office. That’s just a fact. They will need to support the complex fabric that is today’s computing landscape. Every collaborative interaction that involves documents will potentially involve a different blend of operating systems, office productivity suites, file formats, and browsers.

eXpresso has been working tirelessly to prove that such a world is possible, and today we have a working prototype ready to show to the world. (See Figure 1)

Figure 1

Notice that these two users have completely different computer environments. I should also add that this prototype makes use of IBM LotusLive as the collaboration backbone and that eXpresso will be available to all LotusLive users in the near future. What’s more, it shows the hybrid model that we believe in at eXpresso, where the desktop productivity resources of MS Office or Lotus Symphony are leveraged by our web-based document collaboration framework. The benefit of this is that each user gets to view or edit the file with their suite of choice, and the file’s original format is preserved with full fidelity.

eXpresso’s methodology and framework allows us to plug into almost any collaboration backbone and leverage almost any desktop productivity suite. This allows our users to keep using the software that they choose, while being able to collaborate with others in real-time without the drawbacks of Google Docs or the manual check-in/check-out model that is prevalent throughout the collaboration backbones available today.

In response to this article:
Office 2010: Desktop Heavyweight, Online Weakling

“Microsoft’s suite upgrade is solid. But the accompanying Web Apps are surprisingly puny.”

Microsoft Office recently introduced the Web app version of Office 2010, but according to this article, it’s lightweight and fails to provide a compelling low-cost collaboration solution that appeals to business users. Businesses were hoping for cloud-based Office collaboration without being forced to take a step backwards with functionality. That’s why our customers end up choosing eXpresso. Not only does eXpresso enable multiple people to view or edit the same Office document online at the same time, eXpresso maintains the features and fidelity you are used to in your desktop version of Microsoft Office.

Advantages over Office 2010 Web Apps:

• More Functionality — eXpresso adds a layer of technology to Microsoft Office, so not only can you keep using the applications you are familiar with, you gain greater control over who can do what to the files you share.
• Less Complexity — SharePoint 2010 requires expertise, plus companies must figure out the subsequent details and resources involved with managing servers. For companies that already have SharePoint, it will require another upgrade and no doubt modified configurations, but for those who do not, it brings up more questions than it answers.
• Not forced to upgrade — you, your coworkers, clients, and other collaborators will not need to buy the 2010 upgrade to get the ability to edit files online. eXpresso is compatible with Office 2003 and 2007, which is what most Office users already have today.
• No additional unpredictable costs — SharePoint installations alone typically introduce countless hours of setup, training, maintenance, resource investment, and more. In contrast, eXpresso provides an easy-to-manage annual subscription for you or your company. Multi-user discounts available.

In response to this article:
Forrester: Google still a distant Office competitor

“For all the noise about — and from — Google giving Microsoft a run for its money in the office/productivity market, the reality is rather different, according to Forrester Research.”

Customers come to eXpresso because they are looking for cutting-edge collaboration for the Office productivity applications they already use. In their search, they discover Google Docs provides real-time collaboration for documents but lacks the features and fidelity to make it a viable business solution. As the article indicates, Google Docs is a handy application for sharing basic information with friends, but when it comes to business, it simply does not deliver the solutions and capabilities necessary. eXpresso can.

Advantages over Google Docs:

• File Fidelity — Customers constantly tell us how their files lose formatting when imported into Google Docs. With eXpresso, you get all the benefits of real-time editing without sacrificing the integrity of your files.
• Familiar Interface — Customers also tell us how they like the concept of Google Docs, but they wish they could do it for Office instead. That’s eXpresso: real-time collaboration for Office documents stored in the cloud.
• Office Functionality — You won’t have to compromise features to gain collaboration. Keep using the Office application you already have installed. There’s no need to switch to a less functional Web app.
• Off-line Editing — Since Office is already on your machine, you can create new files or checkout existing ones when you’ll need to do some editing on the road.
• Smarter Real-Time Interaction — Like Google Docs, you can simultaneously edit files in real-time, but with eXpresso, you don’t need to see everyone’s micro-changes. Our methods for real-time document collaboration are efficient and much less distracting.

There is a lot of buzz about Microsoft’s release next year of Office 2010. In fact, I think I read at least ten new articles yesterday about the pending upgrade. Interestingly though, much of the hype is not about new features or capabilities in Office. The discussion is primarily about the upcoming ability to offer Office functionality online and provide a counter-punch to Google and Google Docs.

So what does this mean for eXpresso?

It’s all good. eXpresso will continue to complement the capabilities of Microsoft Office, and we are not threatened by the upcoming advancements in it. Like most people, we use Office every day and look forward to what the next release of Office has in store. And as far as bringing Office functionality to the Web, eXpresso will still provide its award-winning collaboration layer to Office documents for businesses who are serious about sharing Office documents in the cloud.

Sure, Microsoft Office 2010 will be moving some of its functionality online, but it’s important to note the advantages eXpresso will continue to have after Microsoft takes its first major step into Web-based collaboration.

eXpresso Advantages:

• Full file fidelity – Office 2010 (Online Version) is a Javascript application that is a lightweight version of the real thing, so not all elements will translate well to the Web (e.g. slide animations, macros, etc.).
• Asymmetric Collaboration – eXpresso’s patent pending method for sharing files and assigning data rights inside the file. (e.g. Can edit specific cells or cell ranges.)
• All you need is Office – It looks like business users will be forced to go through Sharepoint to gain cloud collaboration features. That means extra cost, time, and development to set it up properly. Whereas today, you can create, edit, or view Office documents online with eXpresso without requiring Sharepoint servers, IT involvement, or drawn out deployments.
• Identical GUI to the desktop – Only one interface to learn instead of two. eXpresso renders your Office files in Internet Explorer exactly as they would look via your desktop, and you edit the files with Excel, not some lightweight alternative. Plus, instead of editing files locally on your own machine, multiple people can edit the files online at the same time.
• No pressure to upgrade to 2010 license – eXpresso is compatible with Office 2003 and 2007. So if you are looking to edit your files online, you can do that today without upgrading your software tomorrow. (You’ve got to love that IT departments!)

Office 2010 will have welcomed additions for all Office users, and it will be fun to connect eXpresso users to these new features when they come out. Until then, enjoy full Excel functionality online today with Word and PowerPoint coming very soon. (Hint: we are rapidly testing our private alpha as we speak to prepare it for public beta. Stay tuned…)

Update July 20, 2009: Here are some additional resources/reviews:

• MS Office on the Web: What it Is and What it Isn’t by WebMonkey
• Hands On: Microsoft Office 2010 Technical Preview by PC Magazine
• Review: Office 2010 Technical Preview by ComputerWorld
• Office 2010: The Technologizer First Look by Technologizer
• Microsoft’s new Office 2010 brings Office back from the dead (tons of videos)
  by Scobleizer
• Interview with Chris Bryant, PM of Office 2010 Group

Tags: microsoft, office, 2010, online, web, expresso, create, edit, share, documents

Among many things in the business world, Excel is used to manage product data and product lifecycles. One blogger in particular, Oleg Shilovitsky, thinks, “The biggest market share in PDM/PLM belongs to Microsoft Excel.” We tend to agree. That means Excel, a simple yet flexible desktop application, is being stretched to meet needs typically reserved for expensive enterprise systems. However, Excel alone was never meant to be a PLM system.

We recently came across Mr. Shilovitsky’s blog dedicated to PLM information and discovered a couple blog entries about Excel: Why Do I Like My PLM Excel Spreadsheet? and PLM Excel Spreadsheets: From Odes to Woes. (Check them out, but they are not required reading for the following post.)

In his two posts, Mr. Shilovitsky communicates his love/hate relationship with Excel.  In some ways, he loves Excel and how it supports his work.  But to balance his rosy picture of Excel, he followed up the post with a second one about the things he hates.  I’d like to draw attention to a few points from these two posts.

First, Excel files, probably more than any other file type, are meant to be shared, but as Mr. Shilovitsky and a couple of his commenters pointed out, there is a lot of pain that comes after files have been shared. Since data is captured in a portable item called a file, it is easy to share that physical file with other people, but if the data ever changes or you only wish to share a portion of the file with someone, Excel, email, and even SharePoint are not an effective solution.

Secondly, the data he typically keeps in Excel is constantly changing, and if other people share the responsibility for keeping the file updated, it soon becomes a complicated mess.  Multiple people end up managing multiple files, even though the ultimate goal is a single consolidated spreadsheet containing everyone’s contribution. As one commenter mentioned, there is no way of “showing historical evolution.” Everyone’s edits and contributions are not recorded for review or audit trails.

Lastly, Mr. Shilovitsky often finds himself asking, “Where are my latest Excel files?” He says, “I’m sure you have asked this question many times. Is it the one connected to your mail? Is it the one on your laptop, or is it the one in SharePoint? When you have multiple Excels, and especially if you have multiple versions of these Excels, you will really be lost.” I would add, if you require contributions from other people, multiple people will be asking the same question about the same file. That is why it’s a good idea to move Excel online, as Mr. Shilovitsky mentions here.

Now, I’ve got great news. Many MAJOR manufacturing companies are using eXpresso to turn Excel into the type of enterprise-class application they need for spreadsheet collaboration. They are able to control an individual’s access to part or all of the file, review changes and file history, and simultaneously open or edit the same file at the same time. There is no more version chaos, no more hard-to-find email attachments, and no more wondering about the relevancy of the spreadsheets being shared.

To read about how other kinds of companies are using eXpresso, check out some of our customer use cases.

Thanks Mr. Shilovitsky for starting the dialog!

The dirty little secret is that businesses run on Excel®, PowerPoint® and Word.

Let’s be honest. When you step into a meeting, you don’t bring your PLM system, you bring a spreadsheet. When you report on sales to the team, you don’t bring your Dashboard, you bring a spreadsheet or give a presentation. When you write up contracts, you don’t break out the old legal pad.

Important documents are meant to be shared with other people. No one in business works in a vacuum. We share files constantly, but the problem is that we share them poorly (e.g. attaching them to email, checking them in or out of network or cloud storage) and work on them in a linear transactional manner. It’s no wonder tracking changes and controlling versions is practically impossible.

I recently read an excellent Q&A article about aligning business, customer communications, and document strategies. Kevin Craine, author of “Designing a Document Strategy” made these great points:

“What single aspect of business is critical to profitability yet ‘owned’ by no one? The answer is: the Document. After all, most organizations have an IT director, but how many have a “document director?” The result is a proliferation of documents that do not effectively foster corporate objectives.”

“Most corporate strategies, however, have traditionally overlooked documents as a factor that drives daily business. As a result, vital documents may perform exactly opposite from their intended purpose. What is needed is a document strategy to properly align corporate and IT strategies around the key objectives of the firm.”

“How we manage documents has a great deal to do with how we manage business. A document strategy can help make documents part of the success of a business rather than one of the problems. Yet, only 25 percent of companies have a document strategy.”

Documents, and the people responsible for them, run business. That is why it is critically important to have a solution in place to help you manage how employees distribute and contribute to shared documents. eXpresso not only solves the pain people feel when they need to put the file they created in front of other people, it also provides a business-wide strategy for how people can better collaborate on the files they share.

Do you tweet? Is hashtag part of your vocabulary? Are you constantly being followed or are you the one doing the following? Or, are you a Web extrovert and crave more friends?

Whatever the case, you can follow expressocorp on Twitter or connect with us on Facebook.  With Twitter, you’ll receive short updates from our team. We’ll tweet about things like development, product announcements, user tips, and more. It’s painless, and we promise not to overtweet.

On eXpresso’s Facebook page, we would like to see our users participate in open discussions, in addition to seeing announcements, event info, and more. Please check out our page and follow us by becoming a fan.

Thanks and let the dialogue begin!

Note: We’ll tend to use both of these services to communicate informal information that is better suited for dialogue in these forms of media. Please continue to get official news through the eXpresso website, our email newsletter, and our blog.

Tags: twitter, facebook, expresso, expressocorp, office, collaboration, new, announcements

Using the “Internets” to share files is not a new idea at all. People have been doing it for years, and probably the most popular (and most inefficient) way people have shared files is by emailing them back and forth. Naturally, technology keeps progressing and new ways of sharing files continue to evolve, but the problems associated with sharing files only seem to change, not go away.

At eXpresso, we have taken a different approach. Instead of looking at the process of how people share files, we look at the reason why people share files. From day one, our focus has been on collaboration, not the simple act of sharing files. Our approach looks at how people interact when sharing files, not just the intermediate steps for moving a packet of bytes to another person.

To put our perspective in context, here’s a quick break-down of the evolution of sharing files and the challenges of each:

Folders on an Intranet
1. IT staff must be involved to manage rights to any given folder.
2. Only one person can edit the file at a time while others are read-only.
3. All files in a given folder are accessible to all the same people. Therefore, you must setup new folders and access rights for any variance regarding who can see what.

FTP Access to Private Online Directories
1. Access must be managed at the server level requiring IT staff or a technical person/service to set it up manually.
2. When you need to edit a file, you’re forced to create duplicate files, either as temporary or backup files. One on your local machine and one on the server.
3. Typically a special file transfer application is required to interact with a private directory.

Online File Sharing Services
1. Good for archiving files, but if you ever need to modify the files, you will be forced to download and upload your files and manually create new versions.
2. Most services provide public, albeit long, URLs for your files, making it possible to expose these files via a search engine. This is not a secure solution for businesses.
3. There is no way to tell who has the file open, meaning people could be editing multiple versions of the same file without knowledge of the other’s changes or the ability to reconcile the changes automatically.

File Synching Applications
1. This may provide some convenience by automating the process of uploading or downloading files, but most do not record the specific edits or provide rollbacks for the changes within the file.
2. These solutions are intended more for an individual to coordinate personal files across multiple machines. It is not a collaborative solution. For example, you cannot see who did what to the file. At best you might see the last modified time.
3. Controls are either at the folder or user group level, not at the file + user level. You end up with some of the same problems you had with sharing folders on an intranet.

Those are all great examples about how to share files, but people need more than the ability to pass items back and forth, especially for business. Work involves sharing information with different people (e.g. colleagues, clients, vendors, or prospects), but it also requires collaborating with them in a manner appropriate to the relationship.

eXpresso’s Asymmetric Collaboration

1. Real-time Interaction: People can be viewing or editing the same file at the same time, and they will see the file change immediately when someone else saves her or his edits.
2. Different Strokes for Different Folks: Every file can have its own set of users. Plus, you could even further define how each user sees or edits the file by restricting areas or hiding content within the file – without affecting how other users see the file.
3. On-the-Fly Control: File owners may adjust access privileges at any time, even while the file is in use. This is essential for dealing with employee turnover or responsibility changes.
4. Audit Trails and Versioning: When multiple people work on a file simultaneously, it is important to track who did what to the file and when it was done. It is equally as important to be able to rollback changes if necessary.
5. Informed Workflow: Collaboration is really about responding to the actions of others. In addition to tags, notes, and file-specific chat archives, eXpresso keeps users notified of relevant file activities through standard and customizable alerts.

Companies could not operate without the information maintained in their documents, presentations, and spreadsheets. These files are critical to daily operations, and working with them in the right way with the right people is what productive collaboration is all about.

Tags: file, sharing, collaboration, asymmetric, office, documents, expresso

Although I am a fan and user of all three of these great companies, eXpresso is the only solution available worldwide that can enable multiple people to edit shared Microsoft® Office documents online in real time. Period. In case you have any doubts, here’s the current state of the online Office document collaboration space as it relates to these three industry leaders.

Microsoft: Back in October 2008, Microsoft announced its plans to provide better Office collaboration online under the auspices of Office Live. By 2010 Microsoft hopes to have its “lightweight versions” of Office online. Users will be able to do some editing online, but more robust editing will be limited to the desktop. Other details of the release are still being determined. In contrast, eXpresso will be offering full-functionality online editing of Excel, Word, and PowerPoint plus tracking of the collaboration between users this quarter. Also, another way to think about our differences is that eXpresso does more than simply provide Office functionality online.  We focus on the collaboration layer that sits on top of these widely-used applications, stuff like cell tracking, limited editing, file history, and more.

Apple: At MacWorld yesterday, I watched one of my favorite companies, Apple, unveil a new service in beta called iWork.com.  It’s a new way for people to embed comments on iWork documents and pass these files back and forth online. It looks like a good service for Apple consumers, but it does not allow mutual Web-based editing of shared documents like eXpresso does.  iWork.com will be great for users of Apple’s iWork desktop publishing software, but users of Microsoft Office will still not be able to truly collaborate via Mac OS.  eXpresso is looking into ways we can serve Apple users who prefer Office over iWork.

Google: Personally, I love Google.  They are a great company with excellent vision and seemingly unlimited resources.  They have done an excellent job with Google Docs, but the majority of business people still prefer to use Microsoft Office. Google Docs is having difficulty getting traction in the mainstream business world because most people don’t want to lose the functionality they get in Office, and they don’t want to have to learn how to use a new suite of applications.

eXpresso: 2009 is going to be a fun year.  In Q1, we will be releasing the most exciting build we have ever accomplished.  We have been testing our work and preparing to bring to market the most significant document collaboration service the business world has ever seen. Not only will we be releasing several enhancements to our leading Excel collaboration tool, we will be introducing the ability to collaborate on Word documents and PowerPoint presentations, too.  I have seen it, I have used it, and I can’t wait to launch it. Stay tuned…

No matter how your look at it, this is a wonderful season. People of all viewpoints reflect on the past year and make resolutions for the New Year; we treasure family relationships and celebrate friendships. For my part, I couldn’t be happier. eXpresso is growing by leaps and bounds, and people like you are benefitting from eXpresso and fueling our success. Thank you.

Many of you are focused on your own businesses and careers. That’s not only understandable, but admirable. And of course, I wish you all the best for the New Year. But after 59 years of relationships with family members, my kids, friends, customers, and business associates, let me share my best advice: Pay forward!

We have all benefitted by a teacher, a relative, friend, or colleague who went out of their way to help us with absolutely no expectation of return of benefit. Instead of paying them back, we can best thank them by paying forward: extending their wisdom and caring to someone we think can use a boost.

Paying Forward means contributing to someone’s success, not because there’s anything in it for you, but because someone helped us and now we can contribute some insight or support for the next guy or gal, without expectation of credit. Paying Forward in the New Year is one of my annual resolutions. I hope you will make it one of yours too!

On the business front, sincere thanks to you for supporting eXpresso this past year. We continue to get emails from users who are discovering new uses for Excel by sharing and managing the files in eXpreesso. That’s very gratifying, and I hope you will keep us up on your “inventions”. There are exciting things planned for eXpresso in 2009 that I think you will really like, including adding Word and PowerPoint. Next year will see tremendous growth for us, and I’m glad you will be a part of it.

I wish you a happy holiday season and a prosperous New Year.

Tags: happy, holidays