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PBworks Gets a Better Interface for Improved Collaboration

Simon Mackie — Tue, 24 May 2011 14:16:57 +0000

Hosted business collaboration suite PBworks (see our previous coverage here) has received a major update, aimed at improving the scalability and security of the app while also delivering a much more intuitive interface. The “Next Generation” version of the app takes advantage of newer web technologies like HTML5 to deliver a faster, more streamlined and engaging real-time collaborative experience. Significant improvements to the product include:

The ability to scale a single corporate account to include thousands of individual workspaces and store multiple terabytes of data.
A streamlined, cleaner user interface reduces the number of clicks required for common actions and allows for around 25 percent more content per screen. It uses contextual controls to make the product simpler and more intuitive without reducing functionality.
Universal “faceted” search. Users can refine search results by a wide variety of parameters, including file type and who last edited the document.
Off-the-shelf LDAP integration, including regular synchronization of user profile information and photos.
Structured workspace-level properties to allow complex management reporting, filtering and searching
Secure sharing of video files, regardless of format.
Detailed usage reports and graphs, broken down by workspace, file and user.

This update is the most significant change to the product since 2008, when it was still named PBwiki. The enterprise collaboration market, and browser technology, has moved on a long way since then, with many new and innovative collaboration products being launched by firms ranging from software giants like IBM to startups like Cohuman. The improved scalability and user experience delivered by this major update should help the company to maintain its share in an increasingly competitive and fast-moving market.

The “next generation” PBworks is available immediately at no additional cost to existing customers.

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PBworks Releases Customer Relationship Edition

Simon Mackie — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 13:21:26 +0000

PBworks (formerly PBwiki) today released a Customer Relationship Edition of its enterprise collaboration software. Unlike most existing CRM apps, which are primarily reporting and management tools, PBworks’ new app is is designed to be used at all stages the sales cycle for external collaboration with prospects and customers, and allows users to:

Collaboratively author content, such as proposals and agreements
Share key documents and files, such as contracts and collateral
Set meeting agenda, take real-time notes, and capture and assign action items
Manage critical processes like RFPs with project management tools
Communicate in real-time with built-in chat, instant messaging and teleconferencing

The new product includes “customer engagement monitoring,” an interesting feature that alerts sales reps or account managers whenever a customer logs in, and also allows a company to see exactly what its customers are viewing or downloading from its workspaces to get a better idea of their interests.

Here’s a (fairly lengthy) “sneak peek” webinar, recorded for existing PBworks customers, that shows off the Customer Relationship edition’s additional features:

PBworks Customer Relationship Edition has a starting price of $30/user/month. Unlimited customer/prospect workspaces and licenses are included at no additional cost. The product will integrate with other CRM tools via its API; a Salesforce.com connector that allows one-click extranet creation from within Salesforce.com, as well as the ability to view those extranets from within Salesforce.com itself, is available at a cost of $1,000 per year.

The Customer Relationship Edition of PBworks joins other special editions of the software tailored for specific verticals, such as project management, the legal profession and education.

Let us know what you think of the new PBworks Customer Realtionship edition in the comments.

PBworks Adds Template Store

Simon Mackie — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 16:16:47 +0000

PBworks, the enterprise collaboration and productivity tool formerly known as PBwiki (see our previous coverage here), today announced the launch of its Template Store, which will allow users to distribute templates to other users. Templates customize the initial PBworks experience with a structure, rather than starting with a blank workspace, and can include:

Wiki pages, complete with embedded multimedia content
Files and documents
Folders
Project milestones and tasks

To start, the store has been populated with 25 templates to choose from, all of which are free to Business and Legal Edition customers (under Workspaces -> Template Store).

The Template Store presents a couple of opportunities. Expert users can use it to market their expertise to the PBworks customer base. As well, PBworks plans to allow users to charge for the templates they submit through the Template Store in the future, so if you come up with a useful, generally applicable template there is the possibility that you could make some money from it.

If you’re considering using a real-time collaboration tool like PBworks in your business, check out the GigaOM Pro report, “The Real-Time Enterprise,” (subscription required) for the complete lowdown on the sector.

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PBworks to Add Real-time Collaboration Tools

Simon Mackie — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:00:09 +0000

At the Enterprise 2.0 conference today in San Francisco, PBworks (formerly PBwiki, see our previous coverage here) announced that it is adding built-in, real-time collaboration tools to its wiki software. The new suite of tools will include in-app IM, Live Notifications of changes to an organization’s workspaces, Live Editing of documents, and Voice Collaboration.

The planned changes should make collaboration using PBworks much easier and faster, with less need to rely on external services. For example, imagine that you’re working on a document and you’d like some input from your team. You could use the built-in IM tool to see who’s online, direct them to the page, start a Live Editing session (which lets them see any changes you make to the document in real time), and even set up an ad hoc conference call using the Voice Collaboration component.

IM Collaboration, Live Notifications, and Live Editing will be available for free to customers with Project Edition and Legal Edition plans beginning Nov. 17, while the Voice Collaboration component should be available in early 2010 (pricing hasn’t been set yet).

Would you use built-in voice chat/conference calling if it was added to your favorite collaboration suite, or would you continue to use an external conference calling app, like WebEx?

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PBworks Introduces Project Edition

Simon Mackie — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:00:26 +0000

PBworks (formerly PBwiki) today introduced PBworks Project Edition, a modified version of the collaborative wiki software that incorporates some project management features.

Simple project management functionality, like workflow management, task assignment and milestones, is built right into the tool, so there’s no need to use a separate app like Basecamp to handle simple project management. This makes PBworks an attractive option for teams looking for a tool for collaborative project tasks, like document authoring, requirements gathering or design review. Task management is kept together with the actual task itself, which makes a lot of sense.

This idea of providing task and project management functionality in apps that are used for the tasks seems to be gaining popularity; we recently saw Box.net add task management features to its file-sharing service, for example. Including task management functionality within an app should help many teams handle project management tasks themselves, reducing the need to have a designated project manager on simpler project. (PBworks calls this “organic project management.”)

PBworks Project Edition costs $20 per user per month, with “guest” licenses (for clients and contractors on a particular project) available for free.

Have you tried PBworks Project Edition? Let us know what you think in the comments.

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