Enterprise Wiki Solutions and SharePoint Alternatives

What do enterprise wiki solutions, SharePoint alternatives and Central Desktop have in common? They can all be synonyms for the same types of tools, but not all Enterprise Grade Wiki's are true SharePoint alternatives. Enterprise Wiki Solutions are: Wiki Workspaces built to scale easily to the needs of large enterprises.Central Desktop's Enterprise Edition wiki is a SharePoint alternative that deploys faster, easier and at a much lower cost than a typical, SharePoint deployment.

How, Why, and When an Enterprise Wiki Can be Used As a SharePoint Alternative

Why is the easy part. Wiki's are easier to use than SharePoint, they are easy to edit (WYSIWYG) and most Enterprise Wiki Solutions are deployed as a SaaS solution, making it easy to access documents or data anytime and from anywhere. The features that make a wiki solution enterprise-grade include security, scalability and LDAP (single sign-on). It is not hard to find Enterprise Wiki Solutions. Most Enterprise 2.0 vendors offer some form of wikis. What makes Central Desktop unique is its combination of broad features that make it a viable alternative to SharePoint as well as its strong focus on ROI. Features unique to Central Desktop include project management tools, database flexibility and workflow automation functionality. Workflow gives companies the ability to set-up very complex rule sets and streamline their day-to-day business processes.

Easily Setting-up a Hosted Wiki SharePoint Solution

The Enterprise Edition comes with one-on-one time with our Implementation Specialist who will help you think through your business processes and set-up polished, efficient corporate wiki workspaces before you roll-out to your organization. We often recommend that you roll-out Central Desktop to your managers first and gather some feedback before rolling Central Desktop out to the rest of the organization.

If you would like to get started or learn more about using Central Desktop as a SharePoint Alternative contact sales or sign-up for a demo.

Related Articles:

Workflow Improvements: Does Your Work Flow by James Bowler

Enterprise 2.0 for Fortune 500 Companies - Does ROI Matter? by Cheryl Smith

SaaS vs. Hosted Solutions

My name is Jason Hurst and I recently started with Central Desktop in the sales department. One of the most common and general questions I get is "What is Central Desktop?"

Central Desktop is a software as a service based collaboration solution. Other common terms used to describe our technology are cloud computing and web 2.0.

What these terms mean is that our platform and your information can be accessed anywhere via a web browser. Signing up for our service is as easy as creating an email account.

The Advantages of Central Desktop over a hosted solution such as Microsoft SharePoint are:

• Ease of use, no external hardware or software download is required.
• Don't need an IT team
• Can be deployed in minutes and workers can be fully functional in days
• Much more cost effective than traditional collaboration software
• Access from remote locations and even your mobile phone

If you find yourself losing information because it lives in multiple locations or is stuck in email, you may want to look into a SaaS based solution. The platform is easier to use than you might think. If you haven't already, sign up and you may just get a call from me!

Sharepoint Alternative

Many of our current customers initially turned to Central Desktop for a powerful, low-cost alternative to SharePoint. If you are looking for a similar solution, we have a great SharePoint Webinar that explains all about how Central Desktop can do everything SharePoint does (and more) at a fraction of the cost. Being Software as a Service (SaaS) based, we have many advantages that are passed on as functional and fiscal benefits to you, our customers.

Also, take a look at some of our Success Stories to see the many different ways our customers have used Central Desktop as a SharePoint Alternative. By clicking on "See It In Action", you can take a look at the full case study and see the ways many of our customers have implemented our software in place of SharePoint. We recently featured Stepwise Advisors, for instance, who cut their project management costs in half by getting rid of SharePoint and switching to Central Desktop. Browsing through our success stories not only shows you what Central Desktop can do for you, but it can also give you ideas on how to successfully implement our software in your company.

Project Management Overhead Cut in Half

Central Desktop is a Full-Featured Sharepoint Alternative That's Easy to Deploy and Saves Big Bucks

Things may change as the new U.S. CTO post evolves but, right now, technology in many parts of the public sector is lagging woefully behind the high-tech twittering, blogging private enterprise environment. And many executives and employees in the public sector just don't have the skills required to use the software applications that could make their job easier.

That's just one reason why StepWise Advisors, management consultants to publicly owned utility companies, chose Central Desktop as their collaboration and project management software.

StepWise considered Sharepoint, but it was just too complex. It was also much more expensive than Central Desktop and, had they decided to go with Sharepoint, they may also have had to invest in other products that augment the lack of Sharepoint features.

So, they checked out Sharepoint alternatives. What did they find? That no other collaboration software or project management tool really had the features they needed - except Central Desktop.

So, we got their business - and we're happy we did!

What has StepWise been able to accomplish with Central Desktop's project management features?

• They can create an entire workspace for a new project in five minutes - they take a little longer because they like to customize a lot of stuff but, even then, it's a 30 minute job.

• Their customers can use it without a lot of technical support. Real plug and play. Central Desktop "couldn't be easier," said StepWise, and it gives their staff the time to focus on what they really do - project management - instead of spending all their time updating tasks and keeping the team on track.

• In addition to increasing productivity, they've also cut project management overhead costs in half!

• Of course, the public sector is not the only space that can benefit from Central Desktop - everyone wants something that's easy to deploy and use, everyone wants full features and functionality without having to pay through the nose for additional applications, everyone wants to increase productivity, and everyone wants to decrease capital outlay and expenditures and increase profits.

Find out more on StepWise's implementation of Central Desktop's project collaboration tools- and find out what it could do for you.

Read More

Sharepoint Alternatives - Central Desktop

Which collaboration software is right for you?

Collaboration software is now considered indispensable to hundreds of thousands of businesses around the world. However, the number of vendors offering collaboration software can make it difficult to select the right platform for your enterprise. Our new webinar details the facts in a comparative analysis between us and Microsoft SharePoint, and gives specific information on why we are a viable Sharepoint Alternative.

Watch it Now!

Related Posts:  The Best Alternative to Sharepoint

Sharepoint Alternatives

A lot of people have asked us why they should use Central Desktop rather than another collaboration software platform. We're asked about a number of different applications, including SharePoint. So, we decided to cover it in a webinar and give people the information they need all at the same time.

Why is Central Desktop a viable and practical SharePoint alternative?  We have the answer.

Watch Now!  

Sharepoint Alternative Webinar

Presented by Arnulf Hsu, Central Desktop's Co-Founder & CTO

Join us for a 60 minute free webinar, Thursday, April 23rd, 2009 from 10am to 11am PST, to learn why customers have chosen Central Desktop as their Sharepoint Alternative.  See and hear how Central Desktop can be used in your organization as a low-cost SharePoint alternative; deployed 20 times faster at a tenth the cost. LaSalle Technology deployed Central Desktop as a Sharepoint alternative in under 15 minutes.

Sharepoint Alternative Benefits

Do everything your enterprise would do with SharePoint securely, more simply & easily, hosted online:

• Collaborate with employees, vendors, or partners
• Set up a portal - invite clients into secure workspace environments
• Manage enterprise content
• Make your business processes run more smoothly
• Streamline lightweight  project management
• Search & find files & documents
• Access business & competitive intelligence anytime, from anywhere

Learn how to compare and calculate the costs and ROI savings of a SaaS delivered solution.  The webinar will also include a demonstration of Central Desktop - 40 minutes of training followed by a 20 minute live Q&A session.

Register for this webinar now!
 

Best Sharepoint Alternative - Central Desktop

Several companies that offer collaboration software are advertising themselves as a SharePoint alternative - as are we - and they all have similar, not identical, features and functionality. We, of course, are the best (hey, I have to get some shameless promotion in here somewhere!), but, for some reason, customers don't always just want to take our word for it: they actually want to know why!

You can check out what everyone from the New Zealand Herald to CIO, eWeek, InformationWeek, Red Herring, PCWorld, Forbes and other notables have to say about us. But to get a full comparative and to assess the needs of your enterprise to determine whether Central Desktop is the best option for you - everyone has different needs - you'll have to give us a call.

That said, there is one element of Central Desktop that I would like to discuss which not everyone really thinks about as thoroughly as they should - project management tools. And, as a Sharepoint Alternative, this is a major issue.

Why are project management tools so important? Well, frankly, it doesn't matter how many people you're collaborating with or how brilliant and capable they are; if you don't have project management tools, your efficiency goes out the window.

Operating without appropriate project management tools can have dire consequences. Like the bridge in Clearwater, Florida - connecting the mainland of downtown Clearwater to the island beach communities. Major disasters - whole sections dropping a foot lower than the rest of the structure - required parts of the new bridge to be demolished and rebuilt three times before they got it right.

One of the structural engineers commented ""I don't know why we hadn't thought of this earlier. Sometimes you have to sweat it out before you see the light."

Well, sweating that one out cost them $10s of millions, and the bridge opened a year later than the targeted date.

When considering Central Desktop, or any other collaboration software product, as a Sharepoint Alternative, don't forget the project management end of things. Some of our customers have more than doubled their profit margins with Central Desktop. Our project management tools will help you keep all the money you make and save. 

Low Cost Sharepoint Alternative- Central Desktop

Software Development firm saves thousands of dollars using collaboration software?!  LaSalle Technology is a products and services company that focuses on providing solutions for financial messaging.   Having globally diverse clientele, they needed to find an economical, user-friendly, interactive collaboration tool that would enable them to communicate internally and provide a centralized home base for their client's projects.  To achieve this business objective, they searched high and low before discovering Central Desktop.  

Since utilizing Central Desktop, LaSalle Technology has advanced their communication capabilities without requiring additional staff and their productivity and customer satisfaction has increased.


Collaboration software has also enabled them to:

•    share documents/products more quickly with staff and customers
•    set-up and track tasks
•    save time
•    manage consulting engagements
•    save money
•    reduce email clutter


LaSalle Technology is making it happen by getting the job done and setting themselves apart from other consulting firms.  Central Desktop has provided a way for them to do secure, global collaboration, task management and information sharing, all the while impressing their clients.  Three Cheers to LaSalle Technology!

See LaSalle Technology's biggest wins using Central Desktop as a SharePoint Alternative.

Seamless Teamwork

I'm a huge fan of Michael Sampson.  Over the years, Michael has consistently written, presented and aggregated quality content on specific topics of team collaboration and personal productivity.  Thanks to collaborative mediums and tools such as blogs, rss and screencasts - in spite of the vast ocean that separates us (Michael resides in New Zealand) I've been able to follow Michael's growth and maturation as an analyst, consultant and writer.  

Michael and I share a strong passion for the concepts of "the team" as the core of a company's or project's success.  I've never asked Michael, but I wonder if this passion is a result of specific work experiences, an event horizon that occurred in his life or if it just runs native in his Kiwi blood?  Afterall, New Zealand's Special Forces are comprised of very, small elite teams and are still highly regarded as some of the best, if not the best, in the world.

Michael's emphasis on team collaboration shines through in his recent book titled, "Seamless Teamwork:  Using Microsoft SharePoint Technologies to Collaborate, Innovate, and Drive Business in New Ways."  From personal conversations, I knew that Michael was working on this book and I've been anticipating it for some time - in spite of its emphasis on a competitive product to my Company.  Over the holidays, while in the local Southern California mountains with my family - in between snowmans with the children and whisky shots with the adults, I devoured the book - below is my analysis and review.

[Disclosure:  I'm shamelessly and proudly biased in writing this review.  Not only is Michael Sampson a friend - but I own and operate a collaboration software company (Central Desktop) that markets itself as a SharePoint Alternative.]

To begin with, this is a must-read book for anyone seeking how-to advice, clear direction and best practices for implementing a team-based or project-based collaboration solution within an enterprise or organization.  This is a fantastic book for project-leads who have struggled with motivating their team and creating a clearly defined path to successful seamless teamwork.

This is FAR MORE than a "How To Use SharePoint" manual.  Michael is too smart to reduce his writing to be just another software manual.  He knows that there are legions of technical writers who already provide such services - and already do a good job of this.  Instead, what Michael has done is written a team collaboration philosophy around Microsoft's SharePoint - thus killing two birds with one stone - providing an adequate instruction manual for SharePoint with a HEAVY emphasis on the philosophies and best practices required to ensure success in a SharePoint deployment.  The beauty with Michael's approach is that it broadens the audience and clearly differentiates this "how to" book from every other "How to" SharePoint book on the market.  Michael's approach does a fine balance of instructing the reader on how to use the software - but focuses the reader on the "real sources of success" to collaboration - and that is "the people" and "the processes" that lead to success.  The software is just a mechanism - one of many - that completes the recipe for successful and seamless teamwork. I recommend this book for anyone, even those not deploying SharePoint, interested in collaboration success.  

Michael begins the book with a strong foundational discussion about why there are better methods to collaboration than email.  While this foundational concept is obvious to virtually everyone - as a vendor in the collaboration space, I can affirm that email continues to be the single, largest hurdle to collaboration success.  Michael magnifies the obstacles with real-world scenarios to emphasize the pain and inefficiency of "collaborating via email."

A key phrase that resonated with me was "Email is easier in the Moment, but SharePoint is Better Over the Life of the Project."  While I am clearly biased towards whether or not SharePoint (versus another collaboration platform, like say, Central Desktop) is better than another collaborative platform, the underlying principle is what is universal - whether the reader decides to use SharePoint, Central Desktop or any other collaboration platform.  The driving point is that, "...in embracing e-mail for teamwork, we seem to be saying that we want to minimize the energy we expend for communicating up front, and that we don't care about the remaining energy that we need to expend to overcome the above problems in using email effectively.  SharePoint does take more time in the upfront part.....but the gain over the life of the project is huge."

In juxtoposition to email, Michael tells us why Teams (and not necessarily technology) are the main key to collaboration success and how teams (as a unit) increase speed, breadth, acceptance and strength as well as how SharePoint can be part of this solution.

But it is at this point that I began to notice some holes in Michael's instructions on how to use SharePoint as part of the solution.  After identifying philosophical problems and hurdles to successful collaboration, Michael overlooks the single, biggest hurdle of "setting up" the foundational IT architecture, the time involved and, ultimately, the resources required to properly "setup" SharePoint.

To successfully leverage SharePoint (or any other on-premise software solution) with users outside of your office - there is a plethora of hurdles that need to be taken into consideration:  VPNs, Extranet user access, punching through firewalls, software licensing, customer licensing, capital expenditure, maintenance costs, etc.  Understandly, Michael's book assumes that the underlying infrastructure is already in place for the reader.  The book assumes that the IT hurdles represented are already scaled, eliminated or overcome.  To be fair, I realize that the intention of the book is not an instruction manual on "How to navigate through an IT department's red tape," but avoiding this subject misleads the reader into miscalculating the resources, costs and battle-of-wills that they very well may encounter when trying to deploy SharePoint (or any other collaboration platform).  Personally, I believe that SaaS-based models do a better job of scaling the infrastructure hurdles that IT departments normally raise.  Even Microsoft has responded with a SaaS-based version of SharePoint - thus validating the growing trend of Software-as-a-service in the market.

With the assumption that the infrastructure required to successfully deploy SharePoint is already in place - then it raises a question as to who the intended audience of the book really is?  What about the context of a small business?  A small business certainly doesn't have the resources to quickly deploy such infrastructure.  Even departments or divisions within larger organizations might have tremendous battles to wage with their IT department to "get what they want."  My concern, again, is that the reader may miscalculate what is truely needed for collaboration success.  The reader may feel confident and well-equipped for seamless teamwork, only to be crushed by the IT or Finance departments because of a "lack of resources," something that makes a SharePoint alternative like Saas-based Central Desktop very attractive to resource constraint teams and departments.

Additionally, considering the focus on Team collaboration; within the context of a small business, a small department or a workgroup (all Team-Centric units) Michael spends a lot of time highlighting some SharePoint features that might not be applicable to small teams.  For example, with smaller teams, there is naturally a high volume of interaction via messaging, meetings, calls and presentations - thus less of a need to "find" people via profiles and diminishing some of the Intranet and Social Networking aspects of SharePoint.  Small teams naturally facilitate "raw connections" rather than needing to network throughout the company on a regular basis.  

Michael also overlooks a key tactical component to seamless teamwork - and that is web based project management.  A key to successful teamwork is working within time constraints:  task and time management, project timelines, etc.  Afterall, a good portion of project success is contingent on the timeliness of its delivery.  Perhaps Michael is constrained as a result of SharePoint's lack of features in this realm or perhaps he is saving the content for a follow-up to this book.

In spite of my light criticism, this is an outstanding book that goes much further than any standard "how to" software manual.  Michael's excellent use of "story narration" throughout the book ties the chapters together - and keeps the reader grounded in the 'real world.'

Michael includes precise instructions and "how to" visual diagrams to assist the novice SharePoint user throughout the entire process - it is a good balance of "how to", "what to do" and "best practices" which gives the reader a rich and philosophical approach to Project and team collaboration - making the book far more valuable and timeless than a simple instructional manual.

Michael's core passion about team collaboration permeates the entire book throughout - leaving the reader with a powerful manual of best practices for success that any project-lead would appreciate.