October 31st, 2006
Is JotSpot the new foundation for Google Office?
David already weighed in on Google acquiring JotSpot. It seems that Google is buying rather than building a collaborative applications platform, first with Blogger, Writely and now with JotSpot and more to come. I doubt that JotSpot will be renamed Gspot–perhaps Google Workplace or Google Office.
While Writely, now Googles Docs, is a nice browser-based, collaborative word processor, it is not a platform for knitting together a suite of collaborative (wiki)-based applications. JotSpot has modules for spreadsheets, calendars, documents and photo galleries, and could extend that to presentations, forms and other kinds of content. JotSpot also has an Application Gallery of add-ons, such as project management and forums. Like salesforce.com's AppExchange, a vibrant ecosystem could build up around JotSpot's platform and Google's monetization platform.
The Jotspot Web site just has a splash page about the Google deal. No more new accounts until JotSpot migrates to Google's systems. One issue is whether Google will unify its communications and productivity applications around a base platform. Do Google Spreadsheets and JotSpot Spreadsheet or Google Calendar and JotSpot Calendar unite in some fashion?
I've already heard from some of those, MindTouch and CentralDesktop, who weren't blessed by Google and claim similar capabalities to JotSpot. This can't be good for Zoho, ThinkFree and other cloud-based Office suites either. But, it is a huge market, and plenty of opportunity, but Google is casting a big shadow and making smart acquisitions. For Socialtext, Atlassian, Blogtronix and other enterprise wiki vendors, Google JotSpot is less of an issue since JotSpot has moved downstream since its initial launch.
Dan Farber, editor-in-chief of CNET News.com, has more than 20 years of experience as an editor and journalist covering technology. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
