The Future of the Real-Time Web – Part 4

This is the fourth and last part of a four part blog post series about the future of the real-time web.

Real-time Collaboration: Utilizing the capabilities of the Web in Business

And there is yet another field where the real-time paradigm is causing disruption. In business where different people work together, saving time and increasing productivity is of great importance. That is one reason why businesses have long started adopting social networking to speed up communication and foster team work. Now, real-time is entering the picture in the form of real-time collaboration. The great promise of real-time collaboration is allowing work to be done across different teams, countries and even continents simultaneously – if necessary even while communicating directly! In a globalized world where virtual firms, international partner networks, and outsourcing are on the rise, this is a superb value proposition.  Modern applications provide collaboration features such as chat, audio and video conferencing, or digital whiteboards. But there is still more: From Google Docs allowing the sharing and editing of documents online and the upcoming Google Wave which even shows you live keystrokes of your collaborators as they type, more and more innovative real-time collaborative applications allow for an ever faster, virtually immediate turnaround, speeding up team work considerably. Other services that facilitate real-time collaboration include WebEx, an on-demand video conferencing suite or pidoco°, a wireframe software used for rapid software prototyping and user interface design, which even permits synchronous remote usability testing. Many of these applications mainly work online and are offered as software-as-a-service.

Conclusion: Where the Real-time Web is Going.

With more and more software applications operating through the cloud computing model and being operated through web browsers, the web of the future (secure and adequate internet connection permitting) will be an even more virtual construct, having more in common with outsourcing than inside contracting. It will be the basis for real-time applications and real-time collaboration – which can be considered a combination of real-time communication and real-time editing. Services such as Mashpedia and Kosmix aggregate your search input with content from wikipedia, YouTube, Flickr, and other sources, as well as live feeds from websites such as Twitter to effectively usher in an era of the real-time encyclopedia. And there are many more examples. Morgan Stanley recently released a report showing that the mobile internet is expected to surpass fixed internet within the next decade, allowing for even more immediate exchange of information, whether at home, at work, or on the go. The trend is going toward real-time interaction in all areas of our lives. The future of the real-time web is in fact happening right now!