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On-demand software has taken firm hold in the enterprise market. Businesses are turning to web-based applications for everyday activities, particularly when it comes to customer relationship management (CRM) tools. However, most businesses still rely on traditional software suites for document creation, collaboration, and sharing. While Google Apps and Adobe’s Buzzword are plenty functional for many small businesses, those with more complex needs are looking for enterprise-specific applications. Both SpringCM and Xythos offer unique SAAS document platforms designed with business needs in mind.

SpringCM offers a tool which is aimed at collaborative teams who want to create and share documents in an organized workflow. As their website puts it, “SpringCM makes document handling, workflow and collaboration, and business process management as painless as possible.” They’ve made frequent updates to the platform since its inception, now offering SpringCM 4.2. Some of the features they’ve introduced for business use include:

• Unique email address for each user (documents sent to the address are automatically added to the repository)
• Functionality for saving and reading documents within MS Office applications
• WebDAV folders for drag-and-drop access
• Multiple workflow function
• Diverse delivery options (email, PDF, fax, etc.)
• Advanced search capabilities
• Strong security parameters
• Customizable user interface

SpringCM’s offering has received accolades from industry experts, and it’s business-specific functions give it a leg-up in on-demand document creation. One especially useful feature is the ability to incorporate existing workflows into the application. For example, if an editorial team at a publishing company needed to review one document in specific phases (Editorial Director first, Editorial Assistant second, etc.), SpringCM would support the multiple steps in the project. It also allows any document to be saved as a template for future use. SpringCM offers free trial periods for exploration, and pricing is based on optional features and the number of users.

Another promising SAAS document application is offered by Xythos, which has developed an on-demand version of its popular Enterprise Document Management Suite. Xythos on Demand boasts a number of Web 2.0 features designed around business needs. They also offer potential customers a free trial period, with pricing based on number of users and storage needed. The application allows users to build WIKIs, manage workflow, access and collaborate on documents anywhere, share files securely, and subscribe to updates.

In an eWeek review, the last feature was especially impressive to testers: “All folders and content within Xythos on Demand can be subscribed to through an RSS feed…giving users notifications of changes to document repositories using the same feed-reading tools that they use for get updates from blogs and news sites.” This is a function I haven’t seen in any other web-based document app, and it makes perfect sense in a business setting. While many of us use RSS feeds to stay up-to-date on our friend’s blogs, the latest news, and industry publications, RSS feeds are beginning to make the jump into the enterprise world. Now, instead of walking into the proverbial bullpen to see how everyone is coming along, a team leader using Xythos can simply check his feed for a status update. This functionality has the potential to catch in in many different web-based applications.

Xythos’s offerings are geared towards an enterprise audience, and their website tries to assuage some of the common fears about outsourcing document hosting. They assure their clients, “All of your data in Xythos on Demand - your files, the metadata you put on the files, your user accounts - are only available to your organization. No one outside your organization has access to these.” This is in sharp contrast to Google Docs, where the Terms of Service pose a privacy concern for many companies. For example, Term 11.2 states, “You agree that this licence includes a right for Google to make such Content available to other companies, organizations or individuals with whom Google has relationships for the provision of syndicated services, and to use such Content in connection with the provision of those services.”

Now that on-demand services are becoming accepted in businesses around the world, companies such as SpringCM and Xythos are stepping up to the plate to create tools specifically for enterprise use. Both offer a unique platform users with unique needs, and both are on the cutting edge of the SAAS movement.

With the recent proliferation of Software As A Service companies pushing out new applications, “traditional” software companies are trying to match their pace. Adobe Systems is no exception, and they’ve pleased Photoshop fans the world over with the announcement of Photoshop Express public beta, a free application for editing and storing up to 2 gigabytes of photos. An Adobe press release explains, “As the newest addition to the Photoshop family line, Photoshop Express has taken much of Adobe’s best image editing technology and made it simple and accessible to a new online audience.” In return, the new online audience will provide feedback on Photoshop Express features, which Adobe promises will have increased functionality over time.

Photoshop Express will have only a small fraction of the features that the full version boasts, as it’s meant mostly for small fixes for casual photographers. It includes options such as cropping, auto retouching, hue and saturation filters, red eye removal, white balancing, and sharpness, but it won’t be powerful for professional use. It’s based on Flex technology, and closely resembles other recent Adobe SAAS product Buzzword, which offers users an attractive and flexible online word processor. In the brief time I spent tweaking and distorting a photo in Photoshop Express, the heavy use of Flash was evident, as the application seemed sluggish on my machine.

For a software company, Adobe is making big leaps in the SAAS world. As mentioned above, Adobe acquired Virtual Ubiquity and released Buzzword, which Talkibie featured in a previous article. Buzzword is a sleek, flexible word processor with significantly more features aimed at Adobe’s core base of designers. The user interface, which is very accessible, closely resembling that of Photoshop Express. Both apps are aimed at a wider audience than Adobe products normally encompass, and both attempt to bring web functionality and accessibility to high-end software.

In addition to Buzzword and Photoshop Express, Adobe has also released a version of their video editing product, Premier Express, for web-based use. It is currently in place on partner websites Remix MTV and Photobucket, so users can augment and destroy the latest offerings from their favorite artists. The Premier Express website promises on-demand video editing: “Mix and mash clips right in your browser for instant remixes, anytime.” Adobe is also working on a storage service called Share, which went live in beta just last week. Share gives user the ability to convert 5 documents to PDF, access your documents and collaborate online, post document links to wikis and blogs, and embed a Flash preview of documents on any website. This, coupled with Buzzword, could be a very powerful tool for enterprises and individual users alike. Share is currently free, but will likely include a pricing plan as it’s adopted by businesses.

As a recent article on ReadWriteWeb asks, “So the question that comes to mind is will these tools be meshed together as one single online suite accessible via a single sign on?” According to an Adobe official who spoke with ReadWriteWeb, it’s a highly likely possibility. Tying these online applications together in one suite could make them more attractive and convenient for enterprise use, a market where Adobe has always excelled. The combination of photo and video editing, storage, and documentation could be a powerful mix for creative groups, marketing teams, publishing houses, and a myriad of other business users. Adobe has carefully engineered the interface to reach audiences of all experience levels, making for a very accessible product group. Many experts and business minds will be carefully watching the development of these Adobe SAAS offerings as they expand features and gain new users.

In a recent article, Talkibie reported on the increase in software and services that are jumping from the desktop to the web. Large, infrastructure-rich companies are enabling this change by allowing smaller web-based businesses to rent scalable portions of their massive computing clouds. Amazon, one of the largest web companies in the world, has taken this concept to the next level with their Web Services division. To coin a term, Amazon Web Services is making a mark in the Cloud As A Service (CAAS) industry, and their dedication to providing a good user experience is paying off.

Amazon has created this division as a way to leverage unused portions of their infrastructure. Their network is massive, designed to withstand peaks of activity, but it’s power is not needed consistently. By renting it out for reasonable rates to smaller companies, they are enabling their customers to enhance and scale applications that otherwise would be impossible (both financially and technologically). As their website puts it, “We innovate for you, so that you can innovate for your customers.”

One new service Amazon is offering is known as Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), which provides web-scale computing capacity to help developers manage applications as they grow or decline in popularity. EC2 is in beta at the moment, but it works in conjunction with Amazon’s storage, database, and queuing services (code-named S3, Amazon DB, and SQS respectively). For developers, their website explains how to use EC2:

• Create an Amazon Machine Image (AMI) containing your applications, libraries, data and associated configuration settings. Or use pre-configured, templated images to get up and running immediately.
• Upload the AMI into Amazon S3. Amazon EC2 provides tools that make storing the AMI simple. Amazon S3 provides a safe, reliable and fast repository to store your images.
• Use Amazon EC2 web service to configure security and network access.
• Start, terminate, and monitor as many instances of your AMI as needed, using the web service APIs.
• Pay only for the resources that you actually consume, like instance-hours or data transfer.

The service is not for the casual user, as it takes a baseline of knowledge to scale and backup applications. As the last bullet suggests, Amazon is trying to keep their EC2 service affordable and appropriate to actual usage. This is also true for Simple Storage Service (S3), which allows storage and access to any amount of data through the web. Their huge infrastructure allows unlimited objects from 1 byte to 5 gigabytes to be held and retrieved using a unique developer-assigned key. Users can grant access to others on their team as well, enabling web-based collaboration.

Amazon Web Services has experienced a few outages, most notably this February. As TechCrunch notes, other startups (including Twitter) who rely on S3 or EC2 experienced problems as a result. No doubt as Amazon’s reliability will increase as they perfect their new role. Astoundingly, the bandwidth AWS customers use has now surpassed that used by all of Amazon’s global sites combined! If you’re measuring by bandwidth, that means that Amazon’s cloud tenants are now larger than Amazon’s retail customers.

As Amazon Web Service’s official blog notes, “There are any number of references on the Web to Amazon’s focus on being the ‘earth’s most customer centric company’.” For this reason, Amazon has opened the flood gates of user opinion, allowing developers to share their experiences with each new service as it’s unveiled. “I encourage each you [developers] to read the spec and send us your thoughts on whether the team’s work meets your needs…We’re serious about making certain our Web Services are the best on earth for you, the customer.” And that excellence, in turn, is passed on to the customers of businesses who benefit from Amazon’s cloud.

A new study conducted by researchers at the University of Utah has drawn a solid correlation between widescreen displays and worker productivity. Analysts and industry experts have long suggested a connection between screen set-up and productivity, and the new study confirms this belief. As CIO.com has reported, “Organizations that upgrade their employees’ standard-format monitors to widescreen displays can realize productivity gains equivalent to 76 extra work days a year per worker, as well as annual cost savings of more than $8,000 per staff member…(That math assumes a staffer who makes $32,500 annually.)”

The research was funded by NEC, an industry leader in LED, plasma, and projection displays, and they’ve made a PDF of the study’s key findings available to the public. Ninety-six members of the University of Utah community, including faculty, staff, and students, performed varying tasks on different monitor set ups. The participants were broken up according to their level of comfort with technology (novice, intermediate, or advanced) to ensure the results would be compared appropriately. Researchers prepared different tasks to test spreadsheet and text editing performance, as well as taking into account monitor preferences. The study found that participants using a 24-inch widescreen monitor tested 52% faster than those using an 18-inch monitor. Also, those using a dual 20-inch set-up were 44% faster than those with 18-inch screens. Additional findings were:

• Large widescreen or dual-monitor configurations are better suited for work that involves multiple documents or applications.
• 24-inch widescreen displays are better suited for text editing than both single standard format (17-inch and 19-inch) and dual standard format (17-inch and 19-inch) monitor configurations.
• Dual-widescreen configurations in 22-inches or larger are better for spreadsheet editing than single widescreen or standard format displays.
• Net annual cost savings of using 24-inch widescreen monitors in place of standard format, 18-inch monitors, including electricity and monitor costs, is roughly $2.1 million a year for 250-employee companies and about $4.3 million for firms with 500 staffers.

The research also revealed that bigger is not necessarily better. Worker productivity started to fall when participants upgraded to a 26-inch screen, showing that more “real estate” is not the only key which allows users to complete tasks quickly and efficiently. The study also assumes a solid eight hour work block and focused on tasks that would benefit from larger, wider screens. While some graphic- or text-intensive tasks could be performed more readily on a wide screen or dual-monitor set-up, not all types of work are subject to the results of this study. The lead researcher at the University of Utah, Dr. James A. Anderson, says in an NEC press release, “large widescreen or dual-monitor configurations are recommended for use in any situation where multiple documents of information are an ordinary part of work.” Anderson found that the widescreen set-up was especially beneficial to workers whose tasks involved moving data between files, such as transferring information from a text document into a spreadsheet.

Reader comments on CIO.com’s article express skepticism about the findings. One reader remarks, “Has anyone every conducted a study of how many vendor-sponsored university studies (yes, from the supposed heartland of “scientific” research), whether by food, drug, or computer hardware companies, end up with published findings that are not favourable to the sponsor?” This is a valid concern for any study conducted on behalf of a commercial enterprise, but the results of the research are overwhelmingly homogeneous, which suggests the accuracy of the findings. Dr. Anderson assured the Wall Street Journal that the study was validated by the University of Utah’s research board and not simply a product of NEC’s PR department.

NEC, no doubt delighted at the outcome of the study, has launched a site to help businesses decide how to upgrade their monitors, and it includes a calculator to help CIOs determine their expected cost savings when switching to widescreen displays. The idea of widescreen monitors as a panacea for productivity problems is not what NEC or the University of Utah means to suggest. Dr. Anderson recommends that businesses take the time to match workers to the monitor set-up that best meets their needs. While they may not be a cure for the productivity ills of the work place, widescreen displays can help with repetitive, side-by-side, real-estate intensive tasks, allowing employees to perform their tasks more quickly and comfortably.

Tensions have been running high recently between Apple, Inc. and Adobe Systems, Inc. over the Internet browsing capabilities of the iPhone. Because the iPhone’s web browser is incompatible with Flash Player (the web video streaming technology produced by Adobe), iPhone users have been unable to access nearly all videos currently being streamed on the web. According to a recent article published by the Wall Street Journal, this has adversely affected Apple shares, as many analysts believe that the iPhone’s inability to stream videos is one of the most cited negative features that turn buyers away from the product. According to Apple, current versions of Flash Player are either too slow to be used with the iPhone or too inadequate to be used to access the Internet via the hand-held device. Some reports suggest that Flash drains too much battery life to be feasible for mobile internet use. To date, Apple has yet to incorporate a version of Flash into their iPhones.

This latest incident has added to the strain on the relationship between Apple and Adobe, two companies which at one time were very much reliant upon one another. However, in recent years, the two companies have a history of strained relations. As the Wall Street Journal article points out, “Several years ago, Adobe dropped support for Apple’s Macintosh computers and then introduced other software products that were only compatible with Microsoft Corp. software. Then, Apple made some product changes affecting the distribution of Adobe’s software products.” Given the mounting tensions between these two companies, it seems like the iPhone might be the proverbial straw that breaks the camel’s back. Rumors have already begun circulating about Apple potentially contracting with another company to provide this web service (Sun Microsystems and their JavaFX platform being the front runner here), and there has also be speculation that Apple is working on developing its own technology.

However, there have been recent reports that Adobe is planning a version of Flash Player for the iPhone. Some may wonder why, considering the current tensions with Apple and the apparent public snub. However, several industry experts believe that it may be because their working relationship is one-sided, favoring Apple. According to one source, “Adobe has tipped its hand, and it now seems clear that it needs Apple’s iPhone more than Apple needs Adobe’s Flash. But it’s not at all clear that Adobe will get the foothold on the device it seems to want so badly.” Many experts agree with this sentiment, and fear that despite its best efforts, Adobe may be left out of the iPhone glory if and when Apple decides to go in another direction.

One thing is clear here: there is a definite strain on the relationship between Apple and Adobe, and both companies are getting hit by consumers. iPhone sales have suffered, and Adobe is losing an opportunity to expand into the mobile market. Whether or not the two will partner with the iPhone or on some future venture remains to be seen, but what happens next with the iPhone will definitely set the tone for the future relationship of these two business entities.

Sun has recently introduced a new family of Java products which have the potential to grab developers from AJAX, Flex and Silverlight. JavaFX, which consists of a mobile platform and a new script, is meant to deliver RIA technology on any platform. As Sun’s website put it, JavaFX is, “designed to enable consistent user experiences, from desktop to mobile device to set-top box to Blu-ray disc.” The JavaFX products, which are gaining popularity, are made up of a series of development tools, scripting and runtime environments, and widgets all based on Java technology. Sun is hyping the new product line as follows:

• The JavaFX product family leverages the Java platform’s write-once-run-anywhere portability, application security model, ubiquitous distribution and enterprise connectivity
• JavaFX initially is comprised of JavaFX Script and JavaFX Mobile
• JavaFX Script is a highly productive scripting language for content developers to create rich media and interactive content
• JavaFX Mobile, Sun’s software system for mobile devices, is available via OEM license to carriers, handset manufacturers and others seeking a branded relationship with consumers

JavaFX Script is specifically geared towards RIA developers, and it was designed to allow applications to run on the desktop, in a browser, or on a web-enabled cell phone. As it moves into the mainstream, it’s expected to compete with Adobe Flash/Flex and Microsoft’s new Silverlight platform. This new script, which focuses on animated, interactive interfaces, is garnering support among top level executives at Sun, including James Gosling, widely regarded as the founding father of Java. As Gosling told InfoWorld, “You can use it for anything that you would use AJAX for. You get much more dynamic behavior. You get much more advanced APIs that you get access to.” Gosling expects JavaFX may be the key to integrating our desktop, web, and mobile environments. “There are parts of the world where a person’s desktop computer is their cell phone, and that’s the kind of end point that we’re going to get to,” he says.

To reach this goal, Sun has included a fully-functional mobile phone platform in its JavaFX product line. JavaFX Mobile will bring rich content to cell phones in a way that has not yet been possible. It will support Java ME applications as well as other standard Java APIs. This new mobile software platform is expected to compete with Adobe’s Flash, which has not yet been optimized for a mobile environment.

Flash is purported to suck so much battery life that Apple has not yet adopted it for their popular iPhone. Adobe is reportedly working on a Flash player for the iPhone, though they are cautious about it’s future. According to a recent InfoWorld article, Adobe representatives released a statement saying, “However, to bring the full capabilities of Flash to the iPhone Web-browsing experience, we do need to work with Apple beyond and above what is available through the SDK and the current license around it.” The battle between Apple and Adobe is far from over, and Sun’s JavaFX may fill the void between the two companies.

While the new script and mobile platform help Sun boost its reputation in the RIA development world and compete with Microsoft and Adobe, the real significance of these products is the move towards integrating Web 2.0-style web applications regardless of the user’s hardware. JavaFX and similar products are starting to recognize the power of mixing online and offline functionality, which gives users the most versatility and performance in any environment.

One of the hottest hardware trends these days is virtualization, and the undisputed leader in this industry is VMware. They’ve been unopposed in the field for almost ten years, though a recent Microsoft announcement may challenge their position. In February Microsoft released a test version of their virtualization software called Hyper-V, which may present some real competition for VMware, and may give their customers a choice that was previously unavailable.

Virtualization, a strategy that has been kicking around the technology world since the 1960s, allows servers to run at a higher capacity than previously thought. Initially, servers could run only one application at a time, meaning that many systems could only reach 15% percent of their capacity. Virtualization utilizes a software called a “hypervisor” which allows any given server to run more than one operating system at at time, essentially fooling it into performing the work that many servers would ordinarily do. With virtualization technology in place, one server can do the work that 8 or more would have done, reducing the high cost of hardware, technical support, and even the electricity that servers suck. The economic benefits are very attractive to large companies with vast server farms, and the environmental benefits are just as obvious.

Microsoft’s Hyper-V software is expected to closely resemble VMware’s products, and Microsoft is optimistic about its chances for success. As Microsoft GM for server infrastructure Larry Orecklin told the Wall Street Journal, “We expect very broad adoption; it’s certainly priced to assure broad adoption.” Microsoft has released initial pricing information in a recent press release, which varies depending on setup and requirements. Even more promising, Hewlett-Packard, which currently supports VMware software installations for its hardware customers, have said they will support Hyper-V as well. The full version is expected out in June 2008.

VMware does not seem to be worried, however. After all, they’ve had a ten-year head start on Microsoft in terms of software development and industry connections. Vice president of research and development Steve Herrod commented to the Wall Street Journal, “Microsoft doesn’t have a product yet. We’re confident our 10 years of work will be most important.” A good point, but customers are hoping the new competition in the virtualization market will lead to lower prices and better products.

Hyper-V is the first major challenge to VMware’s domination of the virtualization market, and the competition is likely to not only increase the quality and lower the price of software, but also spark interest in the technology community as a whole for this product. This side effect could be the most important “plus” of Microsoft’s announcement, as it could lead to a greening of technology hardware across the board. Servers are huge drains on energy, and if companies like Amazon, Google, IBM, and Yahoo! were actively finding ways to reduce their electricity consumption, other smaller players would follow. No matter who takes the lead in the virtualization industry, consumers and the world at large are likely to benefit, whether from lower prices or better environmental practices.

While convenient, laptop computers with wireless network connections have always had one major problem: back up. It is more complicated to back up a wireless computer than a desktop computer; most existing methods require cumbersome components that impede the mobility of your wireless machine (and really, isn’t that the point of a wireless laptop in the first place?). Apple has come up with a solution for this problem, the Apple Time Capsule. This device was designed to work with Time Machine, an automatic back up that was built into the Mac OS X Leopard. According to Apple, Time Capsule can boast the following features:

• A wireless hard drive (available in two sizes: 500GB or 1TB)
• Multi-machine back up capabilities, allowing multiple computers to back up to one single device
• Uses the 802.11n draft 2.0 specification, and is compatible with Macs and PCs that use 802.11a, b, or g technologies
• Is compatible with other Apple technologies, such as the iPhone

The Wall Street Journal recently published an article about the Apple Time Capsule. Writer Walter S. Mossberg put the product through its paces to test how effective it was. In addition to working with the Mac OS X Leopard, he tested the claims that Time Capsule can also be used as a wireless Internet connection and/or a remote hard drive for storing/retrieving files not only for Macs, but also for PCs running Windows platforms. As he reports, “In my tests over the past week, Time Capsule worked well in all of these scenarios…[It] was easily recognized by several of my Windows machines running Vista and Windows XP.” The article goes on to say that Time Capsule also allows for easy storing/retrieval of files between Macs and PCs running Windows applications, which is an additional advantage of the product.

There are, however, several drawbacks that consumers should bear in mind. Unlike similar products, Time Capsule does not support any form of media streaming. Also, Apple cannot guarantee that Time Capsule will work with all back up systems (subsequent testing revealed this was especially true of customers currently using the Vista platform). Also, as one blogger discovered, you are unable to upgrade the hard disk. While this may not pose a problem for most end users, it may dissuade the more technologically savvy customers from purchasing this product.

Still, the list of drawbacks is minimal, and early customer reviews of this product all seem positive. Consumers are also happy with the competitive price tag ($299 for the 500GB, $499 for the 1TB). Overall, it seems as though this product will be a great success for Apple. And who knows, maybe there will even be a second release that will address some of the aforementioned concerns. With Apple’s customer feedback history, this wouldn’t be surprising.

Project management is one aspect of business communication that has not changed much with the advent of Web 2.0 technology. Collaborative teams still set firm deadlines, use email to communicate requirements and send documents, and if they’re lucky, use some form of project management software such as Microsoft Project. With the continued growth and popularity of Software As A Service (SAAS) tools, it was only a matter of time before innovative companies emerged with web-based models for collaboration. Two of these tools were recently profiled in eWeek, and they aim to attract users by modeling the way in which projects are actually completed.

LiquidPlanner was launched in a beta form in February, and the creative team behind this tool is led by two former Expedia.com managers. Their project management application is designed to respond to the uncertainty and flexibility that most business projects require. As eWeek points out, “Everything [in project management] has a due date, and, when a team doesn’t meet that date, members feel as if they failed…The funny thing is, almost nothing else in the world works that way.” Due dates are great for goal setting and retaining customers, but they don’t take into account the unexpected speed bumps that every team will encounter.

LiquidPlanner attempts to build this flexibility into their application by allowing users to set a range of projected due dates for each task. Users can easily switch between viewing the project in a timeline or by function. It also helps teams stay on track by providing vivid visuals that alert teams to upcoming requirements. It also features a collaborative space which is modeled on WIKI technology to facilitate clear communication and document sharing without versioning issues. And, as any good Web 2.0 application does, LiquidPlanner features a customizable dashboard which allows users to approach their projects on their own terms.

The other new tool which eWeek profiled is called Lunarr, and it acts as a virtual brainstorming scratch pad. The idea is simple: allow teams to collaborate not only on official documentation (like meeting handouts or presentations), but also on informal notes and ideas (like the notes you write on the back of meeting handouts or presentations). Lunarr calls this space a “back page”, and ideally it includes all forms of documentation for a given project, including emails, discussions, notes, and official documents. Their web-based tool gives teams a way to access all of this intelligence in one location.

eWeek has high praise for Lunarr’s potential: “Lunarr makes it possible to collaborate on pretty much anything, and, whether the service itself proves successful, points to true next-generation Web applications, where deeper functionality such as collaboration can be layered onto any other Web application.” The functionality resembles a rich WIKI page, and it allows users to access templates for ease of reading a variety of document types. Each team member can choose to keep their “back page” private or shared, while the front page reflects changes and keeps the latest version fresh. The application is current in free, invite-only beta, and pricing structures are yet to be decided for future releases.

The unique thing about these two Web 2.0 tools is how they attempt to reflect, instead of influence, the reality of project management. Their features are designed to compliment the changing nature of business projects, and help teams to make the most of organization applications.

This has been an historic election year in the United States (and not just in regards to the Democratic nominee). With the introduction of Web 2.0 strategy to political campaigns, the candidates have reached voters from previously apathetic or uninformed groups. Campaigns have hired CIOs, launched creative websites, and set up donation systems and volunteer opportunities online. We’ll explore the Web 2.0 efforts, both fun and informative, of each of the remaining candidates in the race for the 2008 presidency.

Barack Obama’s website also allows voters to learn about the candidate issue by issue; visitors to his website can find his views on health care, education, the environment, immigration, Iraq, homeland security, etc. In addition to sharing their candidate’s plans and views, Obama’s website invites visitors to sound off on the issues of the day with a “MyPolicy” function on each issue page. This appeals directly to the increasing atmosphere of participation on the web. People want to influence content and have their voices heard. It’s a subtle way for the Obama campaign to say to voters, “We listen to you.”

In addition to his main website, Obama’s campaign has created a my.barackobama.com portal which allows strong supporters to create their own profiles, organize events, meet like-minded voters, blog about their activities, and help with fund raising efforts. This social networking approach to gathering support has increased Obama’s presence among young voters.

In another attempt to reach grassroots voters, Obama’s website also hosts downloads of widgets (like news feeds for Google Gadgets and a video widget for MySpace). Another great feature was created by Substance, Inc. as a social experiment, and is not officially connected with Obama’s campaign. Their website, Logobama, lets supporters create customized images using the candidate’s logo. The site allows you to upload a photo, position it in the logo, and customize the color scheme. You can then save it in a number of sizes and send it to Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Digg, MySpace, LinkedIn, and a number of other Web 2.0 sites. I used a photo from Obama’s Flickr page to create this image.

Hillary Clinton’s campaign has also been successful in reaching out to voters online. Her website, which is available in Spanish and English, features many of the same Web 2.0 tools as Obama’s, including an Issues section where voters can share their thoughts with the candidate. Clinton’s main site links to a news feed site called HillaryHub, which pulls the latest stories about her campaign from sources across the web.

Another way in which Clinton’s campaign reached out to wired voters is through the Hillary TV section of her website. It features videos from campaign rallies, speeches, and media appearances. This not only makes the best use of TV advertising dollars, but it also reaches out to the YouTube generation, who tend to get their news and entertainment online. The site is home to the now famous (or infamous, depending on your politics) 3 a.m. advertisement.

Last but not least, Republican nominee-to-be John McCain has maximized his reach on the internet through high-quality videos featuring historical footage. This spot, called Man in the Arena, uses speeches, news footage, and photos from Winston Churchill interspersed with McCain’s own experience as a prisoner of war during Vietnam. One particularly poignant moment shows McCain being released from prison while his voice over declares, “I owe America more than she has ever owed me.” The message is crafted less to the YouTube generation and more to the “Greatest generation”, which is likely to make up McCain’s patriotic support base.

McCain’s website does not feature widgets or logo customization tools like Obama’s. It’s clearly geared at an audience who seeks information, not entertainment, on the internet. However, his blog has won acclaim from the political technology watchdogs at techPresident, a forum which examines the role of technology in campaigns. In this article, techPresident explains how they posted numerous comments on blogs, YouTube accounts, and candidate websites to see if negative commentary would be filtered out. McCain’s blog allowed every comment, positive and negative, to be posted on the site.

While all the candidates have had success reaching voters online, it’s clear which campaigns are trying to attract which demographic of voters. If politics keeps you entertained, the candidates have obliged with all the widgets, videos, photos, and customization tools that Web 2.0 voters want. If you follow politics online to educate yourself about the issues of the day, you’re also in luck. Through blogs, informative websites, and user comments/forums, this year’s candidates invite you not only to explore their plans but also to add your own two cents to the debate.