Competitive Analysis of WebWisdomNT
One can classify capabilities into following areas:
- Authoring
-- Composition of Elegant Pages
- Training Management:
Curricula IMS standards and PAPI
- Content Repositories
a.k.a. Asynchronous Learning Systems
- Synchronous
or Interactive Collaboration/Delivery
- Database:
technologies to support web-linked databases
Competing Products
Taken from an IDC Survey, and our knowledge. WebWisdomNT has significant capabilities in all areas. In the case of authoring, we enhance existing systems. None of these systems offer WebWisdomNT's range of capabilities from management, presentation-authoring enhancement, linkage of synchronous and asynchronous modes, database support and flexibility from the use of powerful shared event model of collaboration. Some systems have some of WebWisdomNT's capabilities. WebWisdomNT supports all authoring systems that export to the web but often this loses capabilities of native model as in PowerPoint's web export. For a compendium of systems, see http://www.osc.edu/webed/
Authoring
- Allen Communications
http://www.allencomm.com/ multimedia authoring
- Asymetrix Learning Systems
http://www.asymetrix.com/ Toolbook product supports multimedia authoring
- Macromedia Authorware
can be fully supported by WebWisdomNT
- Microsoft PowerPoint
supported by WebWisdomNT. We support enhanced web export capabilities for this system.
- Persuasion
(only in old collections as now defunct) supported by WebWisdomNT
- FrontPage, NetFusion
and HTML Editors supported by WebWisdomNT
Training Management
Asynchronous (Content Repositories)
- CBT Systems
Campus http://www.cbtsys.com/ has 3000 hours of self-paced training -- mainly in basic computer skills. 1200 employees. Can download demonstration software
- McGraw Hill Online Learning http://www.mhonlinelearning.com/ which is part of http://www.mhlifetimelearning.com/ (McGraw Hill Life Time Learning) which is classic asynchronous learning source
- Docent
http://www.docent.com/ has limited curriculum model. It offers service to install corporate training
- Databeam/Lotus LearningServer
http://www.databeam.com/ could become interesting but Lotus itself suffers from lack of clean web integration. Shared files have to be displayed in a whiteboard. Databeam was purchased by Lotus and it is not clear what Databeam Learning Server is. They offer a conference center which uses NetMeeting and FarSite which appears to be shared whiteboard.
- Educause
IMS http://www.imsproject.org (Instructional Management System) is industry-education consortium setting standards and delivering reference implementations without good synchronous capabilities. No real products.
- Eloquent
http://www.eloquent.com has 100 employees and appears to focus on producing and delivering digital video combined with presentations. This is offered as a service. Their class recording and playback capability technology is matched by WebWisdom.com LecCorder.
- Microsoft NetShow
multimedia delivery from Microsoft
- RealNetworks
Real Media and many systems built around this technology. WebWisdom.com offers qualitatively comparable audio/video support in pure Java.
- WebCT
http://homebrew1.cs.ubc.ca/webct/ is a good popular and simple authoring system delivering nice integrated course pages. Supported by WebWisdomNT for synchronous delivery
Synchronous
- Centra
http://www.centra.com/ good product aimed at corporate training. Does not have a general collaboration backbone
- Contigo
http://www.contigo.com/ seems more limited than other such delivery systems.
- CUSeeMe
is an enhanced audio-video conferencing tool. WebWisdom.com offers comparable BuenaVista tool.
- Habanero
is a good research project, which has not been customized for education
- ILINC
http://www.ilinc.com/ is an interesting product with similar capabilities to parts of WebWisdomNT
- Microsoft NetMeeting
limited collaboration model as shared display
- ONE TOUCH Systems http://www.onetouch.com/ is also an interesting product with some capabilities shared with WebWisdomNT.
- Placeware
http://www.placeware.com/ aimed at conferencing with good but limited capabilities
Web-linked Database
- ColdFusion
is a good web-linked database, which is not aimed at educational objects and their delivery
- Lotus Notes
has poor web integration and no synchronous capabilities unless linked to systems like TangoInteractive