Web conferencing comes of age

Those who rely on a smile and a handshake to close a deal might never embrace Web conferencing, but for the rest of us - including every stripe of remote worker - the technology is proving a smart way to strengthen collaboration and trim costs.

Web conferencing services raked in $315 million last year, according to Andrew Nilssen, senior analyst and partner at Wainhouse Research. Nilssen expects the industry to grow 22 percent per year over the next five years, as it moves from "a renegade to a blessed stage."

One reason Nilssen and others take such a bright view of Web conferencing is its ability to help IT managers keep costs in check while offering a range of pricing models. But for firms that haven't tried it, the variety of options can be overwhelming. All players offer a laundry list of collaboration services, such as audio and videoconferencing, application sharing and whiteboarding. But technologies and approaches vary.

Of the pure service providers, WebEx Communications leads the pack. PlaceWare and Raindance Communications offer hosted software services, while IBM, Spectel and Microsoft offer enterprise collaboration software. When deciding which route to take, consider your company's size, its current IT infrastructure, and how you plan to use the technology, says Robert Mahowald, research manager of Collaborative Computing at IDC.

While there are no hard-and-fast rules, Mahowald says small and midsize businesses tend to stick with a services-only approach because there is no heavy up-front investment and meetings can be arranged on an ad hoc basis. "Very small businesses don't think strategically, but tactically, and will go after services nine times out of 10," he says.

Yet many large firms are seeing Web services and hosted software offerings as a convenient way to bring together global workers, shave travel costs and strengthen virtual teams. One firm realizing these advantages is global engineering, construction and consulting firm Black & Veatch. The firm has used Raindance's Web Conference Pro service for the last year to help connect its 7,000 global workers - specifically for training and sharing design techniques and 3-D modeling.

"This has really changed the tide in how we do business," says Michael Lamb, director of eBusiness and Internet Services at Black & Veatch "We've seen significant cost savings, not just in reduced travel costs, but in giving us a different way to collaborate."

Nilssen says firms that plan to use the technology as part of their daily workflow should think about investing in enterprise collaboration software that integrates with other business applications and sits behind the company firewall, giving IT departments "control over their own destiny."

Even so, Black & Veatch preferred to use a conferencing service so it could focus on its business and leave the conferencing capabilities to the experts, Lamb says.