Collaboration Tools: The Decision

As you can see, I had a lot of material to review. I did my best to cover each of the criteria and how they applied to the collaboration tools.

Here's a reminder of the results:

• Hyperoffice - B
• Vyew - B
• KeepandShare - C+
• Project2Manage - C

Based on my grades it came down to Hyperoffice and Vyew. 

I decided that Vyew is a lot more value for my purposes. It is FREE. It has almost all of the same features as the more expensive, Hyperoffice. It is simple, cohesive, user-friendly and very easy for members to collaborate. Compared to the other collaboration tools, I felt it was more intuitive and fun to use.

In case you didn't feel like reading my posts, here is a simple table which demonstrates how each tool met (or fell short of) the criteria:

	HyperOffice	Vyew	KeepandShare	Project2Manage
Software/ Hardware Required	No software or hardware requirements. Hyperdrive installation required for easy uploading—not needed.	No software or hardware requirements.	No software or hardware requirements.	No software or hardware requirements
OS Compatibility	Any Mac or Windows OS. Any internet browser.	Any Mac or Windows OS. Any internet browser.	Any Mac or Windows OS. Any internet browser.	Any Mac or Windows OS. Any internet browser.
Number of Users	Varies with price	Free account: up to 10 people/room Upgraded account: up to 80 people/room ($1/additional person 11-80).	Unlimited	Unlimited
Storage Space	1.25GB	No limit to size. 300 “pages” (items) per room.	100MB total. 10MB/upload. Can be upgraded: 3GB total. 1GB/upload.	150MB
Synchronization and Email	Can be synced with Microsoft Outlook. Free email with customizable domain.	Your choice of synchronous or asynchronous collaboration. No email feature or synch with email providers.	No email feature	No email feature, but a message feature exists for communicating with project members. All edits are up-to-the minute.
Security	Daily virus updates, spam-free	Only upgraded accounts have security.	Only upgraded accounts have security.	Only upgraded accounts have security.

And here is a table with the grade breakdown:

	Hyperoffice	Vyew	KeepandShare	Project2Manage
Hardware/Software Os/Browser	A	A	A	A
Number of Users per Project	C	B	A	A
Storage Space	B	A	D	D
Synchronization/ Email	B	A	D	D
Security	A	C	C	D

I hope that this will help you when selecting a collaboration tool for your needs. If you have further comments or questions, please leave a comment and I will respond promptly!

Collaboration Tools: Project2Manage

The fourth collaboration tool that I will evaluate: Project2Manage

Hardware/Software Requirements & OS/Browser Compatibility:

• No hardware or software downloads, just like the other 3. 
• The service is cloud-based, so only an internet connection is required for users. All  browsers are compatible with Project2Manage

Storage Space:

• 150MB
• Free account only allows one project at a time.
• Basic account only allows 5 projects at a time
• More about P2M's storage capabilities

Number of Users Per Project:

• Unlimited!

Synchronization and Email:

• No email feature.
• All updates, shares, annotations and edits are up-to-the-minute.
• Messaging is available to members of each project's team.

Security:

• Only upgraded accounts have have 128-bit SSL encryption. 
• Setting users' roles makes for more secure content.
• Not 100% monitored.
• More on P2M's security

Functionality and Services:

• Users can upload, download, edit, annotate, share and collaborate on most file common types. 
• Messaging replaces standard email or IM. 
• A tour of P2M is available

So, how does it stack up?

Hardware/Software/OS/Browser: A

Number of Users per Project: A

Storage Space: D

Synchronization/Email: D

Security: D

Overall: C

Collaboration Tools: KeepandShare

The third collaboration tool that I will evaluate: KeepandShare

Hardware/Software Requirements & OS/Browser Compatibility:

• No hardware or software downloads required. 
• Accessible via mobile device. 
• The service is cloud-based, so only an internet connection is required for users. All  browsers are compatible with KeepandShare.

Storage Space:

• Upload Size: 10MB
• Cumulative Storage Space: 100MB
• Monthly Bandwidth: 6GB
• # of Pictures: 1500

Number of Users Per Project:

• Unlimited users.
• Anyone with an internet connection can access. Users simply require an invite.
• Upgrades apply to all who view the project.

Synchronization and Email:

• Built in word processor with extensive formatting tools. Updates immediately for user review and sharing.
• Mobile access for all users
• No email or chat feature available.
• All edits and shares have annotations explaining who did what and when then did it.

Security:

• Only upgraded accounts have have SSL/HTTPS encryption.
• "Fort Knox" quality security- only people with editing rights can alter files.
• Password protected projects.

Functionality and Services:

• Users can upload, download, edit, annotate, share and collaborate on all file types.
• Built in word processor is amazing.
• K&S Full feature breakdown

So, how does it stack up?

Hardware/Software/OS/Browser: A

Number of Users per Project: A

Storage Space: D

Synchronization/Email: C

Security: C

Overall: C+

Collaboration Tools: Vyew

The second collaboration tool that I will evaluate: Vyew

Hardware/Software Requirements & OS/Browser Compatibility:

• No hardware or software downloads
• If users wish to utilize web-chat features, obviously a webcam is necessary.
• The service is cloud-based, so only an internet connection is required for users. All  browsers are compatible with Vyew.

Storage Space:

• No size limit.
• 300 "pages" (items) per room.

Number of Users Per Project:

• Free account: up to 10 people/room.
• Upgraded account: up to 80 people/room ($1/additional person 11-80).

Synchronization and Email:

• All updates are in "real time".
• Users can use the "screen-share" feature for up-to-the-second sharing.
• No email feature available.

Security:

• Only upgraded accounts have have SSL/HTTPS encryption.
• Claims to be more secure than standard email.
• Setting users' roles makes for more secure content.
• More on Vyew's Security

Functionality and Services:

• Users can upload, download, edit, annotate, share and collaborate on most file common types. 
• IM allows for instant communication and idea-sharing.
• White-board allows users to idea share while drawing. 
• Chat and video conferencing bring groups together to collaborate in real time
• Full list of product features

So, how does it stack up?

Hardware/Software/OS/Browser: A

Number of Users per Project: B

Storage Space: A

Synchronization/Email: C

Security: C

Overall: B

Collaboration Tools: Hyperoffice

The first collaboration tool that I will evaluate: Hyperoffice.

Hardware/Software Requirements & OS/Browser Compatibility:

• No hardware or software download required.
• Users can download "Hyperdrive" which acts as an additional hard-drive for seamless and quick file uploading and downloading. Users can move entire folders at a a time using the Hyperdrive.
• Hyperoffice provides mobile usage, but users have to have a phone with an internet connection.
• The service is cloud-based, so only an internet connection is required for users. All  browsers are compatible with Hyperoffice. I had great success using Chrome, which can sometimes be glitchy. 

Storage Space:

• 1.25GB
• Can be increased (prices listed below)

Capacity	Monthly Price	Annual Price*
1 GB	$7.00	$70.00
5 GB	$28.00	$280.00
10 GB	$45.00	$450.00
15 GB	$60.00	$600.00

Number of Users Per Project:

• Hyperoffice allows for up to 5 users for their basic account (this includes the 30-day FREE trial). Additional pricing information can be found here.

Synchronization and Email:

• Hyperoffice can be automatically synced with Microsoft Outlook (both the email and calendar features). 
• Hyperoffice also allows users to personalize their email domain. (Based on the business (ashley@librarian.com) or the project at hand (ashley@6080project.com)).
• Allows users to get:
•  IMAP & POP3 access.
• 5GB per mailbox.
• Unlimited aliases.

Security:

• Has daily virus updates.
• 100% spam and ad free.

Functionality and Services:

• Users can upload, download, edit, annotate, share and collaborate on any file type.
• IM allows for instant communication and idea-sharing.
• Forums allow for clear streams of thought and threading.
• Chat and video conferencing bring groups together to collaborate
• Don't take my word for it...

So, how does it stack up?

Hardware/Software/OS/Browser: A

Number of Users per Project: C

Storage Space: B

Synchronization/Email: B

Security: A

Overall: B

Collaboration Tools: The Contenders

After some hunting, I think I've narrowed it down to my top 4 collaboration tools:

• Hyperoffice
• Vyew
• KeepandShare
• Project2Manage

I watched their demos. I read their reviews. I asked a friend (Brent) who works almost exclusively with collaboration software (he's in eCommerce/Online Marketing, I trust his opinion and experience). I played around with uploading files, having Brent make edits and annotations (if available) and familiarized myself with the tools.

Brent initially suggested some tools:

• Basecamp
• Yammer
• Salesforce
• Harvest

While I appreciated these suggestions, their main downfall was this: not ONE offered a free trial or demo version (that I could find). Their reviews are amazing (Salesforce has over 2 million users), but their lack of availability got them crossed off the list.

In my upcoming posts, I will review, analyze and grade my top 4 collaboration tools. I hope that my analysis will help you to select the product that works best for you!

Collaboration Tools: The Hunt

I have been on the look out for great collaboration tools and software. 


It is completely unrealistic and inconvenient to not have some means of sharing ideas and documents in a centralized, accessible place.


Emailing attachments, downloading them, making changes, then emailing the attachments back is time consuming and completely archaic.


So I began the search for the best, greatest, most innovative (and free?) collaboration tools that I could find. Searching for "free collaboration tools" seemed like a simple enough search, but I was incorrect. Millions of hits on Google was just too many.


I realized that if I was going to narrow my search at all, I'd have to figure out what I valued in collaboration tools. What were the deal breakers?


Some were obvious:

• it had to offer file sharing.
• it had to be FREE. (I discovered that "free" is not always "free".)
• it had to be simple to use.

Once I got past those parameters, I had to figure out what criteria really mattered. I chose:

• Hardware/Software Requirements & OS/Browser compatibility
• Number of users per "project"
• Storage space
• Synchronization & Email availability
• Security

Once under the microscope, I was able to get a better idea of each collaboration tool's strengths and weaknesses (for my purposes).

In each subsequent post, I will review the tools and assign them a grade based on the criteria listed above.