The Web Conferencing Blog

Adobe Acrobat Version 9

Adobe Acrobat and its PDF documents have been around for a long time. It's a great product and comes in handy when you want to send documents that look clean and have read-only privileges. In their latest version, Acrobat 9, Adobe has built in technology so that one can embed Flash content into PDF documents, making the Flash content portable through a document rather than a large Flash file. Pretty interesting for marketers and those working in the creative design space.

Another interesting move is that Adobe is releasing a document management and document storage application similar to Google Docs, Microsoft Sharepoint, and WebEx Workspace. They include a mini suite of capabilities: Buzzword for word processing and text editing; Share for document sharing; My Files for document storage, Create PDF for document conversion, and ConnectNow for web conferencing. You can find beta versions of the document management solution at www.acrobat.com

The last move is that Adobe is offering a free web conferencing solutions for up to three people and an online document repository where users can convert up to five documents into PDF. I suppose if Adobe can't SELL their web conferencing solutions, they might as well give it away for free. Can't really blame them as most of their revenue comes from Photoshop, Flash, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, and Acrobat anyway.

Adobe Version 9 is available in Standard ($299), Pro ($449) and Pro Extended ($699).

If you are interesting in reading more about Adobe's corporate vision and market analysis, click this link: Download adobe_may_2008.pdf

Thanks,
David Chao
The Web Conferencing Expert

Another Adobe Flaw!!!

Issues with Adobe applications are starting to become so common place it's scary. Again, why take on the much added risk with a solution that does not have any 3rd party security certifications? Though Adobe Connect and Adobe Acrobat are different solutions, the Connect solution is 100% dependent on Acrobat.

I previously mentioned that Adobe released a Security Bulletin in October of 2006 for Adobe Connect, which effected older versions of Breeze. Now problems have surfaced with newer versions of Adobe Acrobat. They released a patch for the recently discovered security flaw in their Acrobat software application to resolve the problems.

The company added that the flaw affected Acrobat Standard, Professional, and Elements in versions 7.08 and older. (Only a matter of time before these specific Acrobat issues manifest in Adobe Connect.)

Adobe further confirmed that the recently launched version 8.0 was not affected by this flaw and the users are not required to download any patch.

This flaw was related to a technique known as "cross-site scripting" which allowed hackers to mix malicious JavaScript with a link to a PDF file on a website. (Sounds like the same issues the older version on Connect had. Again, curious to see when the current version on Adobe Connect starts to see similar problems.)

Adobe Connect Security Problems
Adobe Connect History
Same Song and Dance 

Your Ad Here

Thanks,

David Chao
The Web Conferencing Expert

Adobe Connect Security Breach

It's important to know that web collaboration solutions are not created equal. Example, no other company, except WebEx, has 3rd party security certifications like WebTrust and SAS-70 Type I & II. With that in mind, buyers need to be aware of the risks of using un-secure technologies that have not passed stringent requirements from 3rd party security certification firms.

Case in point: Adobe Connect, formerly Macromedia Breeze and previous to that, Presidia.

Adobe put out a security bulletin back in October 2006. If you did not get the bulletin as a user, here is the link you can click on: http://www.adobe.com/support/security/bulletins/apsb06-16.html (Just follow the 10 Steps, hope that your private information was not disclosed on accident and hope that the directions make sense.)

Secunia provides real-time data on the latest security and vulnerability issues. Secunia viewed this Adobe Connect problem as "moderately critical" because of the exposure of sensitive and private information.

"A vulnerability has been reported in Macromedia Breeze, which can be exploited by malicious people to disclose sensitive information.

The vulnerability is caused due to an unspecified error when parsing URLs and can be exploited to disclose the contents of arbitrary files on the system.

The vulnerability has been reported in all versions of 5.0 and 5.1."

Again, web collaboration solutions are not created equal. Buying the best technology minimizes your risk and will save you embarrassment at your job.

More on Adobe Connect:
Another Adobe Security Flaw
Adobe Connect Security Problems
Adobe Connect History
Same Song and Dance

Your Ad Here

Thanks,
David Chao
The Web Conferencing Expert

Adobe Connect Re-Run

In the "World Web Conferencing Market Report, 2006, Chart 1.15, by Frost & Sullivan,  Breeze/Adobe Connect was listed in the "Others" category for market share meaning that Adobe Connect has less than a 0.3% market share in the on-demand space. WebEx has a 60%-plus market share in the same report. Adobe Connect Security Problems

Many people do not know that Macromedia originally acquired the Breeze technology in 2003 from now defunct, Presidia. Then in 2005, Adobe acquired Breeze from Macromedia and rebranded it Adobe Connect and launched it as a new Adobe product offering. Most analysts have expressed their concerns that Adobe Connect is now part of a much larger product family which could hurt Adobe Connect in terms of resources, budget, and R&D.

According to the TMR Report, Q2 2006 by Helen Gallagher, Breeze received 2 our of 4 stars for ease of use. "Breeze is a challenge to learn, even for those with experience with other synchronous tools. Breeze does not have the ability to create breakout rooms and does not have an e-commerce capability." Overall, WebEx received 4 our of 4 stars, the highest mark of all solutions evaluated in the same report.

In NetworkWorld's recent test of web conferencing products, Breeze was ranked 9 out of 11 competitors, suggesting that the Breeze performance might not be at the same level as some of its peer products. More on Adobe Connect

An interesting comparison might be to look at the number of companies Microsoft has acquired and how many of the technologies generate revenue for the company compared to Adobe. After looking at the list, you'll agree that most of the listed companies and their respective technologies are ones you have never heard.

List of Microsoft Acquired Companies

My suspicion is that something similar with happen to Adobe Connect when compared to Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop Suite, Dreamweaver and Flash, etc, it will eventually fall into the abyss of forgotten products.

Another Adobe Security Flaw
Adobe Connect Security Problems
Adobe Connect History
Same Song and Dance 

Your Ad Here

Thanks,
David Chao
The Web Conferencing Expert

The "New" Adobe Connect?

A few weeks ago Adobe announced "Adobe Connect," which is simply a rebranded version of the recently acquired Macromedia Breeze application with Adobe Acrobat. Same capabilities as before, nothing really new except for the integration piece and now a different name. It looks like Adobe is doing the same thing Macromedia did when they acquired the Breeze technology from Presidia and the same thing Microsoft did with Placeware and Groove Networks. Simply rebranding the same product and positioning the "new" product as a new product. (Casey Ryan from Nollenberger Capital Partners states, "Macromedia has been acquired and we believe their collaboration offerings will be less competitive as a piece of a larger company.") Adobe Connect Security Problems

Initially, the strategy to integrate Breeze with Acrobat to instantly start meetings from PDF's is interesting but how useful is this really? (The Important of Integration) PDF's are static documents that cannot be revised or changed. How useful would it be to start a Breeze meeting and not have the ability to make changes to a document? Imagine a Marketing Manager starting a Breeze meeting from a marketing collateral piece that has already been converted to PDF. The Marketing Manager simply wants to review the final version with the VP of Marketing before they go into print. They step into the meeting together and the VP of Marketing decides he/she wants to see what the text would look like in a different font. Granted the meeting was launched from a PDF but now what? Zero changes can be made from the static PDF file! How productive, collaborative or efficient is this? Another Adobe Security Flaw

I am not sure how much value or benefit the Breeze/PDf integration will provide, most likely very little. It is a unique differentiator for Adobe but not a very compelling one since many competitors like WebEx or Live Meeting could easily create this integration capability over night. I could see Adobe/Macromedia taking this integration a step further and integrating Breeze with Illustrator, Dreamweaver, and Photoshop which could prove to be more fruitful. More on Adobe Connect

A few interesting quotes from analysts:

Claire Schooley from Forrester Research has stated, "Breeze does not integrate with many applications and systems out-of-the-box. It integrates with other systems through an extensive set of API's." (The Forrester Wave: Web Conferencing, Q2 2006)

In TMR's "Synchronous Learning Report 2006, "For new users-even those with experience with other synchronous tools- Breeze is a challenge to learn."

ZDNet Review: "Macromedia, like its competitors, bundles telephone and email support with its service. The Macromedia Breeze five-user, $375/month plan, for instance, allows you just five tech-support incidents per month, which is a bit stingy, in our opinion."

According to Frost & Sullivan, Breeze has a 0.3% market share.

I have also included a downloadable Excel spreadsheet that details the "research" Adobe/Macromedia performed when comparing their technology to industry leader, WebEx. It was very interesting to see the number of erroneous claims and data points they mentioned. Take a look at the spreadsheet for a more accurate comparison between technology capabilities, infrastructure, along with other criteria like training and support that was not mentioned. More on Adobe Connect

Download macromedia_false_claims.xls 

More on Adobe Connect:

Another Adobe Security Flaw
Adobe Connect Security Problems
Adobe Connect History
Same Song and Dance

Your Ad Here

Thanks,

David Chao
The Web Conferencing Expert