eWeek - June 7, 2010

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Is Google Wave essential? It has great potential, but Google Wave’s features aren’t fully baked. ANDREW GARCIA

ith the right technology improve-
ments and some vision, could
Google and the nascent Google
Wave be ground zero for unified
communications interoperability?

After spending a couple of hours with Google Wave, I have to say that the application looks to have a lot of utility for e WEEK Labs. I think it would be a good way for us to better collaborate between our analysts and our freelancers in order to help plan and fine-tune our reviews and analysis pieces. And I think there is great potential to leverage Google Wave to enable better audience participation and real-time analysis of live events on our own blog-ging platform.

Unfortunately, at this time, the drawbacks for Google Wave remain the same as with so many of the search giant’s recent communications endeavors: The features just aren’t fully baked, largely because Google Wave isn’t integrated in any sensible way with Google’s other applications.

A post about the Google Wave on the official
Google Enterprise Blog makes it sound like this was
an intentional move: “With Google Wave, we started
with a blank slate to try new approaches to teamwork
without the constraints of existing applications.”
With that blank slate, Google Wave lacks so many
elements that would make the collaborative experi-
ence so much richer. I noticed the lack of built-in
video conferencing, desktop sharing and telephony
bridging. While some of those capabilities can be
added through extensions, I found those add-ons
either didn’t work or had limited usefulness.

With Google Voice, Google Chat and Gizmo5 already siloed within the search giant’s array of communications apps and services, Google has so many pieces at its disposal that could enhance Google Wave’s collaborative experience if they were baked together—preferably in a standards-compliant way with an eye toward third-party interoperability.

When Google announced its intention to buy Global IP Solutions to acquire its audio and video codecs and media processing technologies, many analysts speculated that the move might allow Google to leverage GIPS technology, along with Google Voice and Gizmo5, to compete with Skype for Internet-based voice and video calling.

That goal is short-sighted. Consumer-grade VOIP (voice over IP) is already being done well and done affordably. Google should aim higher and deliver next-generation communications and collaborative experiences at a low price point. I think Google Wave, with the right technology enhancements, could be ground zero for just such an initiative.

I wonder whether Google could leverage GIPS’ vast array of licensees— companies such as Cisco WebEx,

IBM Sametime and Yahoo—
to become an unofficial, de
facto arbiter of collaborative
and video conferencing. What
if Google were to offer those
licensees a break on pricing
if the technology was built for
interoperability or, at least, Google-operability?
Google could possibly utilize its vast network
and processing resources to effectively become a
cloud-based MCU (Multi-Point Control Unit). It
could tell ISVs to forget for the immediate future
about the Unified Communications Interoper-
ability Forum and just make sure its video or col-
laboration program interoperates with Google for
signaling, tear-down, transport and codec. Then,
multivendor interoperability will work itself out.