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You have no doubt heard a lot about Web 2.0 and Enterprise 2.0, but what about Office 2.0? At IT Redux's upcoming Office 2.0 conference scheduled for September 5 through 7 in San Francisco, numerous experts and customers will gather to take a look at some of the mobile productivity and collaboration technology that may revolutionize day-to-day life in offices around the globe. And in the spirit of Office 2.0, they're going paperless and giving away an Apple iPhone to each attendee for use during the conference.

"We're promoting the idea of doing everything online, and there is no better way of proving that it works by actually using online tools for managing the company itself," says event producer Ismael Ghalimi about the iPhone giveaway.

But why are iPhones symbolic of the spirit of Office 2.0? Ghalimi has more to say about that.

The Idea of Office 2.0

Office 2.0 is the extension of Web 2.0 into office productivity tools. It's the idea of getting office-type work done from anywhere using online technology and services through a Web browser rather than solely through desktop or laptops in the office.

"It's doing everything online, putting everything in the clouds," Ghalimi explains. "The primary reason for that is, when your data is online it is much easier to share with people, and more and more your work gets done with your peers, with your colleagues, with your customers and partners... When you can share information online it can make you more productive, it's going get things done a lot faster and a lot easier for a lot less money."

So, Office 2.0 collaboration tools might be anything from word processors to spreadsheets to database presentations and collaboration tools all delivered through a new model.

What iPhones Have to Do With Office 2.0

According to Ghalimi, iPhones are the perfect vehicle from which to demonstrate the ability of online tools and services to get the job done. At the Office 2.0 conference, attendees will be given iPhones and then instead of a printed agenda or schedule, they'll be able to connect to the Internet and go to a website with the information. They will also be able to connect to a directory to get contact information of other attendees with whom they want to network, or even to get a live video feed of sessions.

"I think we're going to demonstrate that what you get with that device is a real-time tool that makes it a lot easier to collaborate with people when you're on the go," he says.

Attendees will also be able to try out a lot of really neat applications through their iPhones, says Ghalimi. And of course there's a backup plan for those that already have an iPhone.

"For people who already have an iPhone we're giving a Sony Playstation 3 on which we've installed Linux, and so we can run the Firefox Web browser, which plugs into your TV and now you can not only play games but you can also do word processing from your sofa," he says.

New Office 2.0 Product Launches

So what else is the big buzz for the Office 2.0 Conference? Well, last year Google announced Google Docs and Spreadsheets at the Office 2.0 Conference. Expect even more this year, says Ghalimi, in the Launch Pad even where 20 new companies will announce new products and services on Thursday September 6th during lunch break.

"I can't tell you what this is all about; you're going to all discover that at noon on September the 6, but there are some very very interesting applications that will be released -- especially several of them directly working on the iPhone so we're very excited about that," he says.

Executive Summary by Krissi Danielsson

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Wikis (Hawaiin for "quick") are giving a new burst to personal publishing -- and are now quickly gaining traction in the enterprise space as an effective collaborative tool.

A recent alliance between an enterprising domain name connoisseur and a proven technology company could accelerate both trends. Last month, John Gotts paid $2.86 million for the wiki.com domain name, and two weeks ago, he announced a deal with Mindtouch Systems to provide the back-end technology to power what he hopes will be a million new wikis within a year.

"It's a fast, quick way to get your own Web site up," said Gotts. "Like MySpace, it's a way that people can come together and share their knowledge," for fun or profit.

"Enterprises can now look to wikis to be not just not just an experiement, but a serious business tool," said Mark Kurtz, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Mindtouch. Kurtz described how companies can start deploying wikis at a department level and then scale them to the enterprise level.

Mindtouch's DekiWiki Open Source solution -- which requires a $2,995 appliance -- can be deployed in 15 minutes, added Kurtz, who described real-world collaboration scenarios that provided a diminshed reliance on email, less vulnerability to spam and viruses -- and greater visibility into enterprise functions and feedback for all company employees.

Kurtz himself became a convert when managing four separate offices via DekiWiki before he joined Mindtouch.

"It allowed us to not rely on email as much; we could see upates instantly, see that documents had been updated and review each other's work without relying on email threads," Kurtz said.

"What that meant for productivity was the we got 17 proposals out the door instead of 11," he noted.

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We're back in the SaaS market today to report on how Xactly Corp. is focusing on a lucrative niche in the Software-as-a-Service market.

Xactly's Vice President for Product Management Desta Buchowski talked about how sales compensation programs were a good target for a SaaS service -- and what benefits they bestow on management and sales forces.

Buchowski feels they provide a flexible, cost-effective model, a short implementation cycle and for their sales team, visibility into both current compensation but and "what if" calculations for selling certain deals.

"This is going to enable the company to really drive their business," she notes. "We want to incent the sales team right so they can sell more."

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Instant messaging is moving from consumer chat to invaluable corporate collaboration tool. Jive Software CTO Matt Tucker -- whose open source Wildfire IM messaging program is gaining quite a bit of traction in the corporate sector -- is confident that IM will eventually eclipse e-mail as a tool for business communications.

IM systems, Tucker notes, provides "faster communication and constant presence -- and it's less intrusive than calling on the phone."

But barriers remain, and Tucker spoke about ensuring HIPAA and Sarbox compliance and the advantages and disadvantages being open source give his company against big players like Microsoft and IBM who are also eyeing the IM market.

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