Yesterday, someone reacted to my recent article covering jotForms and Wufoo, and asked me what the use could be for an online form builder that does not offer proper database support and integration capabilities. The short answer is: not much! But this should not let us discard such services right off the bat. Instead, I view them as fantastic proofs of concept that are demonstrating what Office 2.0 is capable of. Such attempts provide us with all the pieces we need, which we can then integrate into a broader framework. Initially, syndication interfaces and open APIs will let us build such mashups ourselves, but moving forward, most of the pieces will come together into unified platforms.

One such platform is CollectiveX, which I mentioned in a previous article, and for which I received my beta account yesterday. CollectiveX is a private, group-centric communication platform that stands right in between Basecamp and LinkedIn. I agree with Michael Arrington that CollectiveX could eventually become a better alternative to LinkedIn, but some modifications will have to be made to the service in order for it to get there. Among them, I would like to be able to enter my database of contacts and invite them to join the network without becoming part of any group other than my default group of acquaintances. The recipient of such an invitation would be able to build a profile similar to the one you can build with LinkedIn, and could start a group or join existing groups at a later stage. I do not know if CollectiveX will take this path, but I sure hope that such a possibility will serve as a wake up call for the good folks at LinkedIn to start adding features that will make their platform truly useful to users other than recruiters.

Out of the box, CollectiveX provides group management capabilities, calendaring, discussion boards and file sharing. RSS syndication and email notification are offered as well. The interface is very clean, the use of AJAX judicious, and the profile editor very effective in its ability to translate structured data into plain English. I have created two groups, one of Intalio to which I invited all employees and board members, and one for IT|Redux. CollectiveX is in limited beta right now, but if you send me an email request, I will add you to the IT|Redux group, which in turn will give you the ability to create your own groups. Groups of up to 10 people without file sharing are free, while I pay $36 a month for a group of 25 members. This makes CollectiveX competitive with Basecamp.

Because CollectiveX is bringing together group collaboration and social networking, usage patterns will have to be invented from scratch, so you should expect more posts on the subject as my team gets more familiar with it.

Many thanks to Clarence for the invitation to participate in the beta.

Insider note: I had breakfast with Greg Olsen yesterday morning. Greg was the founder of Extricity, one of the companies that heavily influenced my original design for BPMS, and the first vendor to implement the concept of public/private processes. Greg is now working for Versai, which will announce its first product later in the year. My gentleman agreement with Greg prevents me to write anything substantial about it, and all I can say is that it might very well be one of the coolest Office 2.0 applications to be released this year. My only advice: keep an eye open on those folks…