For Vendor Strategy Professionals (Length: 12 pages)

July 16, 2008

Tech Horizons: What Xobni Teaches Tech Strategists About Innovation

The Company Scores A Win With A Simple Improvement To Microsoft Outlook

by Christopher Andrews

with Jean-Pierre Garbani, Janine Liu

Executive Summary (This is a document excerpt)

The San Francisco-based startup company Xobni offers personal computer users a free plug-in to Microsoft Outlook that adds improved functionality and social networking capabilities to the popular email program. The company is notable for the simplicity and strength of its value proposition, as well as what it shows about the state of technology market innovation. While Forrester talks with many companies struggling to create "the next big thing," Xobni delivers on three important components of innovation in that it: 1) provides a significant improvement over an existing technology; 2) is easy to implement and user-friendly; and 3) improves a technology that is both universal and critical to business operations. But to appreciate the significance of this startup, technology strategists should also explore the symbiotic relationship Xobni has created with Microsoft. The relationship highlights how large technology vendors can work with the startup community to create innovation and improve the experience of end users.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

NOTES & RESOURCES

itemUsing A Structured Approach To Evaluate Emerging Technologies

itemThe Xobni Evaluation

itemXobni's Product Provides An Improvement To Outlook's Capabilities

itemXobni Scores Well On All Four Of The Tech Horizons Criteria

itemSuccess Depends On Its Ability To Manage Competitors And Generate Revenues

WHAT IT MEANS

itemThe Double-Edged Nature Of External Innovation

Forrester interviewed Xobni for this document.

Related Research Documents

itemHot Companies To Watch In 2008: Q2 Update

June 19, 2008

itemForrester's Tech Horizons Methodology: Predicting Which B2B Innovations Will Succeed

May 8, 2008

itemHot Companies To Watch In 2008

April 16, 2008

itemAvoiding Failure In Technology Partnerships

August 22, 2007

Find Documents In Related Categories

This document falls under the following categories. Click on a link below to find similar documents.
Analyst: Christopher Andrews
Technology: Enterprise Collaboration, Information & Knowledge Management
Industry: Computer Software Industry, High-Tech, Innovation Networks, Partner Ecosystems, Product & Solutions Strategies, Tech Marketing Tools & Best Practices
Geography: Asia Pacific, Europe, North America

Archived Teleconference:
Creating Competitive Assessments That Support Action And Enable Innovation
Original air date: Thursday, September 18, 2008
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Ratings and Comments
Rating: 9 out of 10
based on 1 ratings across all roles.
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