Are you ready for the Google Wave?

Is Google Wave the next big thing from Google? There are plenty of computer experts out there who think it is and this Microsoft flag waver is thinking that Google Wave is something pretty cool as well.

However, where I am struggling with this whole wave thing.  Where does it play, is it just an online tool for students working on a project or does it fit business. Is it something for just really small business or micro-business. Does Google Wave play in mainstream business?

If you are not aware of Google Wave it is a new service from Google.  It is an online collaboration, messaging and discussion type of service which has a laundry list of awesome features and services.  Similar to what Microsoft Office users would have seen with Microsoft Groove and SharePoint, however from a collaboration and business process angle, Wave is much more advanced in what it can do vs. Groove, with or without SharePoint.  SharePoint 2010 and Office 2010 will narrow the gap when they are released.

Google Wave offers some of the following functionality:

• Discussions - Email is an offline discussion tool where something like MSN Messenger is use for online discussion.  Email has been around long before the Internet became mainstream.  Google Wave merges the two of these technologies together into one interface.  See messages in real-time, no more waiting for the person to type a message.
• Add people midstream – One of the biggest advantages I see with Wave is how you can add someone midstream and they have the ability to see everything that is going on right away.  No more reviewing endless threads of information and trying to figure out what is going on.  Another great feature is the ability for a user to playback everything that happened in a wave up to the point they joined.
• Drag and Drop files - Collaborating a project, sharing pictures and working on documents, Google Wave allows a team to drag and drop files (currently you need Google Gears) into a wave and share a tonne of information without the hassle of uploading them to a document store and then trying to figure out what links to email people.  Google Wave makes it easy.
• Link to your website and blogs - Google Wave has rich API’s which allow you to link your waves to your website or blogs and communicate via these sites right inside the wave.  This is very cool and a great way to get client, prospect and others feedback.

These are just some of the basic features with Google Wave.  I have been playing with it for the last day or two and it seems like it is pretty slick.  I understand from the Microsoft camp that in the upcoming release of Microsoft Office 2010, users will have the ability to share information, collaborate on documents in real-time and many other added benefits as well.

Some early feedback from those specializing in document management have brought up some issues around rights management, ediscovery and document filing in larger organizations of even those smaller ones who have particular reporting and compliance challenges.  Like I mentioned, Google Wave is cool but I am still trying to figure out how it will work in mainstream business.

The world is becoming collaborative.