For the last year or so, I've been immersed in all things web. This is partly a function of running a web consultancy and also attempting to launch a web application (which I won't link to, note the use of the word 'attempting', add dark, self-doubting thoughts of 'still born'). 'Indians in IT' is cliched but true, but I was focussing specifically on the web industry, and its been particularly interesting to note Indian initiatives in the web space, of which there are plenty, from Om Malik's new media empire, to Uzanto's Slideshare, to AdventNet's Zoho.

In the light of earlier predictions, such as IT Doesn't Matter, and current events, such as Google's Chrome, I am interested in what the future holds for Slideshare and Zoho in particular. A brief rundown of what each does:

Slideshare
Slideshare allows you to upload your slides (Powerpoint, PDF, Open Office, etc) and share them as slick Flash slideshows. Fantastic extras include, embedding these slideshows on other sites, creating interest groups, and embedding audio to create 'slidecasts'.

Zoho
Zoho brings 18 (and growing) productivity applications to your browser. It allows you to do everything, from word processing to invoicing, online. This includes its own presentation alternative (Zoho Show) and its social networking platform.

Both firms are marketing their products in similar ways:

• Building user communities, and enabling users to be product evangelists: e.g. Slideshare's Meet Dave, and Land of Zoho Creator
  
• Strong customer support: e.g. Slideshare, and Zoho
  
• Leveraging popular social networks, communication channels: e.g. http://twitter.com/slideshare, http://twitter.com/zoho
  
• Accessible leaders: e.g. Slideshare's Rashmi Sinha and Amit Ranjan [1][2][3], and Slideshare's Sridhar Vembu [1][2][3]
  
• Conference presentations and sponsoring: e.g. Rashmi at Future of Web Apps 08 and Sridhar at Office 2.0
  

In IT Doesn't Matter (Jan 2007), Nicholas Carr argues that information technology was becoming a utility service (analogous to electricity), thus implying IT vendors would become commodity suppliers. The current landscape strongly indicates otherwise, IT vendors offer distinct qualitative differences in their products. Despite the business model overlaps, Slideshare and Zoho deliver distinct user experiences. Life is not binary, and the future will not be able to prove either of their approaches 'right' or 'wrong'; but it will be interesting to witness how they are served by the strategic decisions they have made. These are:

• Zoho is delivering additional functionality at break-neck speeds. But a plethora of features do not make for a good experience. Its applications often feel disparate, or integrated as an after-thought, and the lack of intuitiveness make them challenging to use.

  For instance, a project I am currently working on is looking to create private, collaborative, workspaces. Google's apps didn't fit the bill due to its murky intellectual property policies. Zoho should have been a viable candidate, but my non-techy clients, familiar with basic office applications and their default installed browser, found Zoho Writer's group collaboration functionality challenging enough to be a show-stopper.

• Slideshare's emphasis on usability is apparent. It doesn't have the same breadth of functionality offerings as Zoho, but it offers a lot of (social networking related) information in well thought out, easily consumable manner.

  As noted in the previous point, Zoho's usability needs a thorough review and overhaul.

• Slideshare has decided to focus on one solution, i.e. presentation sharing. It faces stiff competition from Zoho, Google, Scribd, and others. How will this single-mindedness serve them over the course of time?

• Zoho, started in October 2005, recently celebrated is 1,000,000 user mark. Whereas Slideshare, started in October 2006, was at 400,000 as of May 2008.

• And last, but not least*, there are the technical decisions made, and how significantly Google's recently released Chrome web browser will influence their futures. Slideshare presentations are Flash based. Zoho relies heavily on Javascript. These are not mutually incompatible technologies, but each firm has selected which to be a fan of. Google has focussed on the javascript capabilities of its new browser, laying the groundwork for its own Google Apps. Debates have already started as Chrome's impact on Javascript and Flash.

Here's hoping to learn from two innovate companies in a dynamic space and the interesting futures they are sure to have!

*Hope you weren't playing cliche bingo while reading this, I know the score will be 'through the roof' ;)