Cyn.in….taking Web2.0 to enterprise applications

Web2.0 is believed to be most relevant to consumer internet applications but it is now percolating down to the enterprise space as well. A Mumbai based software products company called Cynapse, has launched Cyn.in, which is a collaboration cum information management system for small to large businesses. It is a web based service that enables the enterprise to build, collaborate, manage and publish knowledge resources like documents, media and files. Cyn.in works like a hosted/managed service over a monthly subscription model.

Cynapse says that it took them five years to make this system, which is aimed at helping organizations build a central repository of information and files. Teams across geographical locations can work seamlessly together on the same documents or content. The application uses AJAX & Flex extensively, to provide a rich working interface with multimedia capabilities, something that is quite uncommon in contemporary enterprise systems. Their pricing ($30 per user per month) is based on the ‘pay as you use model’ with no additional setup costs. You need a minimum of two users per account and you can scale upto thousands of users.

I was given access to a demo account to see how the system actually works. Customers are provided an independent sub system (or microsites), which has a url like ‘yourcompany.cyn.in’ (it can also be pointed to your own domain). These sub systems (or microsites) are hosted within the cyn.in datacenters and are managed and monitored by them. It works almost like an intranet, with all members of the company on a common integrated platform. The system’s capabilities have been designed, keeping in mind a collaborative working environment.Here are some interesting features that I found –

Webnotes- You can publish your notes/documents in the form of web notes, which can be confined to the system’s users, or they can be published onto your own websites /corporate blogs etc for external viewing.
SlashTags- SlashTags are essentially tags for the webnotes, but they can be used as a directory structure (or a navigation system) for the notes in the system. It works like an organically growing and continuously auto-structuring system.
Full Text Search Engine– you can search the entire system and even inside Word documents & PDF files, and all other common file formats even if they are inside a compressed zip file.
Web based Word Processor- the system contains a browser based word processor (somewhat like a WYSIWYG text editor)
Rich Media- you have the option of inserting audio, video, pictures and Flash presentations within the contents of a web note, or attach them as files.
Versioning- a versioning system for the information allows tracking and quick rollbacks in case of problems.

It is difficult to review a product of this kind, without actually using it, for it has so many new concepts or features. Having said that, some aspects of Cyn.in certainly impress me. It is great to see Indian startups trying to create enterprise level applications, by leveraging the latest web trends. I am quite intrigued by the concept of webnotes with its accompanying Slash Tags, that can function as an organically growing directory structure. This sounds VERY BEWITCHING, though I’d like to see actual user feedback about its utility. And the visual/graphic design of the application look very classy (although it is heavy and slows down the rendering of the HTML interfaces considerably).

On the other hand, there are two aspects of this application that bother me.

- the first is Cynapse’s assertion that they took five years to make this product. Obviously, Web2.0 was not around five years ago. Which means, that the Web2.0 features have been force fitted (midway) into their enterprise application, instead of being built bottoms up. I am not sure how smart a move this is. The most successful Web2.0 systems of the day are being built on an entirely different philosophy. They evolve organically over a period of time, getting hammered into shape by actual feedback from early users, rather than have a ‘big bang launch after a long gestation period’. Would it not be wiser to make lightweight systems, that are quick to adopt and are flexible enough to be modified quickly, should user feedback necessitate that. At a general level, I think it is easier running shorter distances at a stretch (and conserve the energy, needed to recuperate in between) than running a full marathon (and arriving exhausted at the finish line).

- I also feel that Cyn.in’s creators might be pushing a little too hard in terms of innovating on new features. There has to be a demonstrated ROI behind every additional feature that you add to your system. Every new feature makes the system bulkier than without, more difficult to maintain and more confusing than before, leading to dropouts amongst the initial adopters. And that in my opinion, will be the biggest challenge facing the Cyn.in team- convincing first time users to try out the system, adopt it and actually stick to using it.