In large part Google Wave has been ignored by the enterprise due to many factors (I’ve listed them below). As you’ve probably read, Wave started as a huge splash but has been reduced to a ripple as of late due to the lack of a “killer app”.
Yet there are some enterprise-worthy applications for Wave that merit checking out. Also, there is a new, noteworthy app for Wave on the horizon that is due to be launched at Google I/O this year (disclosure: I am an investor). 
There’s no there – there
For some reason, Wave hasn’t attracted the types of apps that really leverage the power of Wave. Wave is being treated like a consumer application when it’s actually an SMB or Enterprise level tool. Out of the 300 gadgets, extensions and robots I looked at, only a handful passed the enterprise sniff test. None are yet ‘killer apps’ or ‘must haves’.
The Google Wave Enterprise Field Guide
|
Gadget/ Extension |
Enterprise Rating (1-5)* |
In 8 words or less |
Even Better if… |
|
3 |
Waves for conference attendees |
It published back to conference site session information |
|
|
3 |
Edit & Share Google Docs in Wave |
It had a better interface with Docs |
|
|
3 |
MindMapping and Brainstorming in Wave |
It had Auto-Suggest |
|
|
3.5 |
Video chat collaboration |
It had powerful whiteboarding capabilities |
|
|
3.5 |
Pulse and Wave collaboration across platforms |
It worked entirely in Wave |
|
|
1.5 |
Very simple |
Needs to leverage collaboration capabilities of Wave |
|
|
2 |
coordinate multi-participant schedules and make decisions |
It linked with Google Calendar |
|
|
2.5 |
A task organizer for collaborative projects |
Needs user reports and dashboards |
|
|
2 |
lets you easily embed charts and diagrams into Wave |
It integrated with Google Docs Spreadsheet |
|
|
2.5 |
Form Driven interactive charts |
It integrated with Google Docs Spreadsheet |
|
|
3.5 |
Attractive polling with charting |
Use as a info gathering tool like survey monkey |
|
|
|
4.5 |
Secret | Secret** |
|
* rating pertains to enterprise worthiness only. Not quality of app. |
**Debut at Google I/O in May 2010 |
What Google Needs to Do
From my perspective, there isn’t a developer taking advantage of Wave’s powerful collaboration features, DVR capabilities, or extending Wave into external sites. They’re doing it at the superficial level, but not at the level they could. It’s like driving a Ferrari in first gear.
Google seems to be courting SMB and Enterprise developers as they realize the advantages Wave has on business. Yet they need to do more. They need to build Google Wave Extensions into the Google App store to allow monetization options for developers. They also need to provide users a better experience when trying to identify robots, extensions or gadgets to help them solve business problems. Currently, it’s too difficult.
What the Enterprise Needs to know
You’re not missing much yet on Wave. I do believe Wave will replace a lot of the email functionality and project management applications in the future. Still, for several reasons, developers haven’t flocked to Wave yet. As Google figures out how to develop applications for the Enterprise & SMB, Wave will become a much more important part of the Google arsenal.
For now, try some of the 3.5 or higher rated Google Wave Apps above, then be ready as Wave integrates with Buzz and Gmail in the future. You still have some time, but try not to r
ead too much into the pundits that are understating the potential of Wave.
P.S. If you’re looking for a potential killer application for Wave, follow Unawave for more details.
(Cross-posted @ Seek Omega )
Thanks for the post, it’s helpful to see what you think of those extensions and extensions generally.
You mentioned wanting to see more extensions extending Wave into external sites. We want to see that too, so we launched a new robots API a month ago that makes it much easier to do that sort of integration. Since then, we’re seeing more extensions doing third party integration and generally, better extensions.
There are a few places you might look to check out the most recent “hot off the presses” extensions.
There’s the Mashable Wave API challenge submissions wave:
https://wave.google.com/wave/#restored:wave:googlewave.com!w%252BDYz-iagTK
There’s also the extensions gallery:
https://wave.google.com/wave/#restored:search:group%253Agoogle-wave-extension-gallery-all%2540googlegroups.com
Some of my favorites are Ferry (Doc export), docXwave (Doc import), and Mr. Ray.
Hopefully, as more developers actually use Wave inside an enterprise, or witness stories of Wave being used inside an enterprise, they will start to build the enterprise-level extensions that you’re looking forward to seeing.
Can’t wait to see Unawave, myself. 🙂