In January 2003, two acquisition announcements rocked the online meeting marketplace. On January 16, Macromedia announced the acquisition of Presedia. Presedia's flagship product, Express enables non-technical professionals to use tools, such as PowerPoint, to annotate presentations with audio, and combine these elements into a streaming Macromedia Flash application delivered via the web.

Less than a week later, Microsoft announced its agreement to acquire PlaceWare. By combining key assets and working in tandem, the two companies aim to provide customers with innovative and easy-to-use online conferencing solutions.

The real beauty is in the emerging technologies of Flash and the power of webcasting. Recent developments within Macromedia Flash (which is present on over 80% of the Internet desktops) such as the FLV file format, will make streaming video and audio more deliverable and accessible than ever.

Just how big is webcasting and collaborative technology going to be? Well, the META Group said, “The business value of web conferencing is so strong that we believe 90 percent of Global 2000 knowledge workers will have access to web conferencing services by 2007. Along with instant messaging and teamware, web conferencing completes the next-generation collaboration troika that will enable companies to dramatically lower business coordination costs during the next 10 years.”

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