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March 07, 2004
Foroso - Europes answer to WebEx?
Some have described Germanys largest e-learning exhibition Learntec 04, which just took place beginning of February in Karlsruhe, as not really spectacular. Yet if you look beyond the media attention, you will find, a silent revolution having taken place in the e-learning industry: the adoption of virtual classrooms.
Virtual classrooms in e-learning are a hard battlefield for web-conferencing vendors. Many have tried to get in, but failed to provide affordable solutions. Surprising as it may seem and from one year to the next, some 10 exhibitors of the Learntec 04 are offering their blended learning services including a virtual classroom. Many of them are using an OEM version.
Who is behind this technology?
Foroso, who has had a bumper start into a waiting market without spending marketing funds, advertisement campaigns or exhibition stand fees.
Who is behind Foroso and what makes them special?
Let me start by describing this web-conferencing solution and dont be surprised that I start with nos:
- no video to streamline the application for low bandwidth
- no client software download and therefore no firewall issues, no access restrictions at corporate work places, no problems with proxy server or other installation related technical problems
- no full-duplex, but a half-duplex pass the mic modus of very good quality
All of the following features are available:
PowerPoint presentations with annotation and some unique brainstorming cards, uploading of pictures, application sharing and remote control as well as co-browsing.
What seems to catch the heart of the users: it is simple and easy to use and does not seem to require any technical bystander.
Foroso stands for: Focus, Reliability, Simplicity and you believe it when you see it.
How come that such a simplistic tool can take the demanding e-learning market by a storm?
A lot has to do with a clear dual-pricing policy of Forosos CEO Franz Buchenberger and with his background in this line of business for many years.
Who is Franz Buchenberger?
Let me quote his bios from his website:
Prior to Foroso, Mr. Buchenberger co-founded blaxxun interactive* in 1995 and served as President and CEO until July 2001. blaxxun interactive is an international Internet technology company focused on collaboration platforms with advanced multimedia interfaces (virtual worlds, communities, 3D collaboration).
At blaxxun, Mr. Buchenberger worked with investors such as GE Capital and CMGI. Customers included global top players like Bertelsmann, BMW, Deutsche Telekom, IBM, Intel, NTT, and Siemens. Mr. Buchenberger led blaxxun from its start until profitability with over 100 employees in Europe and the US.
Prior to blaxxun, Mr. Buchenberger was 10 years with Softlab, a subsidiary of BMW, and one of Germany's leading software houses in the enterprise collaboration market. He held various positions in product management, marketing, sales management, and strategic planning.
Mr. Buchenberger is a frequent speaker at various industry events and was recognized as entrepreneur in publications such as Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Der Spiegel, and Harvard Business School.
Mr. Buchenberger holds a degree in Computer Science from the Technical University Munich.
Franz Buchenberger founded Foroso in April 2002. His management team has been with him since Softlab times, a long history of collaboration indeed. His pleasant personality and naturalness allows you to easily forget his long standing experience as a professional and successful owner of a company, CEO, CTO, sales manager, product manager, public speaker, and, and, and
When I asked him, why web-conferencing, after all what blaxxun stood for (the most fantastic 3D worlds ever - comment of the interviewer) he revealed an interesting technical aspect to Forosos instant success: at blaxxun, he exclaimed, we were 10 years ahead of time, our virtual 3D software was great, yet difficult to master. Looking across the Atlantic, we went looking for technology just emerging on the American continent. Knowing that Europe adopts with a two-year delay, we knew that this time we would only be 2 years ahead of the market. What we could do however is learn from Centra/ WebEx/ Placeware and noticed that they were rather complex and difficult to handle. This is, why we decided to create a next generation communication tool with a difference: easy and simple to use. More so, our programmers were able to use the latest browser technology to create a solution, which would be slim, low bandwidth friendly and does not even require a software download.
The software is unusual and so is its dual pricing policy and marketing approach. Although clearly targeting corporate level with a 2500 Euro annual subscription plus hourly rates of 10 Euro/ participants (less for bulk purchase), Foroso has, however, an open ear for the live learning market.
Thanking Franz Buchenberger, for his agreeing to an interview. What he revealed to me, made me realize: yes, the Learntec 04 was spectacular indeed.
*blaxxxun interactive stopped trading in April 2002 and carried on under different management as blaxxun technologies GmbH
Posted on March 07, 2004 at 09:14 AM
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