The tablet-based conferencing market includes giants like Cisco, Citrix and Adobe and up-and-comers like Fuze and Saba.
As mentioned in an earlier article, tablet-based conferencing is a rapidly growing niche of the Web conferencing market. The market for tablet conferencing is dominated by several big name players, including networking and remote computing giants Cisco Systems' WebEx and Citrix Systems' GoToMeeting. Other names include Adobe Systems' Connect, FuzeBox Fuze Meeting and Saba Meeting.
Cisco is the market leader in web conferencing, and its WebEx meeting system is aimed at everything from small two- or three-person meetings to large webinars. WebEx has strong support for Apple's iPad and Android tablets, although devices running lower than Android 3 or with screen sizes lower than 7.1 inches do not support two-way video.
Citrix is well known for its virtualization software and server-based computing software, but its Citrix online division is the fastest growing part of the business. Its GoTo brand includes GoToMeeting, GoToAssist, GoToMyPC, GoToWebinar and HiDef Conferencing. GoToMeeting is popular for smaller departmental level meetings, while GoToWebinar is appropriate for training or large webinars.
Adobe Connect is a market leader in education and government circles, and one which is gaining traction in the enterprise. The user interface is configurable by meeting hosts, and functionality can be extended by using pre-built or custom extensions. Until recently, it had the reputation of being one of the more expensive conferencing options.
Fuzebox is a relatively unknown company but it appears to be growing fast. With a relatively full feature set and low price, it is winning fans. That said, it may not have a long-term future if the sector consolidates around the larger players.
Saba's roots lie in education and training, but in the last year it has broken into the more general collaborative meeting and Webinar market. Its functionality is also integrated into the company's social software platform, Saba Social.