Open Atrium Is from the Future

I saw the utility of Drupal distributions first hand at CivicSpace. Beyond technology, the ability to discuss a web technology solution in the context of a specific market (in this case non-profits) is very powerful. Suddenly, you can translate abstract technology concepts ('tags', 'wikis', 'blogs') to specific pain points and use cases ('event organizing', 'taking donations', 'creating a dialogue with supporters'). This is a subtle difference of syntax to developers, but for a non-profit looking to build a website it's the difference between seeing Drupal as a potentially interesting technology rather than the tool best suited to solve their problem.

Unique markets require unique solutions. In the Drupal world this means different modules. Outside of the Drupal world this generally means different companies with unique web software. In the non-profit web technology market there are more than a dozen companies, each with different technology platforms. Convio, Kintera, Democracy In Action, and Blue State Digtal are the big ones. Look into any other web-site software market vertical and you will see the same pattern.

How many intranet products are there? Too many. But how many of them are as straight forward to develop for and extend as Drupal? This 'feature' instantly makes Open Atrium a compelling option. While its initial feature set is not extensive, it inherits a powerful API and a huge developer community. Most importantly, it does this without losing the specificity and nuance required of software competing head-to-head in the market place for intranets.

I think Open Atrium could be the start of something big. At the very least it is a beautiful product.