Podcast episode 048: Announcing Mindjet Catalyst

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Today I am extremely excited about a major product announcement from Mindjet, the makers of MindManager mindmapping software.  In today’s podcast I talk with Mindjet CEO Scott Raskin about a new collaborative Project Management 2.0 tool from Mindjet that is the only platform that combines mindmapping with secure online document and file sharing, secure workspaces,  integrated web chat, and web conferencing technologies.

The visual nature of Mindjet’s information and idea mapping application (mind mapping) efficiently captures and organizes complex ideas and processes—from the big picture down to the smallest details—in a way that is easy for everyone on a project team to comprehend. It makes it possible for teams to quickly arrive at a common understanding of any given issue, opportunity or project, and then easily engage with the most relevant information to turn ideas into action. By combining these unique and proven benefits of information and ideas mapping application with online document and file sharing, secure workspaces and fully featured web conferencing, groups can now overcome barriers to productive business interaction and decision-making.

Creating Collaborative Environments

Mindjet Catalyst is designed to bring back true collaboration which results from not only bringing team members together but enabling them to engage in real-time as if they were in same room, even if they are physically thousands of miles apart. Current economic conditions have businesses rethinking everything they do, from supply chain and finance to engineering and marketing. A fundamental shift in the way companies collaborate needs to take place and as such, businesses are looking to create collaborative environments that focus on harnessing the power of the minds they’ve hired, creating an atmosphere of engagement, and providing for the aggregation of all current tools that leads to real, iterative visual collaboration.

“With the launch of Catalyst, we feel we have brought to market a complete web-based visual collaboration platform that connects people who are working together and empowers them to share and organize ideas and information and ultimately drive business success,” said Scott Raskin, CEO of Mindjet. “We invite teams and organizations from all industries looking to improve business processes and drive innovation within the enterprise to sign up for a free 30-day trial and begin reaping the benefits of Mindjet Catalyst.”

Project Managers of all stripes—who have used Mindjet products to enhance their personal productivity—can now extend those benefits to team members and work groups via Mindjet Catalyst.

Web-based Visual Information and Idea Mapping

At the heart of Mindjet Catalyst is an intuitive diagram called a “mind map” that enables teams to collaborate with others to organize, manage and communicate complex ideas and information. Mindjet’s visual approach is unlike documents, presentations and e-mail, which constrain the user to working one page at a time. The approach efficiently organizes complex ideas and processes—from the big picture down to the smallest details—enabling an entire team to easily engage with the most relevant information, increase clarity and turn ideas into action. Documents, images, links, spreadsheets and presentations can all be easily incorporated to help users better understand context, relationships and priority of the information—without ever leaving Catalyst. The result: users and teams can effectively illustrate and communicate ideas, and see the forest and the trees.

“Activities” templates, pre-loaded maps created to provide the framework to address specific business problems, allow teams to get started immediately. The Catalyst platform allows users to work simultaneously with colleagues to structure and refine ideas or embed relevant information within maps. Users can freely modify ideas in one area of a map while a colleague adds supporting details elsewhere, and all edits are captured in real-time. And as a web-based platform, maps can be accessed anytime from any web browser.

Catalyst also allows teams to share their “mapped” ideas and plans with their entire network—regardless of whether people in their network use Catalyst. Team members can email a link to their map, post it on their blog or share it with their Facebook™, LinkedIn™ or Twitter™ networks. Recipients can either view the map in a browser, or copy it for their own use, extending the viral reach of the maps.

Secure Online Workspaces and Document Management

Teams can store maps and related document files automatically in Mindjet Catalyst’s secure workspaces. All team members can get immediate access to the most recent versions of stored items. In addition, various permission levels (owner, author, or reader access) can be assigned to each workspace.

Web Conferencing

The optional web conferencing capabilities built into Catalyst enable users to easily schedule or start a web conference directly from within the platform. An unlimited number of web conference meetings can be scheduled with up to 15 participants able to join to each meeting. Mindjet Catalyst web conferencing includes individual application—and full desktop-sharing capabilities, support for video, VoIP, file transfers and session recordings. The module is offered at a highly attractive price relative to standalone web conferencing services.

Integrated Chat

The integrated online chat capability build into Catalyst allows users to communicate immediately with team members. Team members can chat with colleagues individually or with multiple participants in the web conference for even greater efficiency.

Catalyst is available in the following languages to allow your teams to communicate easily regardless of their native language: English, German, French and Japanese.

Other Resources

• Sign up for a free 30-day trial of Mindjet Catalyst
• View/download images of the Mindjet Catalyst home screen, sample maps, to-do lists and more
• Download the Mindjet Catalyst data sheet
• Read Mindjet Chief Evangelist Michael Deutch’s blog post on Mindjet Catalyst
• Learn more about the Mindjet Catalyst technology requirements
• Hear what individuals and organizations have to say about Mindjet
• Follow Mindjet on Twitter to learn more:  http://twitter.com/Mindjet

Free Product Giveaway!

The pm411.org Project Management Podcast is giving away 2 free 5-user 1-year Mindjet Catalyst accounts!

Simply send an email with your name and email address in the body and “Mindjet Catalyst Giveway” in the subject line to show@pm411.org before Friday, October 16^th, 2009 in order to enter the contast.  You will be contacted by email by October 20^th if you were one of the 2 lucky winners drawn.

And for those of you that don’t win the Catalyst giveaway, Mindjet is offering a 30 day free trial of Mindjet Catalyst – so try it out to see if it works for your team.

Tags: catalyst, mindjet, mindmanager, mindmapping, online collaboration, pm 2.0, project management 2.0, scott raskin, virtual teams