Wednesday, I had the pleasure of interviewing Gibu Thomas, the CEO of Sharpcast, an online photo sharing site (or is it . . ?). He's a sharp guy with a good grasp of where the Web 2.0 trend is heading.

At first, and even second glance, Sharpcast might seem like an online photo sharing site but it is potentially more than that. It could become a web services integration platform/framework that could transform consumer PC applications into sturdy and lucrative consumer online services.

"The photo sharing application is a demonstration of what our technology can do," said Mr Thomas. "Our goal is to work with application developers, ISPs, mobile carriers, and offer them a way to turn applications into web services and generate revenues."

Sharpcast has developed a "Sharpcast server" similar to a Microsoft Exchange server but more web savvy and scalable. A key element of the technology is its syncing capabilities because Sharpcast's philosophy is that consumer applications should be available to a user even in the absence of an Internet connection.

"It shouldn't matter if you are connected or not, you still have access to your data, " said Mr Thomas. I whole heartedly agree (please see: Walkabout Wiki) 

For example, users of Sharpcast's photo application can editor photos and tag them even if they are offline. And they can access their photos from any Internet connected PC, and through a mobile device such as a Palm Treo.

Intelligent syncing is a very important element of Sharpcast's technology, especially since several people could be editing the same photo.

The same approach can be applied to documents and collaborative editing, and also to other applications. That's where Sharpcast would love to introduce its platform/framework for other developers to use.

It's clear that other developers will require the same capabilities for their web services, and so why reinvent the wheel? Why not use the Sharpcast server and get into your markets that much faster?

"We've been working on this technology for three years and yes, others could try and do it themselves, but it is not easy. We are on our third version of our server technology," said Mr Thomas.

SVW's take: Sharpcast's challenge is in its brand management: it is currently seen as an online photo sharing service yet it wants to be an infrastructure software vendor--two different markets and two separate businesses. Reaching the consumer market is very expensive and online business models are still developing. Marketing to the the enterprise market isn't cheap either--but at least there are established business models here.

Also, other online services companies have been developing their own Web 2.0 platforms/frameworks so that they can power their own web  services. What's to stop them from selling licenses to their technologies to others, in the same way Sharpcast is selling the technology that powers its photosharing site?

There will likely will be many dozens of potential competitors offering similar infrastructure software to that of Sharpcast. I don't know if Sharpcast has superior technology to that of others, but the rising noise level will make it harder and more expensive, to be heard. Still, an early start does wonders for grabbing mind space, and Zimbra, the Ajax apps company is a great example.

Interestingly, I met with Mr Thomas just an hour after I had interviewed IBM's Chief Technology Officer on Emerging Technologies. And we spoke at length on this very subject, creating a common platform for Web 2.0 applications.

Please see:

SVW chat: IBM's CTO of Emerging Technologies talks about Web 2.0 and trust Oct 4 - 2006

AJAX, AJAX, AJAX...it's on everyone's lips and so is Zimbra Oct 17 - 2005