Groupware as an emerging technology enabling effective communication and work co-ordination is gradually being accepted.

When we talk of enabling mobility we cannot ignore the technologies that make it work. We have already coverede-products but what is it that makes these products work in tandem, that is the convergence technology that utilizes a laptop, mobile, a PDA and connects it to a desktop for realtime deliverance of information. That technology is called groupware.

Groupware helps people work together collectively even while located in far away places, thousands of miles apart. Several people can use a single file or project all at the same time and see other’s additions and changes as the project takes its final shape. In short, real-time document management in a centralized location is possible.

Groupware is a combination of technologies enabling an organization to create, share, and leverage an accumulated knowledge base. Groupware technologies include electronic mail (email), calendaring and scheduling, electronic document management, shared file and print services. Work flow imaging, and electronic forms (e-forms) increase the rate at which information can be entered and retrieved by individuals or groups, thus enabling better productivity and sharing of information. New multi-media technologies are emerging for real-time collaboration using PCs, laptops, PDAs, mobiles, cameras, teleconferencing, etc.

Groupware as an emerging technology enabling effective communication and work co-ordination is gradually being accepted. Now, major Groupware vendors are trying to add more new technologies into their products to make electronic communication effective in more areas. Earlier, groupware technologies were implemented within individual organizations. Since each organization selects its own groupware technologies, frequently hardware, software, and file formats were not compatible with those of other organizations. Incompatible implementations create barriers to enterprise-wide collaboration, inhibit interoperability between systems, and increase the cost of system support.

With the IT sector maturing and realtime working being taken for granted, the companies started finding it difficult to deliver in-house applications. It became a constant challenge to keep pace with the changes in the IT sector. Being aware of the latest innovation in technology and its applications is not an area of core competence for most of these companies. To keep a whole network application system going requires immense investment, talent and a constant workforce on the job.

Hence, the concept of IT services outtasking came into being . Globally remote management is the new age mantra for organizations, it is already applicable in the banking and financial segment.

The complete IT infrastructure is managed from intelligent network operation centers equipped to offer security applications, operating systems, networks, databases and web services. It offers comprehensive solutions for a multi-vendor, multitechnology environment. As far as security issues are concerned the IT services offer inbuilt checks and balances with the companies having control of the value performance at the click of a button.

But trusting an outside agency with the hi-tech function of mission critical and complex networks have been plagued with the fallacies of lack of control and compromise on security. But the advantages are far bigger. Outsourcing effective network management accrues multifold advantages. It enables the organization to focus on its core business and gives access to the latest tech development and processes at shared costs.

The world over the application market is $21 billion, out of this 34 per cent is going into telecom datacom and computing marketing, followed by consumer electronics with 20 per cent share,industrial automative 19 percent ,and automation 10 per cent.

Lotus Notes is considered the leader in the emerging groupware market with a 34% market share according to Australian Personal Computer Magazine. Lotus Notes is essentially a messaging system, however it also supports an application development environment and a document database which allows users to create custom applications in areas like product development, customer service, sales and account management. It allows users to communicate securely over a local area network or telecommunications link, with a document residing on a shared computer (or server). Lotus Notes also incorporates replication technology to automatically distribute updates to a document. There are other such group ware being made available in the market by Oracle, Microsoft Titanium and others.

Another such groupware brought recently into the market is by Citrix, a multinational software company. It is called Citrix MetaFrame Conferencing Manager, the most productive way for teams, regardless of individual locations, to work concurrently and collaboratively on the same applications and documents. MetaFrame Conferencing Manager is fully integrated with all products in the MetaFrame Access Suite, and can be used with Citrix MetaFrame Secure Access Manager to enable users to share applications in a familiar browser interface. Introduced last month, MetaFrame Secure Access Manager is the most cost-effective way to get secure, personalized access over the web to a wide range of internal and external information resources, including applications, documents, web content and services.

It eliminates geographical access roadblocks and enables widely distributed teams to initiate application conferencing from anywhere, using any device, over any connection. Now, both local and remote team members have the ability to actively weigh in on key decision-making conferences. Through real-time application sharing, traditional conference calls can be transformed into interactive, hands-on input sessions, all with the advantage of simple set-up and minimal configuration.

The Wireless Enterprise Framework is Compaq’s wireless application gateway and development solution for integrating multiple enterprise mobility strategy, it provides enterprise customers with a viable wireless architecture and roadmap that will increase productivity, customer satisfaction and revenues; provide higher performance and reduce costs.

The wireless Enterprise Framework also addresses a key concern for enterprise customers who want to implement mobile solutions: in order to verify their technology choices and ROI predictions, many companies want to run a pilot program . Compaq now offers a pilot solution that integrates all the server hardware, software, handheld devices and and consulting and support services that a company needs to wirelessly enable its mobile workforce .

A major advantage of such groupware business applications is that they improve time-to-value for business expansion with accelerated delivery of ERP and CRM. Eliminate the need to dispatch IT staff to service remote locations with centralized applications management. Use the Internet to deploy applications securely with less bandwidth—at lower telecommunication and network costs. Enhance customer service with centralized business-critical databases and protect data with a built-in disaster recovery system.

Issue BG26 May03

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