Groupware: Collaborative Strategies for Corporate LANs and Intranets

About

Features

17 top groupware experts examine every available groupware option -- including intranets, Lotus Notes, Novell GroupWise, Oracle and ICL Teamware solutions.

• Comprehensive coverage of the intranet revolution -- its advantages, disadvantages, and how intranets may be combined with other groupware.
• Foreword by Eric Hahn, Vice President, Enterprise Solutions, Netscape Corporation.
• Detailed case studies of groupware implementations at Big Six accounting firms.

Description

72772-7

The all-new decision-maker's guide to intranets and groupware.

With today's new intranet and groupware technologies, you can dramatically improve collaboration and teamwork throughout your enterprise—and beyond. This book is a complete decision-maker's guide to leveraging those technologies. It will help you:

• Compare intranet and traditional groupware solutions.
• Understand powerful new hybrid solutions that combine groupware security with the Web's extraordinary flexibility.
• Discover the state-of-the-art in messaging, workflow, electronic meetings, and videoconferencing.
• Focus on the real issues involved in designing, implementing, using, and managing groupware.

Edited by David Coleman, the industry's leading expert on groupware, this book presents extensive new groupware research, some of it published here for the first time. It also includes the views of more than 20 leading industry experts, including internationally known players like Ronni Marshak and Lotus' Jeff Papows.

Through extensive case studies in diverse industries such as consulting, construction, and hardware/software development, you'll learn exactly what's working—and the lessons early adopters have learned. You'll also learn what to expect next, as distributed meetings, virtual offices, collaborative presentations, and desktop videoconferencing come of age.

Groupware also contains a comprehensive directory of resources, including Web sites and URLs, interest groups, lists of vendors and products, events, newsletters, and conferences and much more.

For many companies, the right decisions about groupware and intranet technology have improved productivity by 30%, 40%, or more. If it's your job to make those decisions, this book delivers all the focused, up-to-date expert advice you'll need.

Sample Content

Table of Contents

Foreword.


Preface.


Acknowledgments.


1. Groupware-The Changing Environment David Coleman.

What Does Groupware Really Do? Definitions of Groupware. The Challenges of Groupware. Four Trends for Collaboration. The Main Message-Coleman's Law. Why Groupware? Why People Buy Groupware. Groupware versus the Internet. Groupware Technology and the IT Architecture. Some Case Studies in Collaboration. Groupware and Re-engineering. Groupware and De-engineering. Using Groupware to Learn About Groupware: The Business Transformation Game. The Future: An Architecture for the Connected Organization. Summary. Bibliography. Biographies.

Research Methodology. Key Findings from the Survey. How Firms Collaborate Using Internet and Intranet Tools. Applications for Web-Based Collaboration. Why Are Companies Using Intranets as well as LAN-Based Groupware? Issues and Implications. The Future State. Conclusion. Definitions Used in the Research. Biographies.

LAN and Web-Based Workflow. Background: Workflow Reports. Web-Based Workflow Products. Conclusions. Data Conferencing for the Internet and Intranets. Building the Business Case (Strategies). Product Standards, Functions, and Features. Summary and Conclusions. Biographies.

Introduction and Overview. Terminology. Components. Environments. Architectures. Standards. APIs. Issues. Mobile. Products. Messaging. Group Scheduling. Forms and Workflow. Faxing. Paging. Telephony. Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). The Future and Conclusions. Biography.

The Calendaring and Scheduling Market. How Calendaring and Scheduling Contributes to Groupware Strategy. An Overview of Calendaring and Scheduling Product Classes. Architectural Evolution of Scheduling Products. Interoperability. How the Calendaring and Scheduling Marketplace Is Joining the Web Revolution. Implementation for the Intranet. What's Next-Extending to the Internet. Conclusion. Calendaring and Scheduling Products Resource List. Biography.

Where Workflow Fits in Groupware. The Role of Workflow Technology. Redesigning Processes for Competitive Advantage. The Growing Scope of Workflow Applications. Categories of Workflow: Useful Guidelines. Workflow Applications as a Continuum. A Basic Taxonomy of Workflow Applications. Product Considerations. Approach to Workflow. Designing Business Processes: BPR. Stages of Process Automation: Business Process Definition. Stages of Process Automation. The Rs and Ps of Workflow. Workflow Routing. Where the Data Fit: Enacting the Process. Workflow Automation Tools: Development Tools and Resulting Applications. Workflow Interoperability Standards. Where Is Workflow Being Implemented? Organizational and Business Factors of Workflow. Barriers to Implementing Workflow: Customers Aren't Buying Workflow. Evaluating Workflow Products: The Buyer's Guide. Workflow Market New in the Industry. The Future of Workflow: Likely Changes in Current Trends.

What Is an Electronic Meeting? How and When Are EMSs Used? How Are EMSs Classified as Part of Groupware? Case Study: The Real Benefits of Electronic Meeting Systems. Perceived Risks and EMS. Conclusion. Bibliography. Biography.

Why Keypad Technology? What Is a Keypad EMS? What Are the Benefits of a Keypad EMS? Designing the Keypad EMS into a Meeting Process. Conclusion: A Growing Market Acceptance. Biographies.

Collaboration from Your Desktop and across the World. Roles And Responsibilities In A Distributed Meeting. The Technology-EMS Tools For Distributed Meetings. How To Facilitate Distributed Meetings with EMS Tools. Examples and Applications. Frequently Asked Questions. Conclusions. Bibliography. Biography.

Group Systems Defined. GroupSystems Web: GSWeb as a Collaboration Environment. GroupSystems Case Studies. Cultural Changes. Conclusion. Bibliography. Biographies.

Guidelines for Using Meetingware. Case Studies. Internal Facilitators vs. Consultants. Conclusion. Biography.

The Case for Collaboration. New Dimensions for Collaborative Presentations. Meeting Tools For Collaborative Presentations. Making Collaborative Presentation Technologies Part of the Meeting. The Standards and Transmission Media Environment. The Future Of Collaborative Presentations. Acknowledgments. Bibliography. Biography.

Establishing a Need for Real-Time Visual Technology. When to Deploy Desktop Videoconferencing and Real-time Collaboration. How to Deploy Real-time Technologies in Enterprise. Essential Real-Time Conferencing Background and Terms. An Overview of Digital Video and Audio Capture and Compression. Preparing an IP Network for Desktop Videoconferencing. Alternative All-Digital Videoconferencing Networks. Conclusion. Appendix A: Products for Desktop Videoconferencing over LANs and Intranets.

What Is Notes? Notes Is Shared Databases. Notes Is a Messaging and Groupware Infrastructure. Notes Is a Platform for Developing and Deploying High Value Intranet and Internet Business Applications. Cost of Ownership: Notes vs. Intranets. Enterprise Knowledge Management, Distributed Learning, Developing the Extended Enterprise, and Building Effective Teams. Conclusion. Biography.

Collaborative Computing Environment (CCE) Framework Elements. GroupWise 5. GroupWise Solutions. Novell and Intranets. Foundation Products for GroupWise 5. GroupWise Development Environment. Competitive Environment. Shaping the Future for Customers. Biography.

Why TeamWARE? Messaging-A Brief History and Explanation. TeamWARE Messaging. Groupware. TeamWARE and the Internet. Conclusion. Biography.

How Business Benefits From Communication and Collaboration (C&C). What C&C Means to HP. HP Internet Collaboration Services (ICS). Future Directions. Biography.

The Evolution of Groupware. Groupware and Database Management. Inside InterOffice. The InterOffice Document Management Server. The InterOffice Workflow Server. Open Programming Interfaces. InterOffice and Intranets. Database Servers That Manage Many Different Data Types. Collaboration. Electronic Commerce. Oracle InterOffice in Use. Futures.

Introduction. Identifying Groupware Situations. A Design Process for Groupware. Enabling Capabilities for Groupware. Successful Deployment of Groupware. How Groupware Systems Evolve and Change.

Researching the Big Six: Goals, Participants, and Procedures. Forces Driving the Big Six. The Need for Knowledge. The Role of Groupware at Consultancies. Challenges Faced in Groupware Deployment. Lessons Learned from Groupware Deployment. Changes and Benefits from Groupware Deployment. How Successful Was It? Where Is Groupware Heading at the Big Six? Conclusion. Appendix. Bibliography. Information Services. Biographies.

Introduction. Background. The Two Cs of Groupware: Collaboration and Communication. The First "C": Collaboration. The Second "C": Communication. A Closer Look At Groupware Products. Conclusion. Bibliography. Biographies.

The Genesis of Genesis. That Which Is and That Which Will Be: The Genesis Strategy. The Theory Behind the Practice. Implementation Issues. Genesis Visionaries/Genesis Visions. Conclusion. Biography.

The Industry view on Software Development. A Failure to Communicate! The Maturity Model. Into the Wilderness. Studies in Early Success. Over the Horizon. Bibliography. Biographies.

Knowledge Is the Key. Knowledge = Money. Knowledge Is Power! Groupware and Knowledge Management. What Do We Know About Knowledge? Malthus Got It Wrong. Knowledge Creation for Competitive Advantage. Groupware Will Affect Organizational Structure. The "Learning Organization" and Groupware. How Groupware Enabled Knowledge Creation Contributes to Wealth Creation. Getting to Action from Insight More Rapidly. A Glimpse of the Future-Comprehensive Groupware Support for Knowledge Creation. Barriers to Success. References. Collaborative Resources. The Collaborative Strategies Bookshelf. Conference, Symposia, and Academic Proceedings. Technical/Trade Publications. Conferences.

Preface

Preface

Groupware: Technology and Applications was released only 15 months ago. That book covered the groupware industry, before Lotus was bought by IBM, before Collabra was bought by Netscape and before the word intranet was part of the common vernacular. In fact, the book was almost obsolete as soon as it was released. In part, that is characteristic of paper publishing, however, it is also due to the increasingly frantic pace of technologic change in our world. In order to release information in a more timely manner, I often publish the results of my work as a Hot Tip of the Month on my firm's web page at www.collaborate.com. Even so, traditional book publishing gives us the opportunity to collect the thoughts of industry leaders and quantify them in a form that is not dependent on being connected to a computer. Therefore, when Prentice Hall suggested an update to Groupware: Technology and Applications, the opportunity to report on the changes in collaborative products and technologies was not to be missed.

There are two other reasons why a new edition is valuable at this time. First, the increased velocity of change presents new challenges to organizations, and there are no established procedures for dealing with these changes. Change comes so fast and so often that when technology is introduced and updated, people hardly have a chance to get used to one new way of working before they are confronted with another new way to work. One of the side effects of working in this dynamic environment is that people have increased their resistance to these changes, effectively undermining the project. Almost every chapter in this book addresses the issue of change management in one form or another. Our goal was to provide business readers with the benefit of other's experiences, in a risk-free manner.

The second reason for a new book is the new reality of doing business on the Internet and intranets. When the first book was written, the Internet was just emerging as being a curiosity for hackers and geeks. Some companies had posted web pages as marketing tools, but most of those companies were hi-tech organizations. The Internet had still not hit the mainstream. Today, having Web presence is essential to doing business and almost all major corporations have well developed web sites. Additionally, intranets have become the infrastructure of choice for intra-enterprise collaboration. Groupware, which was initially LAN-based, has rapidly moved its functionality onto these IP networks. The result is that technologies that were counter-intuitive, expensive, and difficult to learn, administer, and maintain, have now become more visual, easier to use and very inexpensive. Consequently, groupware on the Internet and intranets has become one of the hottest trends in computing today.

The first section of this book provides an introduction to groupware and some of the major issues businesses face when adopting collaborative technologies, either on a LAN or Web-based infrastructure. Additionally, a full chapter is devoted to the results of research performed by Collaborative Strategies. In this study, we spoke with CIOs and other MIS executives about how they are currently using the Internet and intranets to support electronic collaboration, and how they want to in the future.

The second section focuses on specific collaborative technologies, such as e-mail, workflow, group calendaring and scheduling, electronic meeting systems, and video conferencing. These chapters provide significant detail about how the products were developed, what business issues they address, and where they are going in the future.

The third section contains chapters contributed by major groupware vendors who discuss their design philosophy, current product offerings, and their plans for the future. Vendors discuss both their web-based functionality as well as their tried and true LAN-based functionality.

The fourth section focuses on user case studies and user stories. Many of these case studies are about Notes, because Notes is the most mature collaborative product in the market. However, the purpose of this section is to show how many different collaborative technologies are used. Also, many of the ideas about the organizational aspects of groupware which I introduce in the opening chapter are explored more fully in these case studies.

Finally, the fifth section provides a comprehensive reference source for information on groupware, collaboration, organizational development, management consulting, intellectual property, re-engineering, BPR, workflow and many other things.

The primary goal of this book is to provide timely information on all aspects of electronic collaboration. The trend toward distributed workforces, project teams, and collaborative strategies will increase well into the next century. We find collaboration is different in each culture, each corporate culture, and with each technology. This makes for a very interesting mix, an interesting field of study, and a formidable challenge to the vendors in this area.



Questions, comments and feedback on this volume are welcome, via e-mail, at davidc@collaborate.com

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