[OGo-Documentation] Book review of Open Groupware

[Adam Williams]

>   I'll clean up the numbers and would love to recieve some text and/or
> screenshots of OpenGroupware. The struggle I have is identifying what business
> problem "groupware" addresses. Communications? Email. Collaboration? Shared
> Calendar and Scheduling Meetings. Maybe I need to focus on the "Projects and
> Documents" portion. This would squarely set Open Groupware against Microsoft
> Sharepoint and Interwoven Teamsite. Are they competitors?

"Groupware" is an expansive category.  OpenGroupware competes with both
Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft Sharepoint.  I have no experience with
Teamsite.   As for what problem groupware addresses I would say "all of
the above";  with a note that it is not about "Shared Calendering" but
"Scheduling".

An important point, at least from my perspective, is the difference
between PIM systems and groupware servers.  PIMs (Personal Information
Managers) are essentially about personal information [ Duh! :) ].  Hence
you have your contact list, your calender(s), etc...  And PIMs may
provide a mechanism to share information such as publishing a calendar
or placing contacts in some common repository - but ultimately it is
about managing a person's information.  With groupware servers the
emphasis is on the sharing of information;  so you don't have 'your
calender' - you have events on *A* calender.  Think about scheduling a
meeting concerning 13 divisions in an organization of 400+ people if
each has their own calender, etc...  You need to check and then post to
n-number of calenders, possibly subsequently modifying n-number of
calendars if the event changes (and you'll need to check EVERY calendar
to see if the event is there), etc...  You can see how things like
simple web-calendars differ radically from 'groupware' when you think
about it that way.  Or, say, you have a salesperson with a contact list
and call schedule... then that salesperson leaves.  In a PIM type
environment you need to copy all the contacts and what not over to the
replacement (if they aren't just lost),  with a groupware system such
contacts are just grouped by some category, etc... and naturally follow
to the new person.  There really is a significant difference, but unless
you've have a real need for groupware it is hard to grasp;  hence you
get comments like the following from the people who are doing Hula:
--<begin quote>---
The trick is, I bet the actual useful "spirit" of groupware will arise
from a simple, good, useful app like they are (now) describing with
Hula. If people are able to easily publish their schedule and organize
events, and this is done with a good focus on the user and usability,
then this will be a great way to organize a team as a side effect. And
by taking that approach, you toss out all the silty garbage that usually
gets tossed into groupware.
--<begin quote>---
See "easily publish their schedule"? :)  My "PIM" LED starts flashing
when I see that.  Not that PIMs can't act allot like groupware servers
(Horde, possibly Hula) and that a groupware server can't act allot like
a PIM (M$-Exchange).  Regarding Exchange I like the description of a
*NEW* feature in Exchange 2007:
--<begin quote>---
Smart Scheduling: The addition of Scheduling Assistant and Calendar
Attendant mean that Exchange tracks not only the schedules of all
meeting invitees but also the availability of meeting rooms and can
manage all of this on the server, so meetings can be fully scheduled
without everyone's Outlook client being connected.
--<end quote>----
Sometimes Exchange sounds like some kind of big PIM federator. :)

Also groupware tends to roll-up a lot of functionality often provided by
disparate applications: document control, project management, task
management (and specifically delegation - which almost no PIMs do),
contact management.  Of course what is including in each groupware
system and how well it does any of the above varies widely.  Rolling-up
these applications makes sense since they are intrinsically
interconnected anyway.

In addition to the PIM/Groupware dicotomy is [again, to me] the
Groupware/Enterprise-Groupware dicotomy.  The difference here is the
ability to extend and integrate the groupware system with other
applications.  Exchange provides an API and some DAV integration
support.  Lotus Notes provides a scripting language and IIOP.
OpenGroupware provides an XML-RPC API as well as ZideStore's
DAV/GroupDAV/WCAP support.  In larger organizations with an IT
department such facilities support automation and integration with
workflow processes;  currently very few Open Source groupware solutions
provide such capabilities.  If I have to maintain 60,000+ contacts and
20,000+ customers then such facilities aren't just nice, they are
necessary.

I hope some of that helps. :)

> > >   I'm writing a book to promote OpenSource to business and have reviewed
> > >OpenGroupware in the Groupware/Messaging chapter. Could someone check what I
> > >have? Any additions, errors, or suggestions are welcomed. I hope to wrap
> > this
> > You have at least one rather serious mis-categorization.  You place both
> > Zimbra and Open-Exchange as "Messaging Email Server".  Both of these
> > packages are "Team Effort/Groupware", closer to the category of
> > OpenGroupware than a mail message server.  That category should include,
> > at least: Cyrus IMAPd, and possibly Courier and Dovecot.  The *focus* of
> > neither of the listed products is specifically e-mail;  although both
> > provide at least e-mail front-end functionality - as does OpenGroupware
> > (and nearly countless other products/projects).
> > Also your "Financial Incentives" charts should include at least a
> > footnote indicating that these numbers are based on retail prices -
> > organizations of any significant size can purchase site/seat licenses of
> > products like M$-Office for FAR FAR FAR LESS than street retail price.
> > Exaggerating the *immediate* price savings of Open Source software makes
> > it child's play for a competing pro-proprietary consultant to trash the
> > integrity of your document.  It is hard for me even to recount the
> > number of times I've watched a site lost by an over-eager advocate.
> > >up in the next two weeks. A later edition will probably follow in 2007. The
> > >goal is to show businesses "what" is available and then let them investigate
> > >more. Let them see the huge number of OpenSource packages out there.
> > >http://www.serviza.com/SoftwareIsFree-ForBusiness.pdf
> > I'd be happy to write a short section on OpenGroupware.  I assume it is
> > acceptable to submit this as an ODT file?