Novell Unveils Broad Internet Collaboration Capabilities
Articles and Tips: article
01 Nov 1997
Novell recently announced the beta release of GroupWise 5.2. The added functionality found in GroupWise 5.2, the next version of Novell's premier collaboration product for corporate networks and intranets, will support a broad range of Internet standards and improve the efficiency of work processes.
In addition, it will expand users' ability to access different types of information, extend advanced collaboration to a variety of client platforms right out of the box and offer improved administration and management, which will allow users to realize substantial savings in their cost of ownership.
"This product will solidify the GroupWise position as the most sophisticated tool available in the Internet/intranet collaboration space," said Stewart Nelson, vice president and general manager, Novell Collaborative Services Group.
"GroupWise offers our customers the most robust, platform-independent and secure set of collaboration tools available, while maintaining the integrity of the system, management and administration features they've come to rely on. This commitment to our customers has made GroupWise the groupware product of choice for more than eight million users and partners."
"With the Internet standards support and sophisticated collaboration planned in GroupWise 5.2, we will be able to leverage the power of the Internet and intranets in our network," said David Steel, office automation manager for the City of Escondido. "With its out-of-the-box functionality, GroupWise will also give us immediate results, while allowing us to benefit from substantial savings in our training and support costs."
Information on the GroupWise 5.2 beta can be found at Novell's Web site at http://www.novell.com/products/groupwise. Look under the "products" category for beta program information.
Like its predecessor GroupWise 5.1, GroupWise 5.2 will offer cross-platform, expanded E-mail solutions, including full document management capabilities, as part of its Universal Mailbox. The Universal Mailbox gives users single-point access to the Internet, personal calendaring, group scheduling, tasks, voice mail, faxes and other message types both from the desktop and via the Internet using GroupWise WebAccess . GroupWise WebAccess allows users to access the Universal Mailbox from any HTML 3-compliant Internet browser.
Internet Standards Support
The upcoming version of GroupWise will natively support IMAP4, dial-up SMTP/MIME and POP3, in addition to supporting LDAP on both the client and server. GroupWise 5.2 will also support standards that were previously supported with GroupWise 5.1, including HTML, HTTP and TCP/IP.
Support for NNTP and S-MIME will be available in future releases. This combination of Internet support and rich functionality makes GroupWise the first of a new breed of expanded E-mail systems to offer intranet-ready collaboration and full functionality out of the box. Also, with the GroupWise Object API and Customer 3rd Party Objects (C3POs), customers and partners have the option of customizing their GroupWise solutions.
Intranet Collaboration
GroupWise 5.2 will include a Java- and HTML 3-enabled version of GroupWise WebAccess, the full- featured Web client. GroupWise WebAccess makes it as easy to use GroupWise via the Internet as it is to use on the desktop by creating an intuitive browser interface that is virtually identical to the GroupWise desktop environment.
In addition, GroupWise WebAccess is the only product on the market that gives users a single interface from which they can send and retrieve E-mail, attachments, voice messages, faxes, calendar items, appointments, tasks and documents over the Internet.
Collaborative Functionality
In addition to the Internet standards support and intranet collaboration in GroupWise 5.2, GroupWise users will be able to further their collaboration efforts and continue to meet the ever-changing demands of business with GroupWise WorkFlow, GroupWise Imaging and expanded platform support.
While workflow has traditionally been available only to a select group of individuals within an organization, GroupWise WorkFlow brings workflow capabilities to every desktop. With the GroupWise messaging system acting as the workflow transport, users receive work items in the Universal Mailbox and can respond to those items just as they would to incoming E-mail messages.
GroupWise Imaging is another example of how GroupWise is expanding the Universal Mailbox. GroupWise Imaging merges the traditionally separate areas of desktop and production imaging and electronic publishing into a single collaborative imaging environment.
It allows users to leverage the E-mail, document management and workflow features of GroupWise for electronically scanned and stored images, resulting in the industry's first "E-mail-enabled" image management system for the desktop.
"GroupWise WorkFlow and GroupWise Imaging are inevitable extensions of Novell's vision to provide users with a Universal Mailbox where all of their information-documents, E-mails, faxes, voice mails and now workflow items and images-is easily and transparently accessible," Nelson said.
In addition to the platforms currently supported by GroupWise 5.1 (NetWare, IntranetWare, Windows 3.1, Windows 95 and Windows NT), GroupWise 5.2 will provide client support for both Macintosh (68000 and PowerMac) and UNIX (Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Sun Microsystems).
The UNIX clients will provide the same set of capabilities as the Windows 3.1 client, including client/server, E-mail, calendar, scheduling and task management. In addition, the full set of UNIX agents will be available for Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Sun Microsystems platforms.
Administration & Management
GroupWise users will also benefit from the improved administration and management in GroupWise 5.2, which will allow them to realize substantial savings in their cost of ownership.
The 32-bit NetWare Administrator (NWAdmin ) for Windows 95 and NT is a snap-in utility that will offer network administrators a single point of administration from which they can manage both GroupWise 5.2 and their network.
GroupWise Monitor is a snap-in utility for use with Novell's ManageWise , a comprehensive, end-to-end PC LAN management platform that increases network reliability and performance while boosting end-user and overall business productivity. GroupWise Monitor allows a network administrator to dynamically monitor and manage GroupWise SNMP-instrumented agents.
The addition of the Administration API will allow customers, systems integrators and third- party developers to access the administrative functions of GroupWise 5.2.
Upcoming Features
Future enhancements to GroupWise 5.2 will include support for the Jefferson Project, the Web-based document management solution that will allow GroupWise users to publish documents to the Web as easily as assigning user access to documents within GroupWise.
The Jefferson Project technology will offer GroupWise users a means for managing the complexity of corporate information on intranets and the Web, while providing the security, management and administration features-through GroupWise-required to keep that information secure, up-to-date and easily accessible.
It will feature full-text indexing, search and retrieval, automatic conversion to HTML, the ability to provide native document format and mail documents. The ability to fax documents is available through Novell's third-party development solutions.
Combined with GroupWise Workflow, the Jefferson Project technology will provide users with a full- featured Web publishing environment that will allow them to easily collaborate on authoring, preparing and approving documents to be published on the World Wide Web.
GroupWise 5.2 Upgrade Window
Under the terms of the GroupWise upgrade program, users who purchase new or upgrade GroupWise 4.1, 5.0 or 5.1 licenses from July 21, 1997 through 30 days after GroupWise 5.2 First Customer Ship (FCS) in the Fall are eligible to receive an equal number of GroupWise 5.2 licenses at no additional cost other than shipping and handling. A valid proof of purchase will be required upon submitting a claim.
GroupWise 5.2 Pricing
GroupWise 5.2 pricing will be identical to that of GroupWise 5.1, but will offer additional benefits-Internet connectivity and migration gateways to SMTP/MIME, cc:Mail and GroupWise WebAccess. Migration gateways to Lotus Notes, Microsoft Exchange and MS Mail will be downloadable from the web.
The GroupWise 5.2 Mailbox license, which starts at $718 SRP for a 5-user license and goes to $32,625 SRP for a 250-user license, comes with everything necessary for a typical GroupWise solution.
This includes the GroupWise desktop and remote clients, NWAdmin administration module, remote async and X.25 gateways, MHS gateway and Message Transfer Agents, as well as migration tools to allow users to move from competitive E-mail systems.
Additional information about GroupWise can be accessed on the World Wide Web at http://www.novell.com/products/groupwise or through any Novell sales office.
* Originally published in Novell AppNotes
Disclaimer
The origin of this information may be internal or external to Novell. While Novell makes all reasonable efforts to verify this information, Novell does not make explicit or implied claims to its validity.