Date sent: Mon, 29 Apr 1996 16:38:46 -0600 Groupware Collaborative Software to Aid Communication By Index Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Defining Groupware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Forces Driving the Groupware Wave . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 The Downside . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Groupware Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Cite Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Groupware By A global paradigm shift is rapidly occurring in businesses today. In response to competitive pressures, the business model is changing, not simply to a new static model, but to a dynamic, fluid model. Arising from this model are new Groupware or collaborative computing technologies. Groupware is an umbrella term for the technologies that support person-to-person collaboration. Groupware can be anything from E-mail to Electronic Meeting Systems (EMS) to workflow. It is important to note that Groupware is a relatively new term, describing a new market and a new set of technologies. Groupware provides tools to solve "collaboration oriented" business problems1. As more and more organizations examine the ways in which they work and progressively become more automated, the need to link together the business processes will increase in importance. Information Technology(IT) has traditionally provided solutions to business problems and, through the use of workflow products, is also able to provide the links between them2. Network growth, which has been explosive for the last eight years and will probably continue for the next several years, is fueled by economic and organizational pressures such as increased global competition and a recession that has been rolling around the world. Furthermore, as businesses strive to become more efficient by taking advantage of these new technologies, they are finding that the old hierarchical organization is not adequate. Many businesses are reinventing or re-engineering themselves using Groupware tools[Coleman]. Groupware is collaborative technology. Groupware is a tool that people use. The difficulty most organizations encounter with Groupware is not with the technology, because there are many technical alternatives available, but with the relationship between technology and the people in the organization who have to use Groupware[Coleman]. Additionally, organizations tend to resist change in proportion to their size. The larger the organization the greater the resistance (to an exponential degree). Also, the bigger the change, the greater the resistance. This resistance to change is not unique to Groupware. It is true of any new technology or change in business process. The upside and downside of Groupware is that these technologies have such a great impact on the way people work and communicate, that it magnifies the degree of change and can engender strong opinions either for or against the technology3. Increased quality, better customer service, lower cost of sales, greater employee autonomy, and more flexible and responsive organizations are all challenges for the current business climate.. What is it going to take for business to stay competitive an ever increasing international climate? How may companies keep communications open over long distance? What new software technology will become the standard. It is Groupware. Groupware is not a program, rather a buzzword for a group of technologies that mediate interpersonal collaboration through the computer. Many different programs, and networking software package sellers redefine the term "Groupware" to fit their products. Definition Three popular definitions for Groupware are intentional group processes, plus software to support them,4 A co-evolving human-tool system,5 and computer-mediated collaboration that increases the productivity or functionality of person-to-person processes.6 The term Groupware is meant to deliver better collaboration of ideas, by automating the many tasks of scheduling, information retrieval, and inter/intra company communication. Groupware is not a new idea. Many of the technologies that compose Groupware have been around for 20 years. Groupware ties in technical, economic, social and organizational trends. These technologies help to reinforce information sharing from line-workers to CEO's. Because of the lack of physical networks, Groupware was limited to single applications on single main frame type computers. But, With the increase in Local Area Networks(LAN's), and ability to share information via the internet, Groupware products are proliferating. Forces Driving the Groupware Wave: The following represents the primary motivations for making the move to Groupware: Better cost control. By creating the ability to bring your suppliers "on-line" with your company, inventory requirements can be reduced. On the other hand, by using Groupware products to communicate more closely with your customers, you can react quickly to provide the products and services needed, without having to play "guessing games" in marketing. Increased productivity Support for TQM (Total Quality Management) As companies use TQM methodology, there is a higher need for information exchange. The Groupware products that support E-mail, and work flow, become integrated into the best practices procedures. Fewer meetings Although most of the articles read for this report stated that Groupware would reduce meetings, there is no clear evidence that it would. How people meet is what will change. Some Groupware products like white, desktop telecommunication, Decision Support Systems, and satellite linked training courses, and EMS are just a few of the tools that are on the market today. I will describe some of these products later. Automating routine processes Even in the service industry, there is a need to automate the processes that occur in daily business operations. From automatically posting bills, to handling customer inquiries, Groupware products like relational databases, and telephone and internet ordering systems help to keep the many of the routine accounting procedures from tying up human resources. Integration of geographically disparate teams In large organizations, it can be very expensive to have your best people always traveling from one meeting to another, and in order to get the most out of a group of people who live in different parts of the world, Groupware products like E-mail, and browsers, help keep team members in constant contact, thus avoiding a lot of the travel costs. Leveraging professional expertise With today's need to protect intellectual assets, there is also a need to harness that same capital. Groupware products enable top management and line-workers to directly ask questions to the people who have the answers. In fact some Groupware products such as Decision Support Systems, incorporate data from all portions of a companies processes. People can discuss, via electronic meetings, the latest facts, figures and trends that are steering their industry, using their data, and from other data compiled from industrial reports. Groupware has become a true reality, and there are seven different forces that are pushing it forward[Coleman] 1. Availability of network infrastructure that is capable of supporting Groupware. 2. The cost of hardware/software that supports Groupware is decreasing. 3. The need to increase "White collar" productivity. 4. The large software operating companies are creating and promoting their Groupware products. 5. As companies downsize, Groupware products increase productivity, thus reducing the strain on workers. 6. Increased complexity in today's products, services and business procedures is requiring more team oriented collaboration, thus Groupware products are needed to provide the information needed. 7. Articles in the trade and business press have increased awareness of Groupware and aroused the curiosity of business leaders The Downside The world of Groupware is not without its problems though. Due to the newness of the whole spectrum of Groupware, there is not much general knowledge about what it is. The following represents some of the problems facing the future of Groupware.[Coleman] 1. A low level of education in the business community about Groupware. 2. Confusion in the marketplace as to the nature of Groupware. Much of the conflicting/competing information distributed by Groupware vendors has increased this confusion. 3. The recession is decreasing budgets, and many firms perceive that they cannot afford the investment in Groupware. 4. The distribution channels for Groupware are new and not fully implemented. 5. MIS shops worry that they will become dependent on a Groupware vendor. 6. Organizations are resistant to change. 7. There are few standards in the Groupware market to foster rapid growth. In his article in MIS magazine from Feb. 1993, David Coleman said that "when 500 Groupware users were surveyed at the Groupware'93 conference about their success and/or failure with Groupware, those who were not successful noted the greatest problems with Groupware were not technological. Instead, problems stemmed from the lack of support from top management or lack of a well defined business problem.... By 1997 there should only be five categories for Groupware products: E-mail/Messaging, Group Document Handling, Conferencing Products, Workflow tools, and Workgroup Utilities and Development Tools." According to Doug Englebart from there are procedures that will help in implementing the Groupware concept. The first is to find a Groupware champion, the higher they are in management, the better. The second aspect of Groupware it that it will change the corporate culture, so you must be prepared for resistance. The third aspect is choosing the "right" project for the first demonstration to company employees. Picking a pilot project rather than trying to roll Groupware out to the whole organization, and a bounded project with a group that is supportive of both technology and innovation will help overcome resistance to new and untried ideas. If at all possible, an IT specialist, along with the champion of the Groupware integration, need to pick a project with visibility and financial impact so that the cost-based results are easily quantifiable. As companies start thinking about initiating the Groupware approach, there are some factors that need to looked at. Training and Maintenance should be at the top of the list. The total cost of Groupware is not realized with just the purchase of software, but how much will it cost to upgrade the software, maintain the databases, and the cost of purchasing new hardware. There is also the large cost of training the users. These costs are not readily quantifiable, but with research, a snapshot of the costs involved can be derived, and then management can make a cost-based judgment of Groupware. It is important that the Groupware implementation have adequate planning, support, training, and maintenance.7 The two major challenges to Groupware are technical and organizational. Of the two, the organizational challenges are more difficult. For the technical challenges, a technical solution must be found. However, even if the technology solves the problem, works well, and is rolled out efficiently, if the corporate culture does not support it, the Groupware implementation may not be successful. Even if the culture supports it, but there is no economic justification for a Groupware solution it will fail. Finally, even if technology, culture, and economics combine to support Groupware, the success of a project can be destroyed by politics [Coleman] Still, there are a range of other products and technologies to be found under the umbrella term. As a matter of fact, industry experts recognize several categories of Groupware including: electronic mail/messaging; calendaring/scheduling; group document handling; workgroup development tools; group decision systems and meeting support; information sharing/conferencing products; and workflow management and business process design.8 In this paper you have read a lot about Groupware as a concept, and a little bit about some of the types of programs that can be used to support it. The following are some of the brand names products that are Groupware based, and some of their functions. Groupware Products Probably the most commonly know Groupware product is Borland's Lotus Note's products. Borland developed a suite of software packages such as 1-2-3, a spreadsheet program, Ami-pro-a word-processing program. Then as they started loosing the market share to other companies like Microsoft, IBM, and smaller one product companies, Borland started to look at the business practices side of software. By making all of their products capable of interacting with each other so that, for example, if a spreadsheet were to be updated, all other products that use that information would also be updated. Thus reducing the risk of making uninformed decisions due to incorrect information. Borland is also working on Groupware products such as White Board, a product that allows multiple users to work on a single spreadsheet, database or engineering diagram. Users at remote sites, can talk, draw, and make changes in real-time using Groupware oriented software. One of the most common products that is being incorporated into the Groupware spectrum are Web-Browsers. Web-Browsers, like Netscape enable customers and suppliers to read current information on anything from inventory, to latest news releases. Browsers are becoming the fastest growing segment of the Groupware world. Because of the increase in internet users, companies are able to solicit electronic information, without having to supply the software. A Browser is a graphical based user interface, and many customers and companies already have a form of Browser on their PC's so users need little training. When the eventual winner of the Browser wars9 rises out of the ashes, there will be a "true" standard in Groupware data handling. The newest type of products are desktop teleconferencing. Intel's Pro-Share is probably the most common. Using data compression, users connected via the Internet, or ISDN, or LANS/WANS are able to communicate face-to-face via cameras and microphones that are added on to desktop computers. Multiple users can gather electronically while never leaving the office. The price of desktop teleconferencing equipment is dropping quickly. Cameras that used to cost in the thousands are now as low as a hundred dollars. The biggest obstacle in the way of teleconferencing is the cost of the connection. Also the lack of data lines with the ability to handle the increased amount of data-traffic created by trying to pass video though telephone lines. This has kept growth of teleconferencing from really expanding. But, as more high speed communication technology infrastructure, such as fiber optics comes into play, there will be increased use of desktop teleconferencing. Conclusion In order to be competitive in today's global society, companies need to find the "right" tools for the "right" job. There is a definite trend in business to purchase software packages that enable collaboration, and compatibility of data to enable easy sharing of information. Although there are as many products available today, there are really no guidelines on implementing the whole process. So companies will experiment with the newest software, rather than just finding the products they need to solve the business problems. IT and management must be hand-in-hand on the planning, purchasing and implementation of Groupware systems. As I said in the beginning, Groupware is NOT a software product, but rather many software products used to solve business problems. CITES Cummings, J "New tools for collaboration emerge in the Public Network." Telecommunications Dec. 95 P.39 Frye Colleen "Groupware Strikes Collaborative Chord" Software Magazine Oct. 95 P.94 Laws, Virginia "The big picture: Knowledge at a cost" Forbes Jun. 95 Managing Office Technology "Toward a Definition of Groupware" Oct.1. 1995 P.35 Udell, Jon "Global Groupware" Byte Mag. Nov. 95 1 Technology and Applications, An Overview of GroupWare by David Coleman 2 http://www.butlergroup.co.uk/butgrp/techaud/grp/staffwar.htm 3 http://www.wang.com/sbu/ent-wp2.htm 4 Peter and Trudy Johnson-Lenz, 1978: 5 Doug Englebart, 1988: 6 "An Overview of Groupware," David Coleman. From Chapter One of Groupware: Technology and Applications, Prentice Hall, 1995 7 Laws, Virginia "The big picture: Knowledge at a cost" Forbes Jun. 95 8 http://www.collabra.com/articles/acceler.htm: Britton Manasco 9 "Browser Wars, Will Microsoft beat Netscape" PC week January 17, 1996. 13