Groupware: Technology and Applications, 1/e

Coleman, D. and R. Khanna (editors). Groupware: Technology and Applications. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall PTR, 1995. 576 p. ISBN 0-13-305194-3 .

Table of Contents
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments
1Groupware Technology and Applications: An Overview of Groupware3
2Electronic Mail and Messaging42
3Workflow: Applying Automation to Group Processes68
4Group Calendaring and Scheduling98
5The Collaborative Imperative for Document Management Systems120
6Electronic Meeting Systems: Ten Years of Lessons Learned146
7Notes for Lotus and the World: Sighting the Goal196
8Microsoft Exchange: Integrating Messaging and Groupware in a Unified Information-Sharing Environment224
9IBM and the Role of Groupware in the Enterprise244
10Digital's Client-Server Solutions for Workgroup Integration264
11Novell's Groupware Strategy300
12Designing Team Support Applications to Meet Business Objectives322
13The Implementation of Enterprise-Ware at the World Bank: A Case Study378
14Groupware at the Bank of Montreal408
15Meetingware and Organizational Effectiveness434
16ABuilding Computing Solutions with the Team Metaphor474
16BThe Use of GroupWare in the Big "6" - Coopers & Lybrand497
17Groupware Implementation Strategies510
18Possibilities, Pitfalls, and Partners526
Appendices549
Appendix A: Vendors549
Appendix B: Books559
Appendix C: Journals562
Appendix D: Conferences/Events563
Appendix E: Organizations564
Appendix F: Electronic Resources/Sites564
Index567

Detailed Table Of Contents:
(NOTE: Each chapter includes summary, bibliography, biography).

I. TECHNOLOGY AND STANDARDS.

1. Groupware Technology and Applications.
An Introduction to Groupware.
A Framework for Groupware.
The Groupware Market?
To Meet or Not to Meet?.
Groupware Trends.
Justifying Groupware to Your Organization.
Making Groupware Work For You.
The Challenges of Groupware.
Groupware: Changing the Organization.

2. Electronic Mail and Messaging Karl Wong.
Introduction and Overview.
LAN Email Primer.
Elements of Messaging.
Types of Email Systems.
Standards.
Messaging APIS.
Messaging Issues.
Mobile Messaging.
Messaging Today and Tomorrow.
Building Upon the Messaging Infrastructure.
The Future and Conclusions.

3. Workflow: Applying Automation to Group Processes.
Where Workflow Fits in Groupware.
Workflow Defined.
Useful Definitions.
The Relationship of Workflow and Business Process Design.
Where Workflow is Being Implemented.
Categories of Workflow Applications- Useful Guidelines.
Barriers to Implementing Workflow.
Features of a Workflow System.
Components of Workflow Products.
Architectural Models for Workflow.
Selecting Processes to Automate.
The People Issues in Workflow. Key Players in the Workflow Market.
The Future of Workflow.

4. Group Calendaring and Scheduling Jack Perry.
A Scheduling Scenario.
Without Group Calendaring and Scheduling.
With Group Calendaring and Scheduling.
Time, the Scarce Resource!
Group Calendaring and Scheduling Grows Up!
Providing Groupness.
Implementation Issues.
Implementation.
What's Next in Group Calendaring and Scheduling.
A View from the Inside.

5. The Collaborative Imperative for Document Management.
Introduction: Document Management has Come of Age.
Collaborative Document Management Requirements.
Document Management Standards. Text Retrieval, Content Collaboration.
Summary and Conclusion.
Appendix.

6. Electronic Meeting Systems: Ten Years of Lessons Learned.
What is an Electronic Meeting System?
Lessons from the Field. Lessons Yet to Be Learned.
The Meeting Environment of the Future.
Conclusions.
References.

7. Notes for Lotus and the World: Sighting the Goal.
What is Notes?
Achieving the Goal.
Notes as a Re-Engineering Agent.
Partners in Notes.
Up and Coming.
Single Mail User Interface and Infrastructure.

8. Microsoft Exchange: Integrating Messaging and Groupware in a Unified Information-Sharing Environment Greg Lobdell.
Overview.
Introducing Microsoft Exchange.
What is Microsoft Exchange?
Microsoft Exchange Architecture.
Putting Microsoft Exchange to Work.

9. IBM and the Role of Groupware in the Enterprise.
The Environment for Groupware.
IBM'S Workgroup Strategy.
Workgroup Topology.
Functional Building Blocks.
Solutions.
Continued Evolution.

10. Digital's Client-Server Solutions for Workgroup Integration Dilip Phadke and Don Harbison.
Building on Experience: Taking on the Future.
New Organizational Model.
Digital's Groupware Strategy.
Shared Applications and Information Frameworks.
Digital's Groupware Portfolio.
Digital's Groupware Future.
Digital's Groupware Product Portfolio.
LinkWorks.
The TeamLinks Workgroup Solution.
MailWorks for UNIX.
MAILbus.
Biographies.

11. Novell's Groupware Strategy Bob Young.
Why Novell is in the Groupware Market.
Novell's Current Groupware Products.
GroupWise.
Collaborative Share for GroupWise.
SoftSolutions.
InForms.
Novell Uses What It Sells.
St. Mary's Hospital for Children: A Case Study.
Novell's Collaborative Computing. Environment (CCE).
Merging Product Strategies.
CCE Framework Elements.
Network Services.
Administration and Management.
Service Components.
Client Components.
Solutions.
CCE Design Philosophies.
Openness.
CrossPlatform Support.
CCE Framework Summary.
Division Reorganization for CCE.
Groupware Strategy Comparison.
Novell Compared to Lotus.
Novell Compared to Microsoft.
Summary.
Biography.

Part III: Implementation & Management Strategies and Case Studies.
12. Designing Team Support Applications to Meet Business Objectives: Marvin L. Manheim, Nicholas J. Vlahos, Yinyi Xie.
Objectives.
Observations on the Nature and Role of Groupware.
Groupware as a Technology.
Groupware as a Toolkit Component for Building Applications.
Groupware: A Business Process Definition.
Objectives of TSS: Individual Enhancement.
Individual Work Support in the Context of Groupware.
Observations on Using Groupware to Achieve Business Objectives.
The Challenges Facing Business Today.
The Need for Changed Structures and Processes.
Business Process Improvement Through Information Technology: The Example of Order Cycle Integration.
Observations on Technology's Role in Supporting Teams.
A TSS Is Support to a Social System.
Often, the Team to Be Supported Is a Team of Teams.
Team Processes Are Longitudinal: Time Duration Matters.
The Team Social System Evolves Over Time.
A TSS Can Be a Management Tool for Enhancing the Team Social System.
The User Role in TSS Development Is Critical.
A TSS Should Be Designed to Evolve Over Time.
Observations on Important Implementation.
Issues.
Technology Infrastructure for TSS.
"Critical Mass" in TSS Implementation.
TSS Implementation as Change Management.
The User Role in TSS Implementation and Adaptation.
Observations on Alternative Approaches.
To TSS Implementation Strategies.
Technology Focus Approach.
Application Focus Approach.
Business Process Approach.
Business Strategy Approach-The Vision-Strategy-Processes-Tasks Model.
The WoW Approach.
Composite Approaches.
Portfolio Approach for Continuing Implementation.
Observations About Groupware's Relationship to Other Processing Modes.
Groupware as a Complement to Existing Interaction Modes.
Groupware as an Information Technology Can Play a Major Role in an Overall Architecture.
The Components of Groupware Applications: Use of Building- Block Functions in TSS.
Plan of Use.
Observations on the Link Between Personal Work and Group Work.
Personal Construct-Based Action-Support Systems.
Classic Personal Information Managers.
Construct-Based PIMs.
Emergence of PCAS.
PCAS in the Groupware Environment.
Implications: Personal Work Integrated with Team.
Observations on the Role of TSS in an Enterprise Information Architecture.
Multiple Levels of Processes.
The Triage Function in the Multilevel Architecture.
An Approach to Effective TSS Design and Implementation.
A TSS Design Approach.
The TSS Design Team.
A TSS for TSS Implementation: An Example.
Application Case Studies.
A Workshop for Initiating Strategic Change.
Business Process Re-engineering in an Airline.
Public-Sector Transportation Planning.
TSS Support for a Graduate Management Degree Program.
Conclusions: Implementing Team Support.
Systems.
Acknowledgements.
References.
Biography.

13. The Implementation of Enterprise-Ware at the World Bank: A Case Study: Lesley-Ann Schneier.
Introduction.
The World Bank Group.
The Project.
Methodology.
Socio-technical Approach.
The IS Organization.
Networks in the Bank.
Results and Discussion.
The Network Pilot: From Techno-centric to Socio- technical Approach.
The Users: Their Knowledge, Experience, Attitudes, and Cultures.
User Experiences.
Culture and Age.
Change in Traditional Roles.
Level of Comfort With Technology.
Human Aspects of Technology Acceptance.
Electronic Mail as the Archetype of Networking Change Agent.
User Responses to the Network.
The Motivators and Incentives for Change.
The Manager.
Communication.
Support and Training.
How Networking Differs From Other Technology In Terms of Acceptance.
Groupware as a Data-gathering Tool.
Implementation.
What Groupware Technology Enables You To Do.
The Virtual Team or Organization.
Human Issues.
Conclusions. Acknowledgements.
References.
Biography.

14. Groupware at the Bank of Montreal Michael Frow.
Auction.
Origins.
Organizing Information Around Clients.
Creativity.
Remote Access.
The Prototype.
Architectural Review and Standards Setting.
The Pilot.
Centerpoint's Structure.
Findings.
Project Management.
Cultural Change.
Cultural Change–Technology Community.
Technology Challenges.
The Business Case.
Current Status.
Critical Success Factors.
Visible Senior Executive Sponsorship.
Business Must Be the Technology Driver.
Business and Technology Must Forge a Close Working Relationship.
Careful Identification of External Technology.
Partners.
Summary .
Biography.

15. Meetingware and Organizational Effectiveness: Carl Di Pietro.
Foreword.
The Emperor's Clothes: A Case Study.
The Vision.
Shortcomings in Meeting Effectiveness.
Improving Group Productivity in Meetings.
Technology: A Helpful Tool.
Why Better Meetings?
The Challenge.
The Strategy.
The Room.
Common Screen.
Overhead Projector.
Printer.
Computer Processing Units (CPUs).
Electrical Power and Heat, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC).
Keyboards.
The Results.
Researchers' Findings.
Other Research Findings.
Positive and Supportive.
Concerns and Obstacles.
Truth and the Emperor's Clothes Revisited.
Revelations and Vignettes.
Meetingware Applications.
The Breakthrough.
Acknowledgements.
References.
Biography.

16A. Building Computing Solutions with the Team Metaphor: Hugh W. Ryan.

PART I: GROUPS THAT GROPE AND TEAMS THAT DELIVER.
Impact on Our Practice and Overview of the Material.
Why is the Team Metaphor Happening Now?
Forms of the Team Metaphor.
Communication and Routing.
Information Exchange Applications.
Process Management Applications.
Collaborative Applications.
Meetings.

PART II: THE ISSUES IN DEVELOPING TEAM METAPHOR SOLUTIONS.
The Reality of the Team.
Defining the Technical Architecture for the Team Metaphor.
Systems Management for the Team Metaphor.
The Network as the Team.
Implementing the Team Metaphor.
Conclusion.
References.

16B. The Use of GroupWare in the Big "6" – Coopers & Lybrand Frank Lancione.
Getting Closure: Using Groupsystems.
Meetingware to Facilitate Top Management Decision Making.
Connecting the Power Centers: Automating Policy-Making Workflows with Lotus Notes.
Promoting Unity of Purpose: Using Process Automation Software to Manage Information Systems Design and Development.
Powering Up: Tapping the Best of Human Knowledge Wherever it Resides in the Organization or the World.
Conclusions.
Observations.
Biographies.

17. Groupware Implementation Strategies Dr. Peter R. Huckle, Tracey Shearmon.
Context Before Strategy.
Impact of Groupware on the Organization.
The Effect of Groupware on People. Implementation Strategies.
Developing a Vision.
Assessing the Current Situation.
Selecting the Project.
Defining Success.
Planning the Implementation of Changes.
Implement the Changes.
Measure the Effects.
Conclusions.
References.
Biographies.

18. Possibilities, Pitfalls, and Partners Alexia Martin.
Searching for Solutions.
Collaborative Technologies: An Option. Possibilities.
Improved Collaboration.
Total Quality Management.
Business Process Redesign.
Organizational Learning.
Employee Empowerment.
Pitfalls.
Partners.
What Is OD Anyway?
OD Role in Groupware Implementation.
Two Examples.
References.
Acknowledgements.
Biography.

Part IV: Groupware Resources Appendices.
APPENDIX A: VENDORS.
APPENDIX B: BOOKS.
APPENDIX C: JOURNALS.
APPENDIX D: CONFERENCES/EVENTS.
APPENDIX E: ORGANIZATIONS.
APPENDIX F: ELECTRONIC RESOURCES/SITES.
Index.

Excerpt
PREFACE: Preface

"Groupware" is one of those mysterious and undefinable terms that have the ability to affect all of our lives. This book is an attempt to compile some of the wisdom, knowledge, and experience of technical and business communities that have dealt with groupware since 1989. This book has been written with both the technical and business-oriented reader in mind, and its goal is to enable both audiences to understand the benefits, issues, and methodologies of groupware well enough to determine how t o best use groupware in their organizations.

The book is set up in several sections. The first section covers some of the technologies critical to groupware. These include email and messaging, workflow and process management, group calendaring and scheduling, collaborative document and image management, and electronic meeting systems. These are by no means all the technologies or services that fit under the groupware umbrella, but this introductory chapter lays out a functional framework for groupware that can serve as a guideline through the rest of the book.

The second section is also product focused, but from a vendor rather than a technology point of view. This section has executives from the major groupware vendors discussing their products' architecture, history, and future development plans, as well as how the use of these products has affected their and their customers' organizations. Lotus, Microsoft, IBM, DEC, and Novell/WordPerfect are all in this section, and they all provide different views on groupware, including a desktop view, a network view, a messaging view, and a database view. We have encouraged these vendors to write thesechapters with the view that they will be read in the second and third quarters of 1995, even though the chapters reflect the state of the art at the end of 1994. Because the groupware market is such a dynamic one, we are sure that by the time you read these chapters some of these vendors will have announced new products, marketing agreements, and distribution channels. The purpose of this section is to provide an overview of the direction in which each company is going with their groupware products rather than a strict product features and benefits description.

The third section focuses on implementation and management strategies for groupware. These chapters are a combination of case studies of groupware implementations, as well as chapters on implementation strategies by experts at various consulting firms. This section also takes a look at some of the organizational aspects of groupware.

The final section of the book is a reference section. This section includes a variety of resources about groupware. Included in this section is a listing of all the 300-plus vendors in the Groupware Buyer's Guide, a groupware reading list, and groupware newsletters, events, and newsgroups where information is exchanged.

So in this volume we go from a technical and product focus to a more business and organizational orientation for groupware. The reason for organizing the book this way is to lay a foundation on what groupware technologies are; what products are available; how these products are best used and implemented; and finally, how groupware affects the organization.

This volume addresses a subset of issues related to use of information technology to improve group and organizational productivity. However, we have covered issues such as desktop integration and user experiences with groupware in other volumes. Raman Khanna edited a recently published volume entitled Integrating Personal Computers in a Distributed Client-Server Environment. That volume deals with platform integration, application integration, and distributed systems management. David Coleman and Marvin Manheim (author of Chapter 12) are co-authoring a groupware case book. We believe such a book is a necessary follow-on to this volume, and it examines a number of groupware implementations in detail and analyzes the lessons learned in each instance.

We believe that the greatest challenge facing the groupware market (if there is such a thing) today is "education"—educating people, especially business people, about the need and ability to collaborate, and how collaboration can change their organization to be more efficient, more customer-focused, and more profitable.

In a recent discussion with a colleague who is an expert on negotiating with the Japanese, we focused on the role of groupware. He noted that the Japanese have a great deal of interest and curiosity in groupware. And rightly so, as the U.S., the land of rugged individualists, has developed software to help people work as coordinated teams and virtual organizations. This ability, coupled with a knowledge of the Japanese negotiations code (on which my colleague is an expert), we believe will give U.S. negotiators a real competitive advantage with the Japanese.

It is these creative business uses of groupware that will, we believe, drive the groupware market. Although the technology is important, most business people do not care if the technology is called "groupware" or "multimedia" or "remote computing" or whatever, as long as it solves their business problem.

We also believe that groupware, or collaborating over the computer, will radically change the face of business in the next few years. Tom Peter, Peter Drucker, Peter Keen, Don Tapscott, Tom Davenport, and other management gurus are all heralding the changing organization. Groupware is the technology that is enabling these changes. Organizations will begin to decentralize, with contractors and "tiger teams" coming together electronically from all over the world to work on a project or solve a problem. For example, Decathlon Systems of Colorado has reduced its office space from 6000 square feet to 500 square feet. They only use the office now for occasional meetings and customer visits, and as a site to store and maintain the computers (servers) that tie them all together. Dr. Thomas Malone of MIT (who wrote the foreword to this book), in an article he wrote in the September 1991 issue of Scientific American, looks at the first-, second-, and third-order implications of this technology on our society. He sees sweeping changes in our society, some of which we can already see today, such as an increase in home-based businesses and telecommuting. The largest area of growth in the business community is not in large businesses—they are downsizing—but in the SOHO (small office home office) market. The implications of this trend for home builders is very interesting, and for commercial real estate developers not very bright. However, humans are social animals, so office buildings and cities will not completely disappear. The impact of groupware on businesses is the focus of David's consulting practice and the GroupWare conferences he organizes. It is enlightening to see a Danish hearing aid manufacturer increase its bottom line 500% in two years by using group ware and restructuring its organization.

We have rambled on about the benefits and future of groupware and the text of this volume enough. The first chapter in this book looks at an overview of the groupware technology and its benefits. We hope you will refer to Chapter 1 many times while reading this volume.

David Coleman

David Coleman is the founder and conference chairman for the GroupWare '9X Conferences and expositions which are held on an annual basis in Boston, London, and San Jose. He is also the editor of GroupTalk, the newsletter of workgroup computing, and of The GroupWare Products and Services Catalog and The Groupware Buyer's Guide. He is also co-author of a forthcoming groupware book called Collaborating for Competitive Advantage, which will be published in 1996. Mr. Coleman is a frequent author for technical and trade publications, and in the last year has written a groupware supplement for NetWork World magazine, a white paper on groupware for ComputerWorld, and a special supplement on groupware for Fortune magazine. Mr. Coleman has also done work to advance groupware throughout the world by founding G.U.A.V.A. (Groupware Users and Vendors Association).

Mr. Coleman is a principal at Collaborative Strategies, a San Franciso-based consulting firm focused on technology assessment, marketing, and information in the workgroup computing arena. Collaborative Strategies provides business and technology assessment and marketing and business strategies for workgroup products and services. Collaborative Strategies also provides market research, competitive analysis, collateral development, product positioning, and management for increased competitive advantage on a worldwide basis. Collaborative Strategies works with groupware users as well to define groupware projects, examine business processes with an eye toward redesign, and aid in the selection and implementation of pilot or enterprise-wide groupware projects. Mr. Coleman has an eclectic educational background that covers a wide range from cybernetics to neurobiology. He has held marketing positions at Natural Language and Oracle, and has consulted for many major hardware and software vendors as well as user organizations.

Mr. Coleman can be reached by electronic mail at david121@aol.com or on the World Wide Web at davidc@collaborative.com. He can be reached by phone at (415) 282-9197.

Raman Khanna
Raman Khanna is the director of Distributed Computing and Communication Systems at Stanford University. He is responsible for the design, implementation, and management of the campus-wide data, video, and voice communication facilities and services, the distributed computing infrastructure, the UNIX-based academic computing environment, and software licensing services for the Stanford community of over 25,000 people. Raman has special interest in the design and implementation and management of a n enterprise-wide distributed computing infrastructure. Raman also serves on the boards of various networking companies. Raman holds a B.S. in electrical engineering, an M.S. in computer science, and an M.B.A. in high technology management. He has been working, consulting, and lecturing in computing and data communication fields since 1980. Raman is contributing editor of three technical books, and author and presenter of numerous articles and papers at technical conferences. Raman also teaches courses on computer networks and distributed computing at the UC-Berkeley Extension program.