Groupware: What Works the Way Businesses Do?

Groupware

The internet is full of 1.5 million to 7 million indexed pages of groupware packages available on the market today. Every business needs groupware to control, manage, or track documents.

Groupware is similar to other systems that enable document management, often using a centralized system to work through business collaboration processes to create budgets, market reports, presentations, contracts, and countless other documents necessary to run a business.

Ad Hoc Collaboration

Often times, however, businesses do not, or cannot, follow an outlined document collaboration process. Deadlines near, clients change their minds, management changes their minds, information changes, and needs change. In searching for groupware that enables businesses to track collaborative documents, even in an ad hoc environment, businesses need to find groupware that works the way businesses do.

Tracking

In an ad hoc business environment, tracking your document versions can be a chaos. To meet deadlines, many documents are created. But, work is often hurried through, multiple drafts are saved on multiple drives, emails are shot back and forth, and changes are continually made. But when the deadline arrives, the document may barely be missing key parts because drafts and changes were difficult to track, drafts may be missing, nobody knows the draft order, and nobody knows who made the suggested changes. Businesses need groupware that can handle ad hoc collaboration.

Businesses often have to put documents together ad hoc, but the end result doesn't have to be a mess. In searching through the groupware available, there are technologies to keep an eye out for which enable document tracking during hectic, ad hoc, document collaboration.

Digital Thread Technology

Groupware with Digital Thread Technology strings a digital thread through each draft of a document as it changes hands, even through email. An informational tag is inserted into the meta data of the electronic document which acts as a genetic tracker for the document. Digital Thread works in conjunction with Digital Signature and Version History to display the who, what, when, where, and how of a document.

Digital Signature

Digital Signatures provide basic version information every time a tracked document is attached to a Microsoft Outlook e-mail. A link is provided that allows users to see in real time if they still have the latest version of a document.

Version History

In addition to a signature that provides basic version information, groupware with a Version History feature enables a display of the document genealogy or family tree. Version History is a flow chart or visual display of the who, what, when, where, and how of the document.

Merging

After utilizing these groupware technologies, merging the changes is very simple. With just three clicks, you can compare different versions of a document. All of the changes are recorded and tracked, and all of the options are at your finger tips when deciding how the information will be presented in its final format. The ad hoc mess has essentially been cleaned up behind you and presented to you in an organized system to allow the final document to be complete, as well as having a helpful version trail to refer to in case other changes are necessary in the future.

Installation

This is often the most costly part of collaboration software. In sifting through the millions of groupware packages indexed online, the most cost efficient groupware will not require new IT infrastructure. Groupware which can be downloaded is quicker, more efficient, and more budget-sensitive.

The market knows that businesses need services to track and manage documents, especially in an ad hoc environment. Use these tips to make an effective search for a groupware that works the way businesses do.

Joe Miller is a specialist in online advertising. Groupware information is available at NextPage.com.

---

Groupware as a Document Manager: Collaboration Series #3

This article is the third of a series of articles... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains: If You are Orphan Client ? What to Do and FAQ

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains, former Great Plains Software eEnterprise,... Read More

A Simple Computer Software Definition

What is Software?Software is a set of instruction written to... Read More

Microsoft Navision Database Selection: C/SIDE or MS SQL Server - Overview For IT Specialist

There are certain pluses and minuses in both cases and... Read More

Review of TikiWiki Content Management System

TikiWiki is open source software - it is written in... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Implementation in Russia ? Overview for Consultant

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is very popular ERP platform... Read More

The Truth about Colossus: Are You Just A Magnetic Image?

What is Colossus?Colossus is software licensed to about twenty-five insurance... Read More

You Can Write Microsoft Office Program in About 60 Minutes

Microsoft Office program is a programming tool called Visual Basic... Read More

Four Desktop Tools To Drastically Increase Your Productivity

Sticky Noteshttp://www.deprice.com/stickynote.htmWith StickyNote 9.0, you can create beautiful 3D notes... Read More

Story Development Software: Good or Evil?

In the early days of the personal computer, we're talking... Read More

My Experience - Making a Vision into Reality

Disclaimer: All the thoughts expressed are my views only! Your... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Security Setup - Overview For Consultant

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is very good fit for... Read More

IT Strategy for Midsize Business: Microsoft vs. Java, Great Plains & CRM

Midsize business or non-profit organization should decide if one-vendor solution... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Customization Recovery & Upgrade for Large Corporation

At the end of XX century, in the late 1990th... Read More

Microsoft CRM Customization - Processing In/Out-Going Email Messages

We would like to give you several situations, when you... Read More

How to Evaluate Staffing Software

If you are in the market for new staffing software,... Read More

How To Develop Software For Your Business

Software development is a risky business.Many software developers are barely... Read More

Great Plains Dexterity ? Microsoft Great Plains Customization Overview

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains, former Great Plains Software Dynamics... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Customization Tools ? Overview

Former Great Plains Software Dynamics/eEnterprise, and currently Microsoft Business Solutions... Read More

Microsoft CRM Implementation for Large Corporation ? overview

Microsoft Business Solutions CRM is now approaching the phase of... Read More

How To Avoid Getting Hooked By Pfishing

"Pfishing", sometimes spelled "Phishing", is a word that's used to... Read More

Managing Stress in the Computer Industry - Five Steps to a Stress-free Life

It would be easy to think, like most people apparently... Read More

MultiNational Corporation ERP Implementation ? Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains

If you look back to the history, you will see... Read More

ERP Consulting: Microsoft Great Plains Partner Future Directions

In the Clinton era the status quo was simple: you... Read More

Cisco Certification: Introduction To ISDN, Part IV

In part III of this ISDN primer, we learned that... Read More

CROOK: A Methodology for the Refinement of Forward-Error Correction

Table of Contents1) Introduction 2) Related Work 3) Framework 4)... Read More

Groove Network. Are you in it?

If you are in a business that passes documents around... Read More

Microsoft CRM: Data Conversion ? Import from Act!

Best Software Act! is very popular CRM for small and... Read More

Call Alert Notifications - Free Answering Machine Software for PCs

If you're online using a dialup Internet connection, you'll probably... Read More

Upgrading Great Plains Dexterity Customization ? switching to new technologies: SQL, Crystal, eConne

1. Replace Dexterity cursor with SQL Stored Procedure Dexterity... Read More

Does your Company have Documentum?

Are you lost in the mess of documents that get... Read More

Software Development in 2005 - Back to the Future

2005 ? Back to the Future.What does the future hold?... Read More

Is Software Tester a Most Infamous Person in a Software Project Team?

The fact that a software tester is a most infamous... Read More