Many of us have come to rely on and live by e-mail. What else would we do if we didn’t have to check tens or hundreds of messages daily? The applications responsible for our e-mail addictions are lumped into a category called groupware, only groupware is much more than e-mail. It is also personal calendaring, group scheduling, task management, document management, workflow, imaging, electronic forms, electronic faxing, electronic discussions and much more.

Groupware systems connect us to the Internet. Groupware systems connect us to our work groups and the rest of the company, and provide fast and easy forms of communication. Groupware systems eliminate paperwork and save time by taking information from our purchasing and accounting software and automatically routing it to the authorizing managers, then sending it to the fulfillment destination. Groupware systems act as libraries by indexing huge amounts of information and making it available with a quick search for content, author, subject, date, etc. The uses and applications of groupware products and features are endless.

The three big players in the groupware arena are Lotus Notes, Microsoft Exchange, and Novell GroupWise. Each has different ways of delivering the above listed features and forms of communication. However, each also has their strengths and weaknesses. This article isn’t a sales pitch for one product or another. It is a list of “Dos and Don’ts” when implementing a groupware system. I have broken it up into four major sections: Planning, Testing, Implementation, and Administration and Support. I have to admit that the majority of my experience has been with Novell GroupWise, so I may focus on issues related to that product. All of the concepts discussed, however, are relevant to any groupware application.

In this series of articles, I have tried to express the importance of upfront planning and continued support of the groupware system implementation. I’ve heard some organizations respond with comments like, “If it’s that complex we shouldn’t be using it.” Comments like these typically come from individuals that only see the groupware client application. It is nearly impossible for them to realize the complexity of the backend needed to drive the system. Yes, groupware systems are complex. Groupware systems require some level of complexity to provide the many robust, and some would say essential, communication features for end-users. The complexity is generally only seen by the IS staff who are educated and intelligent enough to make such a great application provide so much benefit to your organization. So, to sum it up:

Planning
Get a reputable and knowledgeable consultant to help plan and design your groupware system. Take your time to properly setup and configure the system.

Testing
Train a beta test group of users to use the system. Test the system in small workgroups.
Implementation
Slowly roll it out into production group by group.

Administration and Support
Make sure you can give enough focused attention to your groupware system. Maintain the system on a regular basis.

You’ll come to rely on the groupware system and wonder how you ever got anything done without it in the first place.