Following its acquisitions of SUSE Linux and Ximian, Waltham, Massachusetts-based Novell last year moved to position itself as a Linux and secure identity management software vendor, sidelining the GroupWise product.
Novell has moved to quell any doubts among GroupWise users, however, with plans for three new versions. The first, codenamed Sequoia, will be delivered this summer, followed by Aspen in 2006, and Cedar in 2008.
Novell holds a comfortable third position in the worldwide market for integrated collaborative environments (ICE), according to International Data Corp, but is a long way behind Microsoft Corp and IBM Corp.
IDC last year said Novell had 7.0% of the total $1.66bn ICE market in 2003, up 1.2%, with Microsoft and IBM battling it out for top spot with 46.4% and 42.7% respectively (Microsoft grew 6.2% to grab top spot from IBM, which fell 3.5%, according to the research firm). Novell will continue to struggle to shake the common perception that the ICE market is a two-horse race, noted IDC.
The company has taken some steps to change that by outlining a long-term commitment to its GroupWise email, calendaring, instant messaging, and document management server product.
GroupWise Sequoia will arrive in the summer with object application programming interfaces and enhancements to the standard GroupWise client, the cross-platform client, GroupWise WebAccess, and native access from Linux using Novell Evolution. Full details of Sequoia will be revealed in March at Novell’s BrainShare customer event.
GroupWise Aspen is currently scheduled for release in the fall of 2006 and will concentrate on improvements for team collaboration and new data backup capabilities, as well the enablement of more partner applications through programming interfaces.
Spring 2008 should see the delivery of GroupWise Cedar, which is focused on connecting GroupWise to users on any platform and further enhance team collaboration.
In October Novell UK technical director, Steve Gaines, outlined how the company was looking to increase team collaboration by incorporating Novell iFolder file access and management software into GroupWise with peer-to-peer capabilities to enable users to open up access to a document from their desktop to specified users.
