13Issue 17, Q1 2012OPEN HORIZONS MAGAZINE

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The recent release of Novell GroupWise 2012 has a significant mobility emphasis, with new features and functionality designed to give your people the ability to roam freely—and productively. But the emphasis on enhanced mobility doesn’t stop with GroupWise. Mobility has been and will continue to be a major focus for Novell Data Synchronizer, Novell Messenger and Novell Vibe.

Recharge Mobility with GroupWise 2012

Mobility can be viewed as the major theme for Novell GroupWise 2012. Novell did more work and provided more enhancements in the area of mobility than any other in the latest release of GroupWise. These enhancements fall under two main umbrellas: more iPad options and greater WebAccess functionality.

Novell has long provided iPad support for Novell GroupWise through the Novell Data Synchronizer Mobility Pack, which enables a users’ GroupWise data to be synchronized from their post office to any ActiveSync-enabled device. While this capability addresses the mobility needs of users with corporate-issued or managed iPads, it doesn’t help users who want to get their e-mail and check on appointments with their personal iPads. Not only does GroupWise 2012 address that need with a new iPad support option, but it does so in a manner that alleviates the data security concerns associated with unmanaged devices.

Based on Novell GroupWise WebAccess technology, this iPad support option employs a customized template—designed specifically for the iPad form factor and UI—to let users access their GroupWise post offices directly from their iPads. A nice aspect of this option is that it doesn’t require IT to provision a new account or deploy

any new software or hardware. And users don’t have to call the helpdesk, or purchase or download an app to take advantage of it. They simply go to the Safari Web browser on their iPad, navigate to the GroupWise WebAccess portal, and then begin viewing and creating email messages, appointments, tasks and notes. They can also view attachments, save message drafts and look inside folders. (Note: watch for this same functionality for Android and Playbook tablets in the near future).

From a data security perspective, this iPad support option doesn’t synchronize or store data on the device. Data is simply viewed and transferred in the moment. As soon as the user logs out, the data is no longer there. So, if the iPad gets lost or compromised in some way, the collaboration data will not be there or accessible.

In addition to the new iPad option, GroupWise 2012 enhanced its mobility story with significant improvements to WebAccess that not only enable your users to be more productive while away from the office, but also make it an even more appealing alternative over desktop clients while in the office. There’s nothing to install or deploy, and it gives you the access you need from any machine. You simply browse to the WebAccess portal and you’re in.

With the new enhancements, what you’ll notice right off is that the WebAccess interface has been completely refreshed with a new look and feel that’s easier to use and interact with. It also has a new color, font and icon scheme that’s easier on the eyes. It uses the same corporate branding that you’ll find in Novell Vibe—and that will eventually be introduced into the Windows client as well as other Novell interfaces.

In addition to the UI refresh, WebAccess delivers many

GroupWise 2012: Roam Productively

by Kari Woolf

The world continues to become more and more mobile. Mobile device proliferation—and end user insistence on bringing their devices of choice into the workplace—reign supreme. As a result, you might find yourself in the role of the evil gatekeeper, always trying to beat back users’ unreasonable demands for greater freedom in mobile collaboration and connectivity. Novell changes all that, giving you the power to keep users connected and productive no matter how far or fast they go. From iPhones to iPads, and from Droids to a wide array of other smartphones, Novell provides ultra-mobile collaboration solutions that keep your users happy while reducing your administrative load and meeting your security and data governance needs.

KARI SMITH WOOLF is a Senior Product Marketing Manager for Novell GroupWise and the Collaboration Marketing Lead at Novell. She has worked at Novell for fourteen years in a variety of roles, including field marketing, marketing communications, solutions marketing, and product marketing. Her background includes seven years as a Content Director and Account Manager for a live events marketing agency serving national clients like 3Com, Dell, Franklin Covey, and Novell. She began her career as a documentation editor for WordPerfect and still loves to write every chance she gets. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from Brigham Young University

14 Issue 17, Q1 2012 OPEN HORIZONS MAGAZINE

of the high productivity features that your remote and mobile users have been asking for. Creating recurring appointments is much easier now with a very simple and straightforward graphical-calendar UI that lets you easily select and customize daily, weekly, monthly or yearly appointments. (See Figure 1.) The Windows client in GroupWise 2012 now also uses this same re-occurrence model.

The busy search has been revamped in WebAccess too. Instead of being completely text-based, it offers a graphical interface for busy searches. You can drag appointments around the calendar and immediately see who’s busy and who’s not. This lets you quickly find a date and time that’s available for everyone who is needed at the meeting. This new busy search interface will soon make its way into the other GroupWise clients as well. (See Figure 2.)

The ability to sort on column headers in your main mailbox and other folders has also been added to WebAccess. Instead of just having a static sort on date, you can now click on a column header and automatically sort items based on Name, Subject, Date or Size.

Message signatures have also been improved in GroupWise WebAccess. There is no longer inconsistency between your signature in WebAccess and your standard desktop client. If you update a signature in WebAccess, that change will be reflected in your Windows client and vice versa. WebAccess also allows you to now have multiple signatures, including plain text and HTML signatures.

In your personal address book in WebAccess, you now have the ability to add photos to your contacts. Whether

you add the photo from WebAccess or the GroupWise Windows client, the contact photo will show up in both places. Some new group management capabilities have also been added to WebAccess, which make it much easier to create new groups and manage distribution lists in your personal address book.

In addition to the visible enhancements to GroupWise WebAccess, there have been some significant behind-the-scenes improvements. The overall WebAccess architecture has been streamlined to facilitate more frequent feature additions. A number of improvements have been made to the post office agent to speed up performance. The code path for WebAccess has been optimized for even more efficient data retrieval and transfer, which has the direct benefit of providing a scalability boost. And WebAccess incorporates a number of additional optimizations that result in faster downloads and page loads.

All of these enhancements to GroupWise WebAccess allow your users to be more productive no matter where they happen to be. The new features and functionality also make WebAccess an even more viable alternative to a desktop client, which has the potential to ultimately reduce your IT administration burden by diminishing the need to touch desktops or roll out updates to your client machines.

Synchronized Mobility

While you’ve long had the ability with the Novell Data Synchronizer Mobility Pack to synchronize collaboration data back and forth in real-time between Novell GroupWise and your different mobile devices, Mobility Pack 1.2, released this past August, further boosts mobile productivity. First off, it provides supports for iOS 5. So if your users haven’t already, they can upgrade their

Figure 1: Creating re-occurring appointments in WebAccess has become even easier with a new graphical-calendar UI.

Figure 2: The graphical interface for busy search in WebAccess expedites and simplifies meeting setups.

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15Issue 17, Q1 2012OPEN HORIZONS MAGAZINE

iPhones and iPads to the latest Apple OS and know that all of their e-mails, schedules, contacts, and notes will continue to be synchronized. Task support will be added early in 2012.

In addition to iOS 5 support, the current version of the Mobility Pack also provides HTML email support on your Apple mobile devices. So instead of just getting plain text e-mail on your iPhone and iPad, Mobility Pack 1.2 lets you enjoy the rich content that HTML provides. In the Eenou release coming later this year rich HTML content will be extended to Androids and other devices.

Mobility Pack 1.2 also increased scalability from 200 devices to 500 devices per server. This essentially lowers your cost to run mobility servers, since you’ll be able to deploy and manage fewer servers. Scalability will continue to be a focal point for the Novell Data Synchronizer Mobility Pack moving forward. Its next scalability target is 750 devices per server. This kind of increased scalability not only has the potential to lower your costs, but it introduces increased efficiencies and throughput that will allow you to run additional Data Synchronizer connectors on your servers.

Novell Messenger and Vibe Mobility

Novell Vibe now has mobile apps that let you access your Vibe workspaces and data from your iPhone or Android device. After you download the app from either the Apple App Store or the Android Market, you simply launch it and then enter the name of your Vibe site, its URL and your authentication information. After that, every time you launch the app it will display the Vibe mobile app home page. (See Figure 3.)

In addition to setting up a primary default Novell Vibe site, you can configure additional Vibes sites to connect to and switch between on your mobile device as desired.

For connecting to Novell Vibe from devices other than iPhone or Android, you simply enter the URL of your organization’s Vibe site, and Vibe will automatically detect that you’re using a mobile device and load the mobile interface. If for some reason it displays the regular Vibe interface instead of the mobile interface, simply add “/mobile” to the end of the Vibe URL.

Additionally, in 2012 Novell will introduce a new Novell Vibe Desktop that helps users be even more mobile with their Vibe data. The Vibe Desktop lets you synchronize your Vibe files with your computer, so you can view or modify them without actually accessing the Vibe site directly. Any additions or modifications you make to your Vibe data will automatically be synchronized between Vibe and your computer.

And in 2012, Novell Messenger is going mobile too. The next release of Novell Messenger will have iPhone and Android apps that will let you connect to your Novell Messenger server to see your buddy lists and instigate and participate in chat sessions. Coming next will be Web browser support for Novell Messenger so you can instant message—using the GroupWise WebAccess or Novell Vibe interface—from any computer. With this added mobility support, Novell Messenger will also no longer automatically kick you off one connection if you log in from another client. So, you’ll be able to keep a session open on your desktop while you chat on your iPhone or Android. For the latest details on roadmaps for Novell GroupWise and related products, check out the new interactive roadmap application at http://www.novell.com/gwroadmap.

Get Mobile, Get Productive

Novell has and will continue to put significant effort into enabling you to roam productively. It’s committed to addressing and keeping up with your mobility needs. What’s the onus for you? Get and stay current with the latest Novell collaboration offerings. You’ll reap huge mobility rewards for doing so—and your organization will see the productivity boost to prove it. To learn how you can get as mobile with your infrastructure as your users are with their work, visit http://www.novell.com/products/groupwise/, http://www.novell.com/products/vibe/, and http://www.novell.com/products/data-synchronizer/.

Figure 3: The Vibe mobility apps make it even easier to collaborate and stay connected to your team while on the road.

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New Releases: A Year Of Expectation

Issue 17, Q1 2012

ZENworks Application Virtualization I Mobile Device Management I GroupWise 2012 I Bundle Commander I Success Story I MS-Office Add-In for Novell Vibe I Introducing OES11 I Service

Management I ZCM 11 SP2 I Giving Customers A Voice I Ask the Experts

4 Issue 17, Q1 2012 OPEN HORIZONS MAGAZINE

Open Horizons Magazine

LEGAL NOTE: Entire contents copyright . All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without prior written permission of the magazine‘s editorial team or the author.

This publication is provided as is. All the information provided is for general discussion only. The views ex-pressed are solely those of the authors and do not reflect the views of their firm, any of their clients, or officials of the Open Horizons community. The publisher is not responsible for any errors, inadequacies, misuse, or the consequences of using any of the information provided. Open Horizons Magazine is published independently of Novell, which is not responsible in any way for its content.

The rights of Novell Inc with respect to all their trademarks and registered trademarks is recognised. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their owners and are used for editorial or identifi-cation purposes.

Open Horizons Magazine is published quarterly by the Open Horizons Community - www.open-horizons.net

Chief Editor Robin Redgrave | robin@open-horizons.net

Editorial Team Sander van Vugt | sander@open-horizons.net

Corne Groesbeek | corne@open-horizons.net

John Ellis | john@open-horizons.net

Production Control & Layout John Ellis | john@open-horizons.net

Contents

Editorial Team Open Horizons Magazine is distributed free of charge to members. For further information on how to become a member of Open Horizons go to www.open-horizons.net.

3 Editorial: Re:Launch

5 ZENworks Application Virtualization

9 Mobile Device Management: Is ActiveSync The Complete Solution

13 Groupwise 2012: Roam Productively

16 Giving Customers A Voice In The Future Of Groupwise

18 ITs Perfect Storm - Time For Change Or Be Changed

20 Introducing OES11

24 Tune Your ZCM Bundles With Bundle Commander

28 Success Story: Kent And Medway Health Informatics Service

30 First Look: The Microsoft Office Add-In for Novell Vibe

34 Ask The Experts: ZENworks 11.2 Is Coming

36 Ask The Experts: GroupWise

37 Ask The Experts: Vibe

39 Community News: Bringing Novell Collaboration To A Language Near You!

Cover image: Copyright istockphoto/teekid

www.novell.com/oes

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