OWx2OWx2Online Workspace WhizzesOnline Workspace Whizzes

Share, Collaborate, CommunicateA look inside team portals and web office environments

Maria Morales, Betsy Dugas, Kathrine Meus, Brendan O’Connor, Josh Westerlund

Project site: http://owx2.pbwiki.com/

Team portals and Web Office Team portals and Web Office Environments definedEnvironments defined

A team portal is the web solution for A team portal is the web solution for managing :managing :

projectsprojects

team work productsteam work products

team members schedulesteam members schedules

resources attributed within the teamresources attributed within the team

Outline

General AffordencesProduct Overview– Zoho Business– Central Desktop– Sosius Hyper Office

Interactive Demo Huddle

Insights from the Project

General Affordances

All products reviewed met these general affordances:

Calendar

Documents with versions

Group Discussion Tools

Task Management

Groups or Projects

For more details see http://owx2.pbwiki.com/Collaboration%20Affordances

Brief Overview of Products

Zoho Business

Central Desktop

Sosius

Huddle

Hyper Office

List of all products evaluated:– http://owx2.pbwiki.com/Groupware%20Selections

Zoho BusinessZoho Business

Zoho Business is aimed at small and Zoho Business is aimed at small and medium sized organizations with limited IT medium sized organizations with limited IT support and staff. support and staff.

Find a full write-up on Zoho Business at Find a full write-up on Zoho Business at the OWx2 Wiki the OWx2 Wiki (http://owx2.pbwiki.com/Zoho-Business)(http://owx2.pbwiki.com/Zoho-Business)

Zoho BusinessZoho Business

ProsPros– Very nice web office environment with Very nice web office environment with

collaborative editing.collaborative editing.– Ability to create different groups with their own Ability to create different groups with their own

“home”.“home”.– Each group home has their own task list, Each group home has their own task list,

calendar, and link list features.calendar, and link list features.– Relatively easy to use and manage. Low Relatively easy to use and manage. Low

learning curve.learning curve.

Zoho BusinessZoho Business

Collaborative EditingCollaborative Editing

Shows changes in real timeShows changes in real time

Zoho BusinessZoho Business

Cons:Cons:– The group spaces do not provide a group The group spaces do not provide a group

discussion tool via wikis or blogs.discussion tool via wikis or blogs.– It is still in beta and has a number of bugs.It is still in beta and has a number of bugs.– Document sharing needs to be improved Document sharing needs to be improved

upon. Cannot share documents with groups upon. Cannot share documents with groups you have setup in Zoho Business. you have setup in Zoho Business.

Central DesktopCentral DesktopProvides collaboration tools for small to Provides collaboration tools for small to medium sized companiesmedium sized companiesWide range of tools to support teamsWide range of tools to support teamsFlexible plans that include pay as you goFlexible plans that include pay as you goSmall company with great upsideSmall company with great upside

Project reporting tool

Calendaring options

Central Desktop

Central DesktopCentral Desktop

Small company means limited resourcesSmall company means limited resourcesSecurity-The issue that software cannot be Security-The issue that software cannot be installed on company servers may present installed on company servers may present issues with larger corporationsissues with larger corporations

Full evaluation can be found here:Full evaluation can be found here:http://owx2.pbwiki.com/Central-Desktop

Monday, May 5, 2008 – ended Beta“Widgets” used in OO interfaceFound 2 bugs they fixed right awayCool Dashboard of PortletsPoised for 3rd party ExtensibilityEvery Widget is “tagable”Almost Every widget is “RSS”able

Main Dashboard

Main Calendar

summarizes events of all

my calendars

Groups take me to

Dashboards

Workspaces take me to

folder view of stuff and

shared items

Workspace View

Sosius in Summary

Basic package with lots of potential.Great for technically savy groups

Full evaluation can be found here:– http://owx2.pbwiki.com/SOSIUS

HyperOffice

Tailor-made intranets, extranets and customer portals, complete with dynamic collaboration toolsFast access to one another's calendars, inboxes, document storage, contact lists, discussion groups, projects and tasksExamples: customer portals, partner portals, management portals, employee portals...etc. 

HyperOffice

Target Company:– Small to Medium Sized Company: Internal and

External Clients

Full write-up can be found at the OWx2 Full write-up can be found at the OWx2 Wiki (http://owx2.pbwiki.com/Hyper-Office)Wiki (http://owx2.pbwiki.com/Hyper-Office)

HyperOfficePros– Easy, clear navigation separates personal from

group items/tasks– Rich Calendar with ability to overlay all

calendars into one– Offers security, integrity and data back up

Cons– Storage Space is limited. Large businesses

would have to purchase extra– It is not totally free ($5/month/user)– May require special user training

Hyper Office Calendar Demo

HuddleHuddle

Huddle caters to all types of organizations, Huddle caters to all types of organizations, including government, but particularly to including government, but particularly to those with limited or no resources to IT those with limited or no resources to IT supportsupport

Full write-up can be found at the OWx2 Full write-up can be found at the OWx2 Wiki (http://owx2.pbwiki.com/Huddle)Wiki (http://owx2.pbwiki.com/Huddle)

Huddle

Pros– Wiki-style collaboration via Whiteboards– Commenting capabilities on all types of

content: whiteboards, files, tasks, etc.– Social networking via integration with

Facebook– Full onsite setup, training and extended

support for enterprise packages– Open API allows integration with existing

applications or additional development on top of Huddle

Huddle

Cons– Calendaring functionality is weak: no support

for recurring meetings or tasks– Profile information is not searchable, detracts

from knowledge discovery capabilities

Huddle

Take me to the demo!

Team Portal Trivia

Zoho Editor is used by:– Sosius– Huddle

Products that allow users to see free time on other people's calendar– Central Desktop– Hyper Office