Groupware Technology (sameer)

Groupware Technology

1. INTRODUCTION Groupware is technology designed to be used by groups of people for sharing information. Groupware applications are becoming more and more popular now. Groupware is an environment where all users can share their documents. It is a platform where they can perform daily task of communicating, collaborating and coordinating with others. It automates business processes by using workflow management and collaborated computing techniques. Groupware applications like e-mail, workflow systems, group calendars, chat systems, decision support system are easy but very powerful. As Groupware is advantageous over single user system, it has high demand and many companies are specializing in developing Groupware based applications.

S.S.G.M.C.E., Shegaon.

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Groupware Technology

2. WHAT IS GROUPWARE? Groupware is technology designed to facilitate the work of groups. This technology may be used to communicate, cooperate, coordinate, solve problems, compete, or negotiate. While traditional technologies like the telephone qualify as groupware, the term is ordinarily used to refer to a specific class of technologies relying on modern computer networks, such as email, newsgroups, videophones, or chat. Groupware technologies are typically categorized along two primary dimensions: 1. Whether users of the groupware are working together at the same time ("realtime"

or

"synchronous"

groupware)

or

different

times

("asynchronous" groupware), and 2. Whether users are working together in the same place ("colocated" or "faceto-face") or in different places ("non-colocated" or "distance").

Same Place “Colocated”

Different Place “Distance”

S.S.G.M.C.E., Shegaon.

Same time

Different time

“Synchronous”

“Asynchronous”

Voting, presentation support Videophones, chat

Shared computers Email, workflow

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Groupware Technology

3. LOTUS MODEL OF GROUPWARE Let us consider the Lotus model of Groupware

The figure 1 shows three intersecting circles. Communication, Collaboration and Coordination. When you work in an organization, you are actually working in a number of groups. So you can consider yourself as a member and part of the groups. When you talk to the sales representative you are actually communicating. When you put up a proposal for new accounting software and request others to give their opinions, you are collaborating. When you ask the manager to sign a statement, you are coordinating.

S.S.G.M.C.E., Shegaon.

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Groupware Technology

4. GROUPWARE: APPLICATIONS i) Asynchronous Groupware Applications 

Email is by far the most common groupware application (besides of course, the traditional telephone). While the basic technology is designed to pass simple messages between 2 people, even relatively basic email systems today typically include interesting features for forwarding messages, filing messages, creating mailing groups, and attaching files with a message. Other features that have been explored include: automatic sorting and processing of messages, automatic routing, and structured communication (messages requiring certain information).



Workflow systems allow documents to be routed through organizations through a relatively-fixed process. A simple example of a workflow application is an expense report in an organization: an employee enters an expense report and submits it, a copy is archived then routed to the employee's manager for approval, the manager receives the document, electronically approves it and sends it on and the expense is registered to the group's account and forwarded to the accounting department for payment. Workflow systems may provide features such as routing, development of forms, and support for differing roles and privileges.



Group calendars allow scheduling, project management, and coordination among many people, and may provide support for scheduling equipment as well. Typical features detect when schedules conflict or find meeting times

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that will work for everyone. Group calendars also help to locate people. Typical concerns are privacy (users may feel that certain activities are not public matters), completeness and accuracy (users may feel that the time it takes to enter schedule information is not justified by the benefits of the calendar).

ii) Synchronous or Realtime Groupware Applications 

Shared whiteboards allow two or more people to view and draw on a shared drawing surface even from different locations. This can be used, for instance, during a phone call, where each person can jot down notes (e.g. a name, phone number, or map) or to work collaboratively on a visual problem. Most shared whiteboards are designed for informal conversation, but they may also serve structured communications or more sophisticated drawing tasks, such as collaborative graphic design, publishing, or engineering applications. Shared whiteboards can indicate where each person is drawing or pointing by showing telepointers, which are colorcoded or labeled to identify each person.



Chat systems permit many people to write messages in realtime in a public space. As each person submits a message, it appears at the bottom of a scrolling screen. Chat groups are usually formed by having listing chat rooms by name, location, number of people, topic of discussion, etc. Many systems allow for rooms with controlled access or with moderators to lead the discussions, but most of the topics of interest to

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Groupware Technology

researchers involve issues related to unmoderated realtime communication including: anonymity, following the stream of conversation, scalability with number of users, and abusive users. While chat-like systems are possible using non-text media, the text version of chat has the rather interesting aspect of having a direct transcript of the conversation, which not only has long-term value, but allows for backward reference during conversation making it easier for people to drop into a conversation and still pick up on the ongoing discussion. 

Decision support systems are designed to facilitate groups in decisionmaking. They provide tools for brainstorming, critiquing ideas, putting weights and probabilities on events and alternatives, and voting. Such systems enable presumably more rational and even-handed decisions. Primarily designed to facilitate meetings, they encourage equal participation by, for instance, providing anonymity or enforcing turn-taking.

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Groupware Technology

5. GROUPWARE: DESIGN As with all user interface design, the method used for designing a groupware system is more significant than specific design suggestions. This introduction thus begins with the groupware design process. The remaining sections address some of the most common issues that face groupware designers.

i) The Groupware Design Process It's best to start by gaining a solid understanding of your prospective users, what their goals are, and how they go about their work. For broadly-targeted groupware applications, such as videophones or email, understanding users can boil down to understanding how human beings communicate in the first place. A design is also best informed by conducting user studies on system prototypes. In these cases user testing is often significantly more difficult than with single-user systems for the following reasons:  Organizing and scheduling for groups is more difficult than for individuals.  Pre-established groups vary in interaction style, and the length of time they've been a group affects their communication patterns.  New groups change quickly during the group formation process.  Groups are dynamic; roles change.  Many studies need to be long-term, especially when studying asynchronous groupware. S.S.G.M.C.E., Shegaon.

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Groupware Technology

 Modifying prototypes can be technically difficult because of the added complexity of groupware over single-user software. When designing groupware, it is often best to begin with field studies. The goal is to understand a particular type of group or organization that will be using the groupware system. A number of different studies can be conducted: interviews, surveys, analysis of artifacts used in the work process, examination of processes and workflows, etc. In all cases, the object is to identify the users' tasks and goals, understand how the group communicates and determine the power structures and roles.

ii) Interoperability In the early 90s, AT&T and MCI both introduced videophones commercially, but their two systems couldn't communicate with each other. This lack of interoperability/compatibility meant that anyone who wanted to buy a videophone had to make sure that everyone they wanted to talk to would buy the same system. Compatibility issues lead to general wariness among customers, who want to wait until a clear standard has emerged.

iii) Perceived Benefit Even when everyone in the group may benefit, if the choice is made by individuals, the system may not succeed. An example is with office calendar systems: if everyone enters all of their appointments, then everyone has the benefit of being able to safely schedule around other people's appointments. However, if it's not easy to enter your appointments, then it may S.S.G.M.C.E., Shegaon.

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Groupware Technology

be perceived by users as more beneficial to leave their own appointments off, while viewing other people's appointments.

iv) Session Control A session is a situation where a group of people are in a conversation together at a given time, such as a group of people together in a chat room or people talking together over the telephone. Metaphorically, session control is like a person standing at the door of a room checking IDs and deciding who gets to go in. Session control issues include finding out what rooms are available, determining who can enter and exit the room, and when and how. Here are some suggested policies for session control:  Decide what limits there are to who can join a session. Are there limits to the number of people or to who is qualified to enter?  Allow people to join and leave at any time. Provide a "polite" protocol for doing so. Let people comfortably enter and leave conversations through continuous degrees of commitment and intrusion.  Provide a means for preventing interruptions.  Facilitate people getting together. Provide mechanisms for identifying appropriate conversational partners.  Provide a means for setting up side conferences.

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Groupware Technology

v) Floor Control Once people have joined a conversational session, it must be decided what kind of access each person has to shared artifacts, or conversational props. For instance, when using a shared whiteboard, can everyone draw on it at the same time (simultaneous access), can only one person access it at a time (by passing a token, or baton), is there a moderator who controls access, and is there a time limit for each person? Of course, some intermediate solutions are also possible. For instance, in the shared whiteboard example, there can be multiple whiteboards. Some may be personal and others shared. Personal whiteboards may be visible to other users but non-editable by other users. This allows everyone to work simultaneously without interfering with the work of others.

vi) Privacy  Privacy, Security, and Anonymity Whenever using groupware, some information needs to be shared, and there is a concern that all other information remain private, and that critical information be secure even against aggressive attempts to obtain the information. In many situations, users choose to be anonymous or use a consistent pseudonym. Anonymity can be crucial in encouraging fair participation in discussions and is useful for providing protection from harassment.

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Groupware Technology

 Sharing Information, Identification, and Accountability On the other hand, there is continuing pressure to share more information. The more information gets shared, the more easily common ground can be achieved. Sharing information about yourself enables many systems to provide more useful customization and matching to your interests. Furthermore, while anonymity can protect an individual, there are also quite legitimate reasons for identifying people for accountability, especially where security and the risk of abusive behavior are involved.

 Control and Reciprocity To resolve these conflicting needs, it's important to give users as much control as possible over what information gets shared and what remains private. Let users decide how much information to share, and use that to determine what kinds of information they can access. One example of privacy policy is the principle of reciprocity: if a user wants information about another user, then they must provide the equivalent information about themselves. Reciprocity isn't always the right policy, but serves as a useful starting point.

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Groupware Technology

6. ADVANTAGES OF GROUPWARE Groupware offers significant advantages over single-user systems. These are some of the most common reasons people want to use groupware:  to facilitate communication: make it faster, clearer, more persuasive  to enable communication where it wouldn't otherwise be possible  to enable telecommuting  to cut down on travel costs  to bring together multiple perspectives and expertise  to save time and cost in coordinating group work  to facilitate group problem-solving In addition to the benefits of groupware, another good reason to study usability and design issues in groupware is to avoid a failed design.

S.S.G.M.C.E., Shegaon.

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Groupware Technology

7. CONCLUSION This is what Groupware is all about. Thus we have seen the utilities and the advantages of groupware in organizations. Hence Groupware is the best solution to provide faster communication, to form groups with common interest where it wouldn’t be possible to gather a sufficient number of people face to face, to solve group problems easily. That’s why more and more people are realizing its utility and are shifting to Groupware. This is today’s stage. This stage lays solid foundation for tomorrow.

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Groupware Technology

BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Groupware with Lotus Notes - APTECH Computer Education. 2. http://www.googlesearch.com 3. http://www.usibilityfirst.com

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Groupware Technology

Name

: Mr. Sameer G. Kerhalkar

Address

: Godbole Plot, Dabki Road, Old City, Akola – 444002

S.S.G.M.C.E., Shegaon.

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