GroupWise is a solid E-mail and calendaring product; however, its appeal is limited primarily to NetWare/NDS environments. GroupWise 5.5 delivers what it should have included in v.5.0.
Core Topic
E-mail and Messaging ~ Electronic Workplace
Key Issue
How will messaging vendors differentiate themselves and survive in the face of market and industry turbulence?
Strategic Planning Assumptions
Through 2000, GroupWise will maintain, but not increase, its market presence (0.8 probability).
Investments in GroupWise as a messaging platform will be viable through at least 2003 (0.7 probability).
Novell will add POP3, IMAP4 and LDAP access to the GroupWise client by 4Q99 (0.7 probability).
Novell
Headquarters: Provo, Utah
Web Location: www.novell.com
GroupWise 5
NetWare, Unix, NT
n 1Q97 we advised clients to consider the higher business risk when evaluating GroupWise due to uncertainty of Novell’s future and its commitment to the product (see Note 1). Since 2H97, Novell has turned itself around, allaying concerns about the health of the company. Competitors have aggressively marketed programs to migrate users from GroupWise, but with year 2000 and slips in the next major releases of Lotus Notes and Microsoft Exchange, many GroupWise users have remained faithful. Through 2000, GroupWise will maintain, but not increase, its market presence (0.8 probability). GroupWise 5.5 did not introduce a major change in overall functionality (see Note 2). It did more to “catch up” with features already in competing products. V.5.5 did improve product quality and user satisfaction.
Note 1
1997 Novell Position
In 1997, Novell faced serious challenges as it was experiencing declining revenue streams and increasing lack of confidence among its installed base. In 1Q97, Novell and Netscape announced a new jointly funded, independent company named Novonyx, which introduced a new messaging product (Netscape Messaging Server on NetWare). The confusion and unclear positioning of these two products caused many enterprises to question the viability of GroupWise. Novell has since repositioned the Novonyx messaging product for ISPs only.
Note 2
GroupWise 5.5 Enhancements
- Calendaring (multiuser views, printing)
- Document management (librarian, document echoing)
- Security (S/MIME, PGP)
- Faster and more comprehensive search capabilities (full-text indexing)
- Native Internet addressing
- Support for vCard
- Added features in Web Access
- Native TCP/IP in post office agent
Strengths. GroupWise can be the best product for NDS-based enterprises requiring E-mail and calendaring, particularly for cost-conscious enterprises. The tight integration with NDS reduces management overhead by combining NOS and messaging information into a single directory, thus lowering operating costs for GroupWise. GroupWise does not require a total NetWare environment. Enterprises can deploy GroupWise on NT and Unix, but an NDS server is required. Ninety percent of GroupWise environments run their post offices on NetWare. GroupWise Web Access has provided best-of-breed browser access to E-mail and calendar; however, Novell has lagged its competitors in standards-enablement by six to 12 months. Novell will add POP3, IMAP4 and LDAP access to the GroupWise client by 4Q99 (0.7 probability). GroupWise also features good IDM and workflow capabilities.
Weaknesses: GroupWise is a weak choice when there are requirements for integrating applications with the messaging infrastructure. It has very shallow third-party support for add-on products, development tools and skilled labor (consultants, developers). Novell develops its own gateways because it kept the interface private, leading most third-party vendors to prioritize GroupWise connectors low in their product development cycle. Novell should offload development and support of gateways and focus on evolving GroupWise to native Internet standards, thus reducing or even removing the need for gateways. GroupWise supports the ability to mix shared-file and client/server architectures. While this provides support for older clients, it can expose enterprises to the reliability problems associated with shared-file technology.
Product Strategy: Novell’s strategy for GroupWise is to appeal to more than NetWare/NDS environments and to attract third-party support. GroupWise will support the Microsoft Outlook client for E-mail and calendaring (4Q99, 0.7 probability). This is a tactical (but smart) move by Novell to retain GroupWise, NetWare and NDS presence in enterprises committed to Microsoft client software. Novell hopes that NDS for NT will drive GroupWise on NT. The proposition of running NDS for NT will appeal to Novell’s installed base, but running GroupWise and NDS for NT will appeal to only 5 percent of non-NDS enterprises (0.7 probability).
The likely scenarios for the GroupWise strategy follow.
1. Novell retires or sells off GroupWise (0.2 probability). This scenario is unlikely seeing that GroupWise makes money for Novell, has reasonable market share, and introduces and maintains NDS into the enterprise.
2. GroupWise becomes a true contender alongside Lotus and Microsoft (0.2 probability). By 2H01, Novell will move GroupWise to a standards-based modular framework, allowing enterprises to build a workgroup platform from Novell and other integrated products and services (0.7 probability). The challenge Novell has is that enterprise product decisions will have been made by the time the new architecture is available. The dominance of Notes/Domino and Outlook/Exchange will impede Novell’s marketing of the new GroupWise architecture.
3. Through 2003, GroupWise’s appeal will remain limited primarily to NetWare/NDS environments (0.6 probability). In this scenario, the future of GroupWise will be directly impacted by the future market share of NetWare and NDS.
Strengths:
- Solid E-mail and calendaring product (with good IDM and workflow)
- Tight integration with NDS reduces administration and management overhead
- Low start-up, training and operation costs
- Excellent Web browser interface to mail and other functions
- Cross-platform support
Challenges:
- Strengthen third-party support
- Expand GroupWise appeal beyond NetWare/NDS-based enterprises
- Establish independence from NDS
Consider This Product When:
- NetWare and NDS are the underlying operating system and directory
- Requirements are for E-mail and calendaring
- Cost (operational and migration) is a primary selection criteria
Consider Alternatives When:
- The enterprise is not committed to and has no experience with NDS and NetWare
- Requirements include groupware and integrating applications with the messaging infrastructure
Acronym Key
IDM Integrated document management
ISP Internet service provider
NDS NetWare Directory Services
NOS Network operating system
Bottom Line: GroupWise 5.5 has improved product quality, but continues to appeal primarily to NetWare/NDS environments. Investments in GroupWise as an E-mail and calendaring platform are viable through at least 2003 (0.7 probability).
J. Browning, J. Graff
| This document has been published by: | ||
|---|---|---|
| Service | Date | Document # |
| Intranets & Electronic Workplace | 23 March 1999 | P-06-9519 |
| Electronic Messaging Directories and Workflow | 23 March 1999 | P-06-9519 |
| Office Systems | 23 March 1999 | P-06-9519 |
| PRISM for Electronic Workplace | 23 March 1999 | P-06-9519 |
| Electronic Mail | 23 March 1999 | P-06-9519 |
| Integrated Messaging | 23 March 1999 | P-06-9519 |
| Spectrum for Midsize Enterprises | 26 March 1999 | P-06-9519 |
