XML opens messaging system to better data integration
Novell Inc. is taking steps to open its GroupWise messaging platform to more users, more applications and more data.
For starters, the next version of the Provo, Utah, company’s software has integrated support for XML (Extensible Markup Language), allowing better integration of outside products and services.
The new release, code-named BulletProof and due in the second half of the year, is characterized by officials as a “major” overhaul, exposing the entire back end of GroupWise and its APIs.
“We introduced the XML architecture so that the third-party developers would be able to get to the product from both the server and client sides,” said Leif Pedersen, director of product management for directories and applications at Novell.
And though a beta version won’t ship until summer, users are already encouraged by such enhancements as XML support.
“The XML architecture is a great improvement,” said Bob Baraldi, director of IT at Springfield Technical Community College, in Springfield, Mass. “I really like the fact that we’ll be able to integrate the third-party tools into the product now.”
XML will enable users to access different types of documents and data that never worked with GroupWise before, said Dana Gardner, an analyst at Aberdeen Group, in Boston. “In previous versions, you wouldn’t have been able to grab an object in an Oracle database and send it out in a message,” Gardner said. “But now you can.”
This release also updates the software’s WebAccess feature and promises to offer users access to their GroupWise data on any Web-enabled device, including cell phones, PDAs (personal digital assistants) and pagers, officials said. Users of the current version of GroupWise can have their e-mail forwarded to a cell phone or PDA but can’t respond to messages or access the calendar or other features.
“The improved WebAccess will be a big help because I want to be able to network my PC and my laptop and my Palm V,” said Paul Kiesel, an attorney with Kiesel, Boucher & Larson, in Beverly Hills, Calif., and a GroupWise user.
“If I’m away from the office, I want to be able to get to all of my data,” Kiesel added.
A smarter GroupWise
The upgrade’s enhancements:
XML infrastructure with exposed APIs
Support for server clustering
Access to data from Web-enabled devices
Secure Sockets Layer security
By Dennis Fisher, eWEEK
March 6, 2000 12:00 AM ET
