It is no secret that BDO Kendalls has a Novell network in place. We also use Groupwise for our email and calendaring solution. Unfortunately, when you go looking for software that integrates into email – e.g. APS, document management systems – the stunned look on the salesman’s face when you mention you use Groupwise instead of Outlook is quickly followed up with ‘but of course our next version will support Groupwise’.Â
We had exactly this same experience when I used Lotus Notes.
So in response this week we started piloting MS Outlook over the top of our Groupwise server using the groupwise connector for MS Outlook. Generally I am sceptical of such things – I never believe that the connector that maps the server’s functionality to the client’s (i.e. Groupwise to Outlook) works as well as ‘the real thing’. Still, Outlook with the Groupwise connector works tolerably well – much better than Outlook used to work with Notes a few years ago. There are some glaring exceptions (archiving, proxying to other people’s calendars), so I am reserving judgement, but it is a fantastic leap forward as far as I am concerned – so far.