Collaboration solution delivers fully customizable, interactive workspace with the broadest platform support at a lower total cost of ownership compared with Microsoft Exchange

Novell today announced the availability of GroupWise® 8, the most flexible, cross-platform e-mail and calendaring solution on the market. With the broadest support for Windows*, Linux*, Mac* and the Web, GroupWise 8 gives customers a complete personal productivity solution at a lower total cost of ownership compared with Microsoft. This release boosts personal productivity with a customizable dashboard that allows users to interact with traditional tools such as e-mail, calendar, contacts and task lists as well as leverage popular Web 2.0-enabled team workspaces, blogs, RSS feeds and applications. Novell® GroupWise 8 is a comprehensive productivity solution that brings information to the forefront, helping users to stay focused and enabling organizations to remain competitive in today's around-the-clock, global business climate.

GroupWise 8 gives customers a secure, reliable collaboration solution at lower overall total capital investment than the leading competitor, allowing organizations to quickly realize value with a comparative ease-of-administration. GroupWise 8 also delivers maximum flexibility with the broadest platform support and the ability to run on multiple servers and clients, including Windows, Linux, Mac and the Web. Additionally, the fully customizable and interactive workspace enables users to interact with Web 2.0 and team collaboration tools without leaving their personalized dashboard, allowing them to monitor and manage multiple tasks at a high-level while working at a detail level.

”Email continues to serve as the primary communication engine for business, but organizations are recognizing the strategic value that popular tools, like instant messaging, blogs, wikis and social networking, bring to the table,” said Mark Levitt, program vice president, Collaboration and Enterprise 2.0 Strategies at IDC. “Integrated collaboration environments such as Novell GroupWise 8, that combine email, IM and Web 2.0 touch points, are well positioned to address the demand for these newer forms of communication as well as the increase in mobile workers and telecommuting, to help simplify communication, maintain business relationships and boost workforce productivity.”

GroupWise 8 Increases Productivity

Focused on making users productive and efficient, GroupWise 8 speeds communication and boosts collaboration with the following new features and enhancements:

• Interactive home view – The personal productivity dashboard brings Web 2.0 tools alongside traditional tools, allowing users to stay focused on their work without having to jump between applications to do their jobs.
• Support for hundreds of handheld devices – Supports hundreds of mobile devices, including iPhone*, BlackBerry* and Palm* to keep users connected and productive from anywhere.
• Enhanced calendar – Real-time calendaring with external publishing capabilities helps users coordinate with internal parties, external clients and contractors for an interconnected, seamless flow of work.
• Robust contact management – Integrated contact management allows users to embed relevant information like maps, photos and personal details into the contact file, providing a single location to help track, manage and build business relationships.
• Threaded discussions – Simplifies e-mail threads and allows users to manage communication quickly, efficiently and in the manner that works best for them.
• Intuitive task management – Allows users to prioritize tasks, add subtasks and visually track tasks through completion. Users can also turn e-mails into tasks, saving them time and effort moving action items received in e-mail directly on to their task list.

“Unified communication is fast becoming the linchpin of any organization's operation, making innovative collaboration tools essential for business success,” said Kent Erickson, senior vice president and general manager of Novell Workgroup Solutions. “GroupWise 8, which builds on Novell's 20 years of experience delivering innovative e-mail solutions and making IT work as one, offers customers the most flexible and powerful personal productivity tools available today with more security and reliability than any other solution on the market.”

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