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Messaging Delivery Options: Novell GroupWise
A combination messaging system and document management system, Novell's GroupWise offers useful collaborative functions that don't require an extraordinary amount of custom development. Like its competitors, GroupWise features messaging, calendaring and resource scheduling. But its document-centric view--complete with document versioning and revision control--is unique for a groupware product.

GroupWise also is the only enterprise messaging product that integrates with an external directory service (Novell's NDS). All user information and system configuration is administered through the directory service, which serves as the source of its address book.

Now in release 5.5, GroupWise embraces Internet-standard protocols on its server side. It supports POP3 and IMAPv4 clients, as well as an Internet (SMTP/ MIME) gateway. GroupWise can also detect whether remote MTAs are GroupWise post offices when transferring mail across the Internet, and thus natively replicate messages (and other functions) between sites.

Like many other groupware players, Novell offers Web-based client access to mailboxes, as well as document libraries. However, GroupWise Web Access also performs on-the-fly conversion of various document types to HTML.

GroupWise is the only groupware messaging product that doesn't include some form of message encryption or digital signature features. According to Novell, GroupWise supports S/MIME and PGP through products from Entrust and Network Associates, respectively. On the other hand, Novell also is the only major groupware vendor to offer a unified messaging solution to integrate voicemail and fax traffic in a single mailbox through its GroupWise PhoneAccess.

However, we are bothered by the fact that Novell was unwilling to divulge any details on forthcoming releases of GroupWise. The vendor mentioned only that future versions of GroupWise will "expand business-to-business collaboration" and that more collaborative functions will be exposed through the Web interface.