Collaborative software

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Collaborative software or groupware is an application software designed to help
people involved in a common task to achieve their goals. One of the earliest def
initions of collaborative software is 'intentional group processes plus software
to support them.'[1]
Collaborative software is a broad concept that overlaps considerably with comput
er-supported cooperative work (CSCW). According to Carstensen and Schmidt (1999)
[2] groupware is part of CSCW. The authors claim that CSCW, and thereby groupwar
e, addresses "how collaborative activities and their coordination can be support
ed by means of computer systems." Software products such as email, calendaring,
text chat, wiki, and bookmarking belong to this category whenever used for group
work, whereas the more general term social software applies to systems used out
side the workplace, for example, online dating services and social networking si
tes like Twitter and Facebook.
The use of collaborative software in the work space creates a collaborative work
ing environment (CWE).
Finally, collaborative software relates to the notion of collaborative work syst
ems, which are conceived as any form of human organization that emerges any time
that collaboration takes place, whether it is formal or informal, intentional o
r unintentional.[3] Whereas the groupware or collaborative software pertains to
the technological elements of computer-supported cooperative work, collaborative
work systems become a useful analytical tool to understand the behavioral and o
rganizational variables that are associated to the broader concept of CSCW.[4][5
]
Contents [hide]
1
Origins
2
Groupware
2.1
Design and implementation issues
3
Groupware and levels of collaboration
3.1
Collaborative management (coordination) tools
4
Collaborative software and human interaction
5
Notable collaborative software vendors
6
See also
6.1
Closely related terms
6.2
Groupware type of applications
6.3
Other related type of applications
6.4
Other related terms
6.5
Lists of collaborative software
7
References
Origins[edit]
See also: MUD
Douglas Engelbart first envisioned collaborative computing in 1951 and documente
d his vision in 1962,[6] with working prototypes in full operational use by his
research team by the mid-1960s,[7] and held the first public demonstration of hi
s work in 1968 in what is now referred to as "The Mother of All Demos."[8] The f
ollowing year, Engelbart's lab was hooked into the ARPANET, the first computer n
etwork, enabling them to extend services to a broader userbase. See also Intelli
gence Amplification Section 4: Douglas Engelbart, ARPANET Section on ARPANET Dep
loyed, and the Doug Engelbart Archive Collection.
Online collaborative gaming software began between early networked computer user
s. In 1975, Will Crowther created Colossal Cave Adventure on a DEC PDP-10 comput
er. As internet connections grew, so did the numbers of users and multi-user gam
es. In 1978 Roy Trubshaw, a student at Essex University in the United Kingdom, c
reated the game MUD (Multi-User Dungeon).
The US Government began using truly collaborative applications in the early 1990

s.[9] One of the first robust applications was the Navy's Common Operational Mod
eling, Planning and Simulation Strategy (COMPASS).[10] The COMPASS system allowe
d up to 6 users created point-to-point connections with one another; the collabo
rative session only remained while at least one user stayed active, and would ha
ve to be recreated if all six logged out. MITRE improved on that model by hostin
g the collaborative session on a server that each user logged into. Called the C
ollaborative Virtual Workstation (CVW), this allowed the session to be set up in
a virtual file cabinet and virtual rooms, and left as a persistent session that
could be joined later.[11]
In 1996, Pavel Curtis, who had built MUDs at PARC, created PlaceWare, a server t
hat simulated a one-to-many auditorium, with side chat between "seat-mates", and
the ability to invite a limited number of audience members to speak. In 1997, e
ngineers at GTE used the PlaceWare engine in a commercial version of MITRE's CVW
, calling it InfoWorkSpace (IWS). In 1998, IWS was chosen as the military standa
rd for the standardized Air Operations Center.[12] The IWS product was sold to G
eneral Dynamics and then later to Ezenia.[13]
Groupware[edit]
Collaborative software was originally designated as groupware and this term can
be traced as far back as the late 1980s, when Richman and Slovak (1987)[14] wrot
e:
"Like an electronic sinew that binds teams together, the new groupware aims to p
lace the computer squarely in the middle of communications among managers, techn
icians, and anyone else who interacts in groups, revolutionizing the way they wo
rk."
Even further back, in 1978 Peter and Trudy Johnson-Lenz coined the term groupwar
e; their initial 1978 definition of groupware was, intentional group processes pl
us software to support them. Later in their article they went on to explain group
ware as computer-mediated culture... an embodiment of social organization in hype
rspace." Groupware integrates co-evolving human and tool systems, yet is simply
a single system.[1]
In the early 1990s the first commercial groupware products were delivered, and b
ig companies such as Boeing and IBM started using electronic meeting systems for
key internal projects. Lotus Notes appeared as a major example of that product
category, allowing remote group collaboration when the internet was still in its
infancy. Kirkpatrick and Losee (1992)[15] wrote then:
"If GROUPWARE really makes a difference in productivity long term, the very defi
nition of an office may change. You will be able to work efficiently as a member
of a group wherever you have your computer. As computers become smaller and mor
e powerful, that will mean anywhere."
Design and implementation issues[edit]
The complexity of groupware development is still an issue. One reason for this i
s the socio-technical dimension of groupware. Groupware designers do not only ha
ve to address technical issues (as in traditional software development) but also
consider the organizational aspects [16] and the social group processes that sh
ould be supported with the groupware application. Some examples for issues in gr
oupware development are:
Persistence is needed in some sessions. Chat and voice communications are routin
ely non-persistent and evaporate at the end of the session. Virtual room and onl
ine file cabinets can persist for years. The designer of the collaborative space
needs to consider the information duration needs and implement accordingly.
Authentication has always been a problem with groupware. When connections are ma
de point-to-point, or when log-in registration is enforced, it's clear who is en
gaged in the session. However, audio and unmoderated sessions carry the risk of
unannounced 'lurkers' who observe but do not announce themselves or contribute.[
17][18]
Until recently, bandwidth issues at fixed location limited full use of the tools
. These are exacerbated with mobile devices.
Multiple input and output streams bring concurrency issues into the groupware ap
plications.
Motivational issues are important, especially in settings where no pre-defined g

roup process was in place.

Closely related to the motivation aspect is the question of reciprocity. Ellis a
nd others[19] have shown that the distribution of efforts and benefits has to be
carefully balanced in order to ensure that all required group members really pa
rticipate.
One approach for addressing these issues is the use of design patterns for group
ware design.[20] The patterns identify recurring groupware design issues and dis
cuss design choices in a way that all stakeholders can participate in the groupw
are development process.
Groupware and levels of collaboration[edit]
Groupware can be divided into three categories depending on the level of collabo
ration:[21][22]
Communication can be thought of as unstructured interchange of information. A ph
one call or an IM Chat discussion are examples of this.
Conferencing (or collaboration level, as it is called in the academic papers tha
t discuss these levels) refers to interactive work toward a shared goal. Brainst
orming or voting are examples of this.
Co-ordination refers to complex interdependent work toward a shared goal. A good
metaphor for understanding this is to think about a sports team; everyone has t
o contribute the right play at the right time as well as adjust their play to th
e unfolding situation - but everyone is doing something different - in order for
the team to win. That is complex interdependent work toward a shared goal: coll
aborative management.
Collaborative management (coordination) tools[edit]
Collaborative management tools facilitate and manage group activities. Examples
include:
schedule events and
Electronic calendars (also called time management software)
automatically notify and remind group members
Project management systems schedule, track, and chart the steps in a project as
it is being completed
Online proofing
share, review, approve, and reject web proofs, artwork, photos,
or videos between designers, customers, and clients
Workflow systems collaborative management of tasks and documents within a knowle
dge-based business process
Knowledge management systems
collect, organize, manage, and share various forms
of information
Enterprise bookmarking collaborative bookmarking engine to tag, organize, share,
and search enterprise data
Prediction markets let a group of people predict together the outcome of future
events
Extranet systems (sometimes also known as 'project extranets')
collect, organize
, manage and share information associated with the delivery of a project (e.g.:
the construction of a building)
Social software systems
organize social relations of groups
Online spreadsheets collaborate and share structured data and information
Client portals interact and share with your clients in a private online environm
ent[23]
Collaborative software and human interaction[edit]
The design intent of collaborative software (groupware) is to transform the way
documents and rich media are shared in order to enable more effective team colla
boration.
Collaboration, with respect to information technology, seems to have several def
initions. Some are defensible but others are so broad they lose any meaningful a
pplication. Understanding the differences in human interactions is necessary to
ensure the appropriate technologies are employed to meet interaction needs.
There are three primary ways in which humans interact: conversations, transactio
ns, and collaborations.
Conversational interaction is an exchange of information between two or more par
ticipants where the primary purpose of the interaction is discovery or relations
hip building. There is no central entity around which the interaction revolves b

ut is a free exchange of information with no defined constraints generally focus

ed on personal experiences.[24] Communication technology such as telephones, ins
tant messaging, and e-mail are generally sufficient for conversational interacti
ons.
Transactional interaction involves the exchange of transaction entities where a
major function of the transaction entity is to alter the relationship between pa
rticipants.
In collaborative interactions the main function of the participants' relationshi
p is to alter a collaboration entity (i.e., the converse of transactional).
Notable collaborative software vendors[edit]
10,000ft
Asana
Basecamp
Binfire
Bitrix
Bluescape
Brightpod
CEITON
Central Desktop
Citadel/UX
CollaborateCloud
Confluence
DeskAway
eXo Platform
Freedcamp
Group-Office
HighQ
Huddle.net
Hyperoffice
IBM Connections
Intellinote
Jive
Kolab
LiquidPlanner
Mavenlink
OnlyOffice
Open Text
Pivotal Labs
Podio
Redbooth
Samepage
SharePoint
Slack
Smartsheet
Team Foundation Server
TeamWox
Teamwork.com
Targetprocess
Tom's Planner
Trello
Yammer
Wrike
Xait
XWiki
Zarafa
Zoho
See also[edit]
Closely related terms[edit]
Computer supported cooperative work
Integrated collaboration environment

Groupware type of applications[edit]

Content management system
Document management system
Enterprise content management
Event management software
Human-based genetic algorithm
Intranet
Other related type of applications[edit]
Massively distributed collaboration
Online consultation
Online deliberation
Other related terms[edit]
Collaborative innovation network
Commons-based peer production
Electronic business
Information technology management
Management information systems
Management
Office of the future
Operational transformation
Organizational Memory System
Worknet
Cloud collaboration
Document collaboration
MediaWiki
Wikipedia
Lists of collaborative software[edit]
List of collaborative software
List of social bookmarking websites
Intranet portal
Enterprise portal
References[edit]
^ Jump up to: a b Johnson-Lenz, Peter (30 April 1990). "Rhythms, Boundaries, and
Containers". Awakening Technology.
Jump up ^ Carstensen, P.H.; Schmidt, K. (1999). "Computer supported cooperative
work: new challenges to systems design". Citeseer.ist.psu.edu. Retrieved 2007-08
-03.
Jump up ^ Beyerlein, M; Freedman, S.; McGee, G.; Moran, L. (2002). Beyond Teams:
Building the Collaborative Organization. The Collaborative Work Systems series,
Wiley.
Jump up ^ Wilson, P. (1991). Computer Supported Cooperative Work: An Introductio
n. Kluwer Academic Pub. ISBN 978-0792314462
Jump up ^ Aparicio, M and Costa,C. (2012) Collaborative systems: characteristics
and features. In Proceedings of the 30th ACM international conference on Design
of communication (SIGDOC '12). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 141-146. DOI=http://dx.d
oi.org/10.1145/2379057.2379087
Jump up ^ Augmenting Human Intellect: A Conceptual Framework, Douglas C. Engelba
rt, 1962]
Jump up ^ A Research Center for Augmenting Human Intellect, Douglas C. Engelbart
and William K. English, 1968.
Jump up ^ "1968 Demo Overview and Links to Video". Dougengelbart.org. Retrieved
2014-06-25.
Jump up ^ "Learning from user experience with groupware". Portal.acm.org. doi:10
.1145/99332.99362. Retrieved 2014-06-25.
Jump up ^ Heritage of Delivering Successful Warfighting Solutions
Jump up ^ Collaborative virtual environments for analysis and decision support,
Mark Mayburry
Jump up ^ "(Press Release) InfoWorkSpace saves lives in Iraq - Ezenia!, Inc". Ez
enia.com. Retrieved 2014-06-25.
Jump up ^ "(Press Release) InfoWorkSpace - Ezenia!, Inc". Ezenia.com. Retrieved

2014-06-25.
Jump up ^ Richman, Louis S; Slovak, Julianne (June 8, 1987). "SOFTWARE CATCHES T
HE TEAM SPIRIT New computer programs may soon change the way groups of people wo
rk together -- and start delivering the long-awaited payoff from office automati
on.fouttoune". Money.cnn.com.
Jump up ^ Kirkpatrick, D.; Losee, S. (March 23, 1992). "HERE COMES THE PAYOFF FR
OM PCs New network software lets brainstormers around a table all talk at once o
n their keyboards. The result: measurable productivity gains from desktop comput
ing". Money.cnn.com.
Jump up ^ D'Atri A., De Marco M., Casalino N. (2008). Interdisciplinary Aspects o
f Information Systems Studies , pp. 1-416, Physica-Verlag, Springer, Germany, Doi
10.1007/978-3-7908-2010-2 ISBN 978-3-7908-2009-6.
Jump up ^ A Case Study in Technology Transfer of Collaboration Tools
Jump up ^ Collaborating securely - Can it be done?
Jump up ^ Ellis, Clarence A.; Gibbs, Simon J.; Rein, Gail (1991). "Groupware: so
me issues and experiences. Commun. ACM 34, 1 (January 1991), 39-58. DOI=10.1145/
99977.99987".
Jump up ^ Till Schmmer and Stephan Lukosch. 2007. Patterns for Computer-Mediated
Interaction (Wiley Software Patterns Series). John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-47002561-1
Jump up ^ "Groupware - Communication, Collaboration and Coordination". Lotus Dev
elopment Corporation. 1995. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011.
Jump up ^ Casalino N., Draoli M. (2009), Governance and Organizational Aspects of
an Experimental Groupware in the Italian Public Administration to Support Multi
-Institutional Partnerships , in Information Systems: People, Organizations, Insti
tutions, and Trchnologies, D Atri A., Sacc D. (Eds.), Physica-Verlag, Springer, Hei
delberg, Germany, pp. 81-89, ISBN 978-3-7908-2147-5, doi 10.1007/978-3-7908-2148
-2_11
Jump up ^ Neely, Edward. "What is a Client Portal?". Clinked. Retrieved 6 Februa
ry 2014.
Jump up ^ Dunbar, R. I.; Marriott, A.; Duncan, N. D. (1997). "Human conversation
al behavior" (PDF). Human Nature : An Interdisciplinary Biosocial Perspective 8
(3): 231 246. doi:10.1007/BF02912493. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
Lockwood, A. (2008). The Project Manager's Perspective on Project Management Sof
tware Packages. Avignon, France. Retrieved February 24, 2009.
Pedersen, A.A. (2008). Collaborative Project Management. Retrieved February 25,
2009.
Pinnadyne, Collaboration Made Easy. Retrieved November 15, 2009.
Romano, N.C., Jr., Nunamaker, J.F., Jr., Fang, C., & Briggs, R.O. (2003). A Coll
aborative Project Management Architecture. Retrieved February 25, 2009. System S
ciences, 2003. Proceedings of the 36th Annual Hawaii International Conference on
Volume, Issue, 6-9 Jan. 2003 Page(s): 12 pp
M.Katerine (kit) Brown, Brenda Huetture, and Char James-Tanny (2007), Managing V
irtual Teams: Getting the Most from Wikis, Blogs, and Other Collaborative Tools,
Worldware Publishing, Plano. ISBN 978-1598220285
Look up groupware in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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