For
Immediate Release
Groove Networks Announces Enterprise Data Bridge
New product speeds business processes by delivering live enterprise data directly to users’ PCs in context of their teams, project work, and collaborative tools
BEVERLY, MA – October 18, 2004 —
Groove Networks Inc. today announced the Groove Enterprise Data Bridge, a product that allows organizations to securely deliver live enterprise data from nearly any source directly to users’ PCs, in the context of their teams, project work and collaborative tools. Integrated with Groove Virtual Office software, the Enterprise Data Bridge speeds business processes by enabling virtual, cross-organizational teams to work together effectively anywhere at any time with both structured and unstructured data from enterprise applications and databases, improving decision making, reducing coordination costs and shortening project cycle times.
Groove Enterprise Data Bridge solutions can be as simple as providing read-only customer relationship management (CRM) data to a mobile sales team, or as sophisticated as providing live, synchronized enterprise resource planning (ERP) data to a cross-company logistics team. Teams view, access and work with data via Groove forms applications customized for their unique process requirements.
“There’s a real need in today’s government and commercial marketplaces for services-oriented solutions that ‘virtualize’ the data center,” said Mark Kusiak, director of technology for engineering, development and integration services at General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems. “In our work with the homeland security, intelligence and defense industries, we’re seeing an increased demand for solutions that securely deliver data on demand and in context to users and teams — wherever and whenever they need it. Solutions that meet these requirements by leveraging an organization’s existing applications have a distinct cost and time-to-deploy advantage.”
The “last mile” problem
Most business processes, and the enterprise applications that support them, were designed when knowledge workers were largely co-located and connected to enterprise applications and databases. Today, however, more than 80 percent of workers work “virtually” some of the time, meaning they work outside the office, or work with others outside their organizations such as contractors or suppliers.
In a virtual work environment, teams are forced to use one set of tools to work together (e.g. e-mail, IM, virtual workspaces) and another set to access and work with enterprise data (e.g. CRM, ERP, SCM applications). To bridge the gap, users often move data from its source into customized spreadsheets or local databases, which can easily be shared across firewalls and accessed when disconnected from the network. This practice increases security risks, results in data redundancy, and blocks visibility into the human activity that drives business processes.
The Groove Enterprise Data Bridge solves this “last mile” problem by extending live data from one or more sources to virtual teams via custom forms applications that reside on each team member’s PC. Once the Enterprise Data Bridge has been deployed, Groove Forms applications can be built and connected to central data sources in a matter of hours. Data updates made online or offline are automatically synchronized among team members and with the centralized data source or sources, if desired. Perhaps most importantly, forms applications and data reside within Groove workspaces, enabling teams to work “in context” by utilizing Groove software’s powerful collaboration capabilities such as presence awareness, alerts, instant messaging, voice chat, file sharing, project management, co-editing, live presentations and more. Groove software’s unique decentralized architecture allows work to occur regardless of where or when users are working — even if they are not connected to a network.
“Organizations have spent much of the past decade re-engineering their business processes, in part to enable their systems to more flexibly communicate with one another,” said Peter O’Kelly, a Burton Group senior analyst. “Evolving business processes to account for ‘human-centric’ activities in collaborative workspaces is now a significant opportunity, and will provide another wave of demonstrable returns through improvements in both productivity and responsiveness. The challenge will be in seamlessly and securely combining structured and unstructured activity in a way that doesn’t hamper productivity, force users to change their work styles, or compromise enterprise application security policies. The Groove Enterprise Data Bridge appears to meet these requirements by securely shuttling enterprise data to and from the edges of the network where much of today’s work gets done.”
Groove Enterprise Data Bridge
The Groove Enterprise Data Bridge is a bundle of products developed by Groove Networks and CASAHL Technology. It comprises:
- CASAHL ecKnowledge with Groove connector for mapping data between Groove forms applications and enterprise data sources such as such as ERP or CRM applications.
- Groove Enterprise Integration Server & Groove Publisher bot service for single-point integration between Groove forms applications and enterprise data sources. The ecKnowledge Groove Connector leverages the Groove Enterprise Integration Server as an always-available, high-performance data access node.
The Enterprise Data Bridge also requires Groove Virtual Office software to integrate data sources with Groove workspaces. Integration occurs via Groove forms, a dynamic tool and rapid application development (RAD) environment that allows developers and end-users alike to define, develop and deploy forms-based solutions for capturing, sharing, searching and working with structured data.
Pricing and Availability
The Groove Enterprise Data Bridge will be available for purchase this week via Groove Networks’ direct sales force and is priced at $24,995 per unit. The package includes licenses to CASAHL’s ecKnowledge Server, the CASAHL Groove Connector, and the Groove Publisher bot service, which requires and includes a limited Groove Enterprise Integration Server license. The package also includes one of the following CASAHL ecKnowledge connectors to be selected by customer: DBMS, Oracle, XML, Lotus Notes and Domino, Microsoft Outlook and Exchange, Microsoft SharePoint Portal. The Enterprise Data Bridge requires and includes the first 100 Service Access Licenses for each end-user account supported by the Groove Publisher bot service. For existing CASAHL ecKnowledge customers, the Enterprise Data Bridge package is priced at $15,995 per unit.
About CASAHL Technology, Inc.
Founded in 1993, CASAHL is the leading independent provider of powerful, yet easy-to-use software for collaborative application integration, extension, and migration across heterogeneous environments. CASAHL ecKnowledge®, the company’s flagship product, can integrate Microsoft, Groove, and IBM Lotus Notes collaborative applications with each other and with virtually any enterprise data source, including DBMS, ERP, and CRM applications. CASAHL has more than 1,000 enterprise customers and a network of consulting partners around the world. In addition to its award-winning products, CASAHL offers training and consulting services for integration, extension, and migration projects. To learn more about CASAHL, visit the company’s web site at http://www.casahl.com or phone 925-328-2828 (800-324-4284 USA only).
About Groove Networks
Founded in October 1997 and headquartered in Beverly, Mass., Groove Networks Inc. delivers the "virtual office" through software that allows teams of people to work together over a network as if they were in the same physical location. Groove software helps organizations, large and small, save money, time and eliminate travel by offering both a desktop application for instant joint work, and a set of customizable, open collaboration capabilities that enhance the utility and value of existing solutions. For more information about Groove Networks, visit http://www.groove.net.
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Groove Networks and Groove are registered trademarks of Groove Networks Inc.
CASAHL is a trademark and ecKnowledge is a registered trademark of CASAHL Technology, Inc.
All other trademarks are owned by their respective companies.