WORKSPACE

Finding the right groupware solution can be a tricky business. At first sight, any workgroup requires the same set of applications, such as email, a calendar, a project management tool, and a message board. But in reality, each and every workgroup has its own requirements. The special needs for your workgroup could consist of anything from a couple extra fields for project management data to a custom-designed task module.

You may be thinking that a user who chooses an Open Source groupware solution should be able to just tweak it as much as they like so the final result fits their needs perfectly. The truth is, however, few users have the knowledge and time to implement the required changes. A group of freelance writers, for instance, probably won’t spend their free time programming PHP or writing SQL queries. Most groups must therefore make do with existing groupware solutions and adjust their work habits to the software.