Open Source Groupware Hits Prime Time

software operating system middleware

Scalable OpenGroupware.org 1.0 may not sound like a sexy name, but its release this week bears checking out all the same. Based on the OpenGroupware.org standards, "SOGo," as it's called, has been years in the making and could give businesses a much lower cost (i.e. free) way to link employees' calendaring, email and collaboration. As SOGo developers write, "Your users can either use a web browser, Mozilla Thunderbird, Apple iCal, or a mobile device to access the same information."

SOGo hasn't undergone an awful lot of independent testing as of yet, so burps and blips may be out waiting to be found. But first appearances look good. SOGo has developed nice interoperability with Mozilla's Thunderbird and the iCal platform; a third-party, Zideone, has developed a connector to Microsoft Outlook.

Bit by bit, the open source communities have been laying down enough track over the past two years to give the train more of a chance to get over the mountain of legacy installations maintained by commercial software. Will solution providers and their customers go for SOGo? Probably not until after some extensive testing and time in the labs. But Microsoft and IBM may have one more reason to start looking over their shoulders.