Groove Inks Alliance With Security VAR

On Tuesday, Groove and CH2M Hill, an Englewood, Colo.-based global IT and cybersecurity consulting firm, said they will work together on secure, collaborative applications. The alliance was unveiled at the AFCEA Homeland Security Show in Washington.

Plans call for CH2M Hill to offer Groove Virtual Office with its iCIT, a secure, collaborative application used by state, federal and local government agencies. People in emergency operations centers can use iCIT, a Web-based system, to coordinate with people in the field who respond to emergencies.

ISVs and integrators alike are trying get their share of the millions of dollars budgeted by the Department of Homeland Security to states and localities.

"This is our first alliance with a global systems integrator that's committed to reselling Groove Virtual Office in markets where we've each independently achieved success," said Matt Howard, vice president of business development and channel sales at Groove, Beverly, Mass.

Groove, which uses peer-to-peer technology and strong security, positions its solution as flexible and secure. Authorized users can set up ad hoc workgroups that transcend firewalls, for example. Groove also supports offline use, syncing data when the communication line is re-established.

So far, Groove has largely been a direct sale. A small percentage of its revenue comes from the channel, and most of that is international business. The current plan calls for 10 percent of sales to come via partners in 2005, a number that is slated to increase in subsequent years.

A major focus of the latest Virtual Office release are tools designed to help VARs and integrators set up secure workplaces.