Microsoft Office Groove as a “killer app”

In 1997, in Massachusetts, Groove was born. Founded by Ray Ozzie, the creator of Lotus Notes® (used by over 100 million people worldwide), Groove falls under the category of collaboration software. It allows users to participate, share, and interact in a virtual office environment. Seems an ideal piece of software for a virtual assistant!

I hopped on the Groove bandwagon in late 2006. It was one of the key pieces of collaboration software I learned about when I did my training in AssistU’s Virtual Training Program (VTP).

My early foray into the Groove world came about as Microsoft was unleashing Microsoft® Office Groove® 2007. I did what every brave techno geek might do: I decided to purchase the existing version (3.1)–tried and true and fully functional–and jump in and purchase the new version.

Groove workspaces are where you and your colleagues or clients conduct your virtual business, and when I was invited into my first workspace by my trainer, I was thrilled. I was still in the VTP and this gave me some exposure to this strange (to me) new way to collaborate. Very cool. I began to interact with my VTP trainer, and began to check out the many interesting features that Groove had to offer. There was calendaring, instant messaging, file sharing, chat capabilities, security features, and much more. And, in the earlier version, there was very tight integration between Microsoft Office® products (including Outlook®) and Groove. All this was very neat to me, and I could see endless possibilities.

As 2006 rolled to a close, I began my AssistU internship with a colleague who I respect, admire, and like a great deal. Dawn also had a Groove workspace to share, and in fact much of our online interaction was done through Groove. Some of it still is!

But things were not all rosy on the Groove front. I began to experience numerous issues on both of our computers (desktop and notebook). After a lengthy period of investigation, testing, and more than a little bit of frustration, I discovered that the best way to work with my senior colleague, and indeed work best with Groove, was to use only one version–the same version–on both computers. So by mid-to-late 2007 I had straightened out the technical and compatibility issues I was having with two versions of Groove and two computers. I permanently switched to the newer version, and have since been quite a happy camper with Groove. While the 2007 version actually lacks some of the integration that is in the earlier versions, it is still an excellent application. I love it!

This brings me full circle in this post: is Groove a “killer app”? Killer apps have long been sought after by technology mavens and by average users. A killer app is supposed to be, according to one definition: “an application that surpasses (ie, kills) its competitors”.

There are many collaboration programs out there. One of the other big names out there is BlueTie™. Another is WebEx™. One that several of my VA colleagues have recently investigated is called Collanos©. Outlook falls under the collaboration umbrella in some respects, especially Microsoft® Office Outlook® 2007. The latest version incorporates fairly easy methods in which to share calendar information, for example.

By any definition, a killer app is one that seems to do what it does, in its software genre, better than any other product. We all have individual needs and demands for our software of choice. For my money, and even considering the technical challenges I had to overcome to attain smooth sailing, my vote goes to Groove as one of the best pieces of collaboration software out there.

Comments

[Linda Melcher]

I'm just learning to use it. So far it's been very good to me. I'm a happy camper.

LM

[Laura Allen]

Rob,
Thanks for spreading the word about Groove. I've been a faithful user since I graduated AssistU and use it with all my PC clients. It really is groovy! ;) I've played with Collanos a bit and it may be the best choice for my Mac client but not as robust as Groove. Great post! ~Laura

[Rob Neilly]

Hi Linda,

In the software world, it's a good thing to be "happy" sometimes, as we tend to hear much more on the struggle side of the equation!

Rob

[Rob Neilly]

Laura,

I'm still building my client base, but similar to what you do, I let my clients know the benefits of Groove. I'm hoping that Microsoft will restore or add more functionality to the 2007 version as time goes on.

Thank you for your feedback!

Rob

[Simon Thomas]

Hi Rob,

Thanks for the useful post about Groove. What do you think at this point about Collanos vs. Groove?

Thanks,
Simon

[Rob Neilly]

Simon

Thank you for commenting :)

I haven't personally tried Collanos, but have read some posts in AssistU's Forum about it.

The verdict's not in, and the opinions vary pro and con. However, according to two of my colleagues (power users) Collanos lacks some basic functionality, and isn't intuitive enough.

Rob

[Pat Hearn]

Hi. I'm just trying to find the best tool to keep Outlook synchronized on my desktop and laptop. Would Microsoft Office Groove be a good tool to do this? Thank you.

[Rob Neilly]

Pat,

Thanks for your comment on my post about Groove. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be the best tool to keep Outlook synchronized on two computers.

There are many other tools that do just that, but the one I've had the most success with (and use now) is called PSTSync. You can check it out here: www.outlooksync.com.

Hope this helps.