By Dr. Yogesh Malhotra

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Groupware is an umbrella term describing the electronic technologies that support person-to-person collaboration. Groupware includes E-mail, Electronic Meeting Systems (EMS), Desktop Video Conferencing (DVC) as well as systems for workflow and business process re-engineering (BPR).
Technologies which support collaboration are in greater demand today than ever before, and, in recognition of that fact, vendors are integrating collaboration technologies into their products. Distributed workforces, information overload, and getting products to market as quickly as possible are just a few of the motivations pushing collaboration technology development.

THE ORIGINS OF GROUPWARE AND ITS CHALLENGES

Many expensive failures in developing and marketing software to support groups are not due to technical problems. They result from not understanding the unique demands that this class of software imposes on developers and users. This article briefly outlines the origins of groupware, describes eight specific problem areas, and finally examines groupware successes in search of better approaches to supporting work in group settings.

Today's information technology projects, including Groupware implementation, aren't just systems projects -- they involve a cultural change. Approached narrowly, they will encounter resistance, inertia, and even subterfuge. We need to approach them with the same tools we would apply to organizational culture changes.