Groupware's New Stars

On the heels of Gordano's latest groupware release comes word that Stalker Software is rolling out its own new messaging solution, CommuniGate Pro Groupware.

While concerns persist about the security and licensing terms of Microsoft's products, it's no surprise that other messaging software providers are taking advantage of the behemoth's run of bad karma. And where longtime rivals Novell and Lotus have failed, Gordano and Stalker may succeed.

Gordano and Stalker do not require a proprietary client. Using existing Microsoft APIs, they require only a connector to be installed on the client machine that allows Microsoft Outlook to talk to their respective groupware servers.

By connecting Outlook, one of the most popular e-mail clients, both Gordano and Stalker provide an easy way to get out from under Exchange's security, performance and scalability limitations without the cost of retraining employees in the use of a new client.

For Gordano and Stalker, users' ability to continue with Outlook while migrating groupware duties to an open-standards back-end server is a definite plus. If Stalker and Gordano can easily integrate with Active Directory, as they claim, then the groupware game has just gone into overtime.