Microsoft Extends Office "Presence", Buys Groove

Anyone thinking Microsft's venerable Office suite is out of new features to add has missed the boat. Microsoft has an active -- and maybe visionary -- program to extend the concept of Office and workplace to remote, mobile, and disconnected workers. This is a long-term effort which Microsoft believes is strategic to its long-term growth and prosperity.

Last week, Microsoft purchased Groove, a Massachusetts company headed by Lotus Development luminary, Ray Ozzie. Ozzie will become one of three Microsoft "chief technology officers", working with chief architect Bill Gates.

Groove's Virtual Office complements Microsoft's collaboration solution offerings:

• Real-time collaboration solutions such as Microsoft Office Live Meeting 2005 and Microsoft Office Live Communications Server that enable in-the-moment one-to-one and one-to-many collaboration
• Server-based collaboration solutions such as Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server and Windows SharePoint Services that allow businesses to create and manage collaborative work spaces online or on a company's internal IT system
• Peer-to-peer collaboration solutions through Groove's Virtual Office, which let any Windows-based PC user instantly create ad hoc, virtual work spaces that securely and easily span organizational, geographic and network boundaries, and allow information workers to be productive whether they're online or temporarily disconnected from the network.

Gates talked last week about "presence", the ability with forthcoming technology to instantly create the appropriate meeting environment for collaboration. E-mail, telephony, video conference, instant messaging -- all will tie together. Given Microsoft's strong push with this initiative into Voice Over IP (VoIP), we reiterate our prediction that VoIP is going to see enormous growth this year. On the other hand, Microsoft's technology will make it harder for workers to get private or personal time as instant meetings could be no more than a mouse click away.

Peter S. Kastner

Peter S. Kastner