Teaming + Conferencing Articles:
Teaming: Bringing It All Together
By Donna Moyer

Social networking software is the hot topic in IT today. More than ever, we need to provide our user communities with the tools they need to collaborate on projects and find the resources they need. Here are seven ways Novell’s Teaming product helps us do just that!

1. User profiles. Teaming provides an environment where users can document their past work experiences, areas of expertise, education, hobbies, interests, and more. All the information is easily searchable by other users who are looking for resources who match a certain set of criteria.
2. Project workspaces. Project managers (or the IT staff) can set up team workspaces for each unique project, and invite others to join the team. The workspace can be customized to offer the precise set of networking options necessary for the project at hand.
3. Networking options. Within each workspace, team members can take advantage of tasks, wikis, blogs, shared directories, milestone folders, calendars, etc. in order to share resources and track the progress of the project.
4. Resource grading. Resources (documents, blogs, wikis, etc.) can be graded on the information they provide so that users can easily locate the best data available.
5. Document workflow. Documents are versioned so that changes can be tracked. If approval by a manager is needed before project documents can be released, a workflow process can be set up.
6. Project management. Tasks can be updated so that the team lead can review project milestones. Meetings can be scheduled via the team calendar, with email notifications being sent out when updates happen in a given area.
   
7. Outsource integration. Outside contractors can be manually added to specific directories and workspaces so that they have access to the resources they need without having access to data they should not see.

If you are ready to get started with Teaming, here are a few pointers to keep in mind:

• First, Teaming does not run on NetWare. I hear the collective sigh from all of you NetWare fans, but keep in mind, we are moving on. While NetWare is out, SUSE Linux, OES, versions of Red Hat, and Windows 2003 Server are all supported.
• Second, some good news: Active Directory and eDirectory are both supported via LDAP calls.
• Third, take some time to plan for storage. We all know what has happened to our storage requirements on our file servers, as well as how many documents are now stored in our email systems. While Teaming provides a great solution for the email method of document management, we need to be prepared for the number of documents that can (and should) populate the Teaming workspaces.

The bottom line: Novell’s Teaming product is a fantastic way to bring the people, knowledge, data, and experience in your company together. A very old saying is still true today: the whole is more than the sum of the parts. Your company can accomplish far more than you ever dreamed possible – Teaming will help you get there.

© Copyright 2008, Uptime NetManagement, Inc.

Article Source: http://www.uptimenmi.com/

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About the Author:
Donna Moyer is Principal/Senior Network Consultant of Uptime NetManagement, Inc. (http://www.uptimenmi.com/). Uptime is a Novell Gold Solutions partner providing technology solutions, customized training, and consulting services. If you are interested in finding out exactly what Novell can do for your business, or are seeking to maximize the benefits from your current Novell systems, call us today at 610-621-1244!