The BSCW Shared Workspace System OrbiTeam Software GmbH & Co KG Bonn, Germany December 2007.

The BSCW Shared Workspace System

OrbiTeam Software GmbH & Co KG

http://www.orbiteam.de/

Bonn, GermanyDecember 2007

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History

1994: BSCW research project at GMD-FIT (now: Fraunhofer-FIT)

First entirely web-based groupware system world-wide

1995: first public release (Version 2.0)

1995: public BSCW server, free of charge http://bscw.gmd.de

(still in operation)

1996: BSCW wins European Software Innovation Prize (ESIP ’96)

1998: professional marketing and support by Spin-Off OrbiTeam

1996 – today: numerous European research projects around BSCW(CoopWWW, CESAR, ITCOLE, CYCLADES, MILK, MOSAIC, COMIST, IPerG, ECOSPACE, CoSpaces...)

September 2007: release of BSCW 4.4

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Excursion: Groupware

software to support communication, cooperation and coordination

for a group of people – across time and space

communication– messaging, conferencing– end-user centered

users are geographically dispersed or at same place communication synchronous or asynchronous

cooperation – shared information spaces– joint synchronous editing

– time-deferred (asynchronous) group cooperation

coordination– time scheduling, process planning– execution of group activities in compliance with causal and temporal dependencies

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„3C“-Classification

cooperation

communication

coordination

document managementshared workspacesdecision supportmeeting supportdiscussion forums

audio/videoemailchat/IMconferencing

project managementworkflow managementtime scheduling

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audio/video– convergence of telephony and Internet (VoIP)– examples: Skype, GnomeMeeting, Netmeeting

email– a „classic“, ubiquitiously available to just anyone– from text-only format to multi-media content– media flogged to death (?)– examples: MS-Outlook/Exchange, Mozilla Thunderbird

chat– text-based synchronous communication– indicates availability

(Presence & Awareness and Instant Messaging systems)– examples: ICQ, OpenScape, AOL/Yahoo/MSN Messenger

etc.

Communication Tools

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Document Management Systems (DMS)– central repository, individual access– document classification and search tools– examples: network drives (Samba), „classic“ DMS tools (FileNet, Saperion)

Shared Workspace Systems (SWS)– shared workspaces: shared information space– access to heterogeneous articfacts: documents, appointments, addresses,…– provides awareness about other users‘ actions– examples: BSCW, LiveLink, e-Rooms, SharePoint, Notes

discussion forums– originally text-based exchange of opinions, persistent to others– recent developments allow for multi-media contents– examples: classic forums (Usenet News), WiKis, Blogs

meeting support– in situ: meeting room equipment, support of team meetings and brainstorming– distributed: synchrone Kommunikation, shared whiteboard, application sharing– examples: MindMaps, SmartBoards, Web-Conferencing (WebEx, Netmeeting,

Marratech, PlaceWare)

Cooperation Tools

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Coordination Tools project management

– resource management, planning and tracing – coordination of miles stones and work packages– examples: Timeline, MS-Project / project server

workflow– structured processes– step-by-step directives following process definition– ranges from rigid processes to flexible, variable processes– examples: Aris, COSIMA, Prominant, X-Flow, Ultimus

time scheduling– appointments in private and shared calendars– negotiation of appointments– inspection of private calendars (free/busy time slots)– examples: MS-Outlook/Exchange, Lotus Notes, Schedule+

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BSCW – Shared Workspace System BSCW – Basic Support for Cooperative Work

– document management, time management, coordination– supports team work by using shared workspaces– focus: document management in work groups

BSCW is …– platform for cooperation in distributed groups

– generic tool, not a specific application

BSCW facilitates …– project work across sites– networking and exchange of knowledge– central document management– group management and group awareness

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BSCW – Shared Workspace System

BSCW – Basic Support for Cooperative Work– web-based groupware system – document management, time management, coordination– supports team work by using shared workspaces– focus: document management in work groups

platform for distributed cooperation– cooperation in closed teams– exchange of data with external partners

not just a „standard DMS product“– BSCW supports project teams geographically dispersed– BSCW supports self-organizing work groups– BSCW provides extensive group awareness

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Where does BSCW fit?

cooperation

communication

coordination

document managementshared workspacesdiscussion forums

ad-hoc workflowsproject managementtime scheduling

emailchatpresence

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Use BSCW to cooperate and to coordinate your work as a Document Management System

– central repository, individual access– hierarchical folder structure plus search tools

as a Shared Workspace System– shared workspaces: shared information space– System bietet shared workspaces: gemeinsamer Informationsraum– access to various artifacts: documents, appointments, contacts, links,...– management of membership and access rights

as a mediator– awareness of group activities: who did what when and how?– extensive notification functions

as a coordinator– time scheduling – coordination of appointments– group calendars– flow folders for simple and sequential processes– planning and execution of complex business processes

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BSCW improves team work by…

employing only wide-spread technology (Web)

facilitating usage across organizational boundaries

quick start-up, ad-hoc usage

self-organization and group awareness

group management and access control

improving exploitation of existing knowledge(Knowledge Management)

support of flexible organizations (virtual teams)

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Functionality – Whats‘s in BSCW?

Document Management – including version management and locking mechanisms

document editing– direct editing of Web and MS Office documents

self-organized group management– Benutzer können neue Benutzer einladen

fine-grained access control – by a flexible role concept and pre-defined default roles

coordination of business processes– electronic flow folders granting sequential access to documents

– ad-hoc, ‚user defined‘ workflows to coordinate business processes

– shared management of appointments

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What else is in BSCW? polls and discussion forums annotations and rating of documents event history of user activities email notification of activities in shared workspaces distribution of documents via email synchronization of central server and local workstation document conversion and archiving mobile access via PDA and mobile phone archiving of shared workspaces into standard formats, e.g., zip interfaces to email, fax, SMS and synchronous communication tools support of standards,

e.g., LDAP, XML-RPC, iCal, vCard, SSL, WebDAV, X.509

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How does BSCW work? access to central BSCW system

– from local workstation using standard Web browser (z.B. Internet Explorer, Firefox)

– authentication using user name and password– no additional software needed

access to documents– upload and download

via browser– documents reside

on central BSCW server– multiple object types

can be stored

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User Interface

self-organizing groups

documents

event indicators

access control

adaptable interface

contacts

contextualized menu based control

folder hierarchy

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Shared objects in BSCW  document

  note

  URL (Link)

  folder

  search folder

  calendar

  discussion forum

  email

  project

  flow folder

  task

  community

  poll

  contact list

  document set

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Main Functionality - Overview

Document Management communication via blogs

and discussion forums access control and

membership management awareness & event notification coordination support

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Document Management

shared workspaces– basic means of organization– documents structured hierarchically– folders grant access to one or several members

document access– document upload using Web browser– built-in 'drag and drop' upload feature– alternative using 'Web Folders' (WebDAV access)

access control– roled based access control model– manager defines roles– members are invited to workspace with specific role

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Document Management shared workspaces

– documents structured hierarchically – folders grant access to one or

several members attributes of documents

– edit document attributes– add individual annotations and ratings

simple upload of documents– drag ‚n‘ drop documents

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Document Management via BSCW document attributes

– meta data (name, description etc.)– tags (≥ version 4.4)– search for meta data

version management [1.0]– replace or revise documents– older versions remain in system

document locking

– locks prevent conflicts of concurrent access

– lock can be set by user before s/he edits document

coordinated access– access control and roles– final documents can be ‚frozen‘

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tags– keywords of documents– pinned on documents

like labels

tags in BSCW– pin tags on documents,

folders or blog entries– tags are displayed

in folder views– search for related

documents using tags

Tags – Information in Context

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Alternative Access to Documents (via WebDAV)

integrated into MS Windows– open shared workspaces as ‚Web Folder‘– access content using standard file explorer

upload document by copy and paste or drag ‚n‘ drop

directly open document by double clicking it

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Document Upload

via „web folder“in file explorer (WebDAV)

via dedicated upload application(BSCW Desktop)

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Document Editing

standard web editing: download, edit, upload– download (and lock) document from BSCW– edit on your PC, e.g., using MS-Word– upload document, replacing it or creating new version

integrated editing– integration of MS Office in MS Internet Explorer– directly edit document using integrated „edit“ action in BSCW

(simple edit cycle requires WebDAV) direct editing

– directly edit web documents (HTML format) in BSCW– prepare set of documents as website folder– Wiki-like, document centered

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Website Folder „mini website“ in BSCW

– collection of linked documents– direct editing of documents in web browser– integration of BSCW system functionality into web

documents(e.g., date of last change, links to event history,...)

adapted view of BSCW folders– a website folder is presented in two ways

as list of objects (default BSCW view) web view (adaptable, same for all workspace members)

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Website Folder

web view defined by – layout template

layout template defines general appearance all web documents (=HTML pages) in website folder are displayed

using layout template– index page

index page is entrance (=home page) into folder

content – document collection = set of editable documents– adapt documents using Wiki-like syntax– comfortable editing by integrated HTML editor tool

add BSCW elements and links to other pages format content and design attractive look and feel

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Website Folder: Example

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Document Management

application areas– document repository in shared workspaces

storage of ‚final‘ documents shared access to ‚living‘ documents

– shared document editing coordinated editing of documents

(under version control)– document collections using website folders

e.g. minutes, shared glossaries, FAQs,...

limitations– editing of documents requires special editors, e.g. MS Word

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Main Functionality - Overview

Document Management communication via blogs

and discussion forums access control and

membership management awareness & event notification coordination support

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Discussion Forums

discussions– contain Notes

note = subject + text– independent objects in a workspace (forum)– comparable to short messages on a white board– can be attached to documents (lilke post-its)– only workspace members can read and annotate notes

discussion threads– notes referring to other notes– view can be customized to display threads

members may…– create notes, read notes– reply to notes– attach documents and links to notes

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Blogs – Online Diaries

blog = web log– personal website – Internet: diaries or blogs related to a particular subject– displayed in reverse chronological order

blogs in BSCW – create and publish blogs– blogs can also be edited cooperatively– blog entries can be annotated by BSCW users– blogs are integrated into BSCW (≥ V4.4)– customizable views

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Blogs – Online Diaries

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Synchronous Communication – Online Status & Communication Tools

display online status (≥ BSCW 4.4)– who is currently available and online?– displayed in a BSCW workspace:

active/all members configurable contact attributes

for direct communication with other users– e.g., Instant Messaging– via menu: „Change Profile“– contact details on user‘s info page

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Communication via Blogs & Forums

application areas– forums: informal coordination in a team

e.g., to prepare decisions and to form opinions– blogs: document processes in project context

e.g., as a project diary– online status: directly contact team

limitations– blogs & forums: asynchronous communication

(time deferred)– online status: integration of external (synchronous) tools

(no integrierted chat tool in BSCW!)

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Main Functionality - Overview

Document Management communication via blogs

and discussion forums access control and

membership management awareness & event notification coordination support

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Access Control

secure access to data– user name and password (login)– encrypted data transfer (SSL, optional)– authentication using X.509 certificates (optional)

self-organization – membgers invite new members– workspace manager controls access

roles and access rights – access rights defined by roles which members are

assigned to– inviting member assigns role to new member– scope of roles: systemwide or for a workspace only– pre-defined roles

manger, member, restricted member additional pre-defined roles possible

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Invite New Workspace Members invite other users and define their role in shared

workspace invite

– registered users

– new users(via email)

new users– register

with BSCW

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Changing and Assigning Roles each role can be changed individually

each member of a workspace can be assigned a different role or additional roles

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Member Management

personal address book– management of BSCW users– automatically updates when new users are invited– makes finding and inviting new users easier– direct access to contact data of users

workspace members – list of authorized members– displays role(s) of members– easy adding or removing

of members

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Member Management

workspace members – list of authorized members– displays role(s) of members– easy adding or removing of members

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Member Management – Example

workspace members– members are invited to „main

(upper) folder“ – members are granted access to

entire folder sub-structure– members hold role(s)

individual views on structure – each user only perceives

„his/her“ workspaces– new workspaces appear in

personal home area

JohnDoe (manager)

workspace X

documents

contracts

offers...

workspace Y

documents

templates

letters

WandaWoe (member)

WandaWoe (manager)

TimToe (member)

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Access Control & Member Mgt.

application areas– set-up of team spaces

(shared workspaces)– invitation of external partners– management of access rights based on roles

limitations– workgroups are tightly coupled with workspaces

(basic concept of BSCW)

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Contacts

manage shared contacts– special folder „contact list“– contact list contains contact data – one entry per contact person(not the same as list of „workspace members“!!!)

contact data– personal data

(name, telephone, address)– easy to edit– categories

(e.g., personal, business) import/export

– via vCard format („name.vcf“)– transfer to/from MS-Outlook

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Main Functionality - Overview

Document Management communication via blogs

and discussion forums access control and

membership management awareness & event notification coordination support

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Awareness & Notification Features

goals– information about activities in your workspaces– reminders about important appointments and re-

submission of documents in the future– history of events on all objects (who did what and

when?) advantages

– increased transparency– easier coordination at less costs

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Event History information about activities

– events record activities– changes in system are signalled– processes can be permanently tracked via event history – changes/events can be confirmed individually

events contain– date and name of user– more details (e.g., where an object originally came from)– event icons:

new object changes made to object object was read changes in sub folders

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Notification of Changes

BSCW provides awareness by– daily/direct email messages– event history– RSS feed

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Activity Tracking: BSCW Monitor

Monitor Applet– additional tool

in separate window– displays information

on active users current events

– advantages supplies up-to-date

information enables direct reaction

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reminders of appointments– remind yourself or all participants

re-submission of documents– re-submit document

at certain points of time

– users receive email messagecontaing link todocument

Reminder Features

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Notification Features

application areas– keep being informed at all times

by event history or activity tracking by daily email notification

– ‚subscribe‘ to selected areas via direct email notification (event filter) via RSS feeds

– be reminded of documents and of appointments

limitations– RSS reader must provide means of authentication

(authentication with BSCW server using name/password)

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Main Functionality - Overview

Document Management communication via blogs

and discussion forums access control and

membership management awareness & event notification coordination support

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Coordination Support

calendar– personal calendar– group calendar

project management– projects and dependencies of time

flow folders– documents and distribution slips– sequential processing and branching

task management– tasks and responsible persons– personal to do list

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Group Calendar

organize personal and group appointments

various views (day, week, month,...)

notify invitees via email attach documents to

appointments (e.g., agenda) define recurring

appointments (e.g., ‚jour fixe‘)

remind yourself or others of appointments

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Flow Folders metaphor for sequential workflows

(„interoffice mail“)– workspace: shared repository,

accessible at anytime– flow folder: sequential access according

to task list

application areas– coordinated access along

pre-defined task list– simple, linear processes

(may include branches) (mini workflow)

flow folder in BSCW– creator defines

task list and persons responsible

– additional comments upon task completion

– forwarding by members in order defined by task list

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Projects and Processes

simple project planning

define milestones of project

e.g., start and end date

dependencies

between milestones

bar chart of

chronological process

negotiation of delays

no resource

management

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Workflow: Task Management user-defined workflow

– concept: requestor/contractor

– input and output data fields

– documents attached

how to use workflows– creator defines task and contractor

– contractor accepts task

– task is listed in personal task list

– contractor completes task and defines output fields (if any)

– requestor accepts result

– task completed!

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Coordination Support

application areas– coordination of appointments in group calendars

by invitation and by individual confirmations/refusals– coordinated access by flow folders

Dokumente (mit Aufgaben) in Umlauf bringen– task management

assign tasks and work on own tasks– project planning

define dependencies of time between milestones limitations

– calendar: no peeking into personal calendars– projects/tasks: no resource management– projects: no formal milestones, simple overview

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More Features Search

– for users, documents, objects, in web… templates

– make arbitrary objects available as templates document encryption

– encryption and digital signature maps of document events

– visualization of user-document relations communities and public areas data synchronization – import/export links and bookmarks polls/surveys

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create copy from template templates: any BSCW object

documents, tasks, folders, polls, ...

templates are placed in template folders

‚scope‘ of templates – for personal use only– for entire workgroup– for all users in BSCW system

Templates

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Document Event Maps visualize events

– relation ofusers anddocuments

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Document Encryption

application – user encrypts document (optional)

locally, before upload to BSCW system– encryption via electronic keys

private key group key

– encryption key determines who else may decrypt document

increased security– exchange of keys via BSCW server (optional)

technical basis: PGP (public/private key method) features in BSCW

– key management, encryption, document upload– BSCW Desktop client

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Document Encryption BSCW Desktop client

– key management create, import, export keys

– document encryption electronic en-/decryption and digital signature

– document upload upload of (encrypted) documents to BSCW

requirements– BSCW Desktop client application (optional)– automatic installations

via BSCW via Java Webstart

– requires Java Runtime (≥ Java 5)

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Communities

communities in BSCW– grants equal access to data spaces to very large groups of

users (potentially open in contrast to closed workspaces) various ways of subscription

– open communities visible to all registered BSCW users registered users can decide to join community

– closed communities visible to all registered BSCW users registered users must ask community manager before joining

– hidden communities not visible except to members membership only upon explicit invitation by community manager

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Public Data Area

single public area per BSCW server– contains all objects which are public– anonymous access for general public

- no authentication needed create public data area

– any workspace can be made ‚public‘ – by default: read-only access for anonymous user

(other actions can be allowed)– public submissions may be subject to moderation

objects submitted by anonymous user at first are not visible to others publication only by explicit ‚release‘ by member of workspace

control of public access– special group icon – special user „anonymous“ is member

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any user can set up polls– poll: one or several questions– various types of questions and answers – start/end dates or open-ended polls

polls can be public– participation by non-members

polls are automatically evaluated– answers remain anonymous

results are visibile to participants– always or never or– visibile only after having voted

Polls

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Data Synchronization & Import/Export

data synchronization– synchronization of BSCW server and local PC– documents: synchronization using briefcase tool– appointments/contacts: synchronization

with MS Outlook import/export

– appointments: vCalendar format – contacts: vCard format– documents: archiving formats (e.g., zip/tar)

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BSCW Briefcase – Synchronization

briefcase– personal area for synchronization– synchronization of documents with

local computer

how to use the briefcase tool– select workspace for synchronizationOrdner – start synchronization– edit documents on local computer (e.g. offline)– repeat synchronization on regular basis

requirements– Windows operating system– browser is Java enabled (plugin)– no installation required!

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Synchronization with MS Outlook

extension of BSCW calendar– synchronize appointments with Outlook

extension of BSCW contacts – synchronize contacts with Outlook

features– synchronization of BSCW contact folder or

BSCW calendar with an Outlook folder requirements

– Windows operating system, MS Outlook– web browser and Java plugin

(≥ Java 5)– no software installation required– no Outlook plugin!– ≥ BSCW Version 4.4

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Application Areas

Virtual teams, ad-hoc formation of teams– improves project work across sites– particularly suited for small and medium teams

E-Learning

Projekts, communities, expert networks– spontaneous communication– exchange of documents and other vital information

Intranet– internal document repository in work groups

Telework and start-up companies

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Why BSCW? In a Nutshell

features– documents are stored centrally and are always up-to-date– all changes are traceable– simple exchange of information in flexible work groups– reduction of coordination effort and of document exchange via email– no more „version chaos“

from a user‘s point of view– access to vital information anytime from any platform

(Windows, Mac, Unix)– no additional installation of software– easy to use, steep learning curve

from a system administrator‘s view– installation quick and easy– next to no administration effort– many server platforms

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Example of Use: eLearning

university of Bern (CH) 5.000 users teachers and students exchange of teaching

material

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Services Provided by OrbiTeam marketing and support

system development– long-term development and maintenance– in close cooperation with Fraunhofer FIT

consultancy with installation and operation

training

– training courses for end-users

and system administrators

server hosting (ASP model)

customer projects– development and customization– competent, demand-oriented, at short notice

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More Information

OrbiTeam Software GmbH & Co. KG

www.orbiteam.de

info@orbiteam.de

BSCW system www.bscw.de

bscw.fit.fraunhofer.de