Kolab Systems, a Switzerland-based open source groupware and collaboration framework, has partnered with Collabora Productivity, the company behind the LibreOffice open source office suite, to offer more seamless collaboration via the companies' office solutions.
Collabora's CloudeSuite Web-based document solution will be available as an integrated Kolab component, allowing Kolab users to work on documents simultaneously using Collabora's full-featured online office suite. Essentially, multiple users will be able to simultaneously work on the same open source-powered digital document, from different devices or locations, via the cloud.
Using Kolab's integrated editor, users will also be able to co-operatively compose e-mails, set agendas for meetings, or add contacts to distribution lists.
Any enterprise is fundamentally defined as a number of people collaborating to combine their skills for a collective profit, the only exception to this being the one-person business, says Georg Greve, CEO at Kolab Systems.
It is crucial for businesses to have software that allows employees to collaborate without compromising their privacy or security, and the only way to do this is with an open source solution, says Greve.
While open source software is not necessarily good or secure software, users of non-open source software have no way of knowing whether it is truly trustworthy, he explains.
Furthermore, using a proprietary system can typically lock all of a company's data and digital resources into a "proprietary silo", leaving the businesses "at the mercy of the provider of that solution to access it", Greve adds.
The first version of Kolab with integrated CloudSuite functionality is scheduled for release in the second quarter of 2016. Users will be able to download a free version without support, or a paid version with support.
While the software is aimed at enterprise environments, it will also be useful for private users looking to collaborate on documents, says Greve.
Share