I had an interview with Aldo Zanoni, CEO and Managing Director of Omni Technology Solutions Inc. about Riva, a new solutions platform for GroupWise.
Gert: Omni has been very successful with the launch of its Riva product. Where did GroupWise and Omni meet? It seems a long-term relationship.
Aldo: Yes, although Omni first started selling GroupWise enhancement products in 1999, our history with Novell goes back to 1993 through a sister company that provided Novell authorized training and consulting services.
Gert: Riva is a new development by Omni. How did Riva come to life?
Aldo: In order to understand why Riva is being so successful, it’s important to look at how Riva evolved. Based on our experience in the GroupWise space, we chose to create a platform that would allow us to satisfy the long-standing needs that GroupWise administrators have shared with us over the years.
The needs administrators told us about fell into three categories:
1. Allow GroupWise administrators to automate GroupWise content management (folders, address books, calendars, rules, proxy access, etc.);
2. Generate GroupWise and eDirectory reports that are not otherwise easily accessible with native Novell tools;
3. Integrate GroupWise with CRMs and third-party applications and collaboration solutions.
Even though Riva was first launched in June, 2007 and is a “new” product, Riva and Riva CRM Integration for GroupWise leverage several years of development work. Riva brings together a number of stand-alone solutions we had under a single platform umbrella. This is the platform on which we built Riva Managed Policies, Applications and CRM and Third-party Integration.
Riva Managed Policies allow GroupWise administration to create policies to automate GroupWise content managed from a single administration workstation with complete flexibility. Content such as shared folders; calendar information; holiday, exam and project schedules; address books; proxy access; rules and more can now be “pushed” into user accounts and automatically updated.
Being able to standardize user signatures was high on the priority list. Riva Managed Signatures satisfies the administrators’ need to create and update standardized signatures into user signature blocks with information from eDirectory (first name, last name, title, department, phone number, fax, email address, etc.). Container or group-based disclaimers and corporate signature requirements can now be imposed on user signatures including corporate logos and HTML code.
GroupWise administrators also identified enhancements they needed for distribution list. And that’s what we delivered with Riva Dynamic Distribution Lists and Secure Distribution Lists. Of all of the Riva Policies and Applications, it is the Secure Distribution Lists application that is the most popular. For the first time, GroupWise administrators can control who has authority to send emails to secure distribution lists and include non-GroupWise email addresses in distribution lists by linking them to CSV files or external databases.
Interestingly enough, each of the Managed Policies and Applications provides the proven base for one or more of the integration points with CRMs and third-party applications. The result has been fantastic.
With Riva CRM Integration, GroupWise has literally leapfrogged the competition and delivers the first integrated email-CRM client to provide transparent, on-line, off-line, multi-client, multi-server, bi-directional synchronization of CRM appointments, phone calls, tasks, notes, contacts and accounts with GroupWise. With Riva, GroupWise is the first native email client to allow users to transparently manage their CRM opportunities, quotes, cases and invoices directly FROM their GroupWise email client.
Gert: What do customers appreciate the most?
Aldo: The two features customers appreciate the most are having access to their CRM information any time, anywhere and Riva SmartConvert Drop Folders™
With Riva, customers have access to their CRM information anywhere and any time they have access to GroupWise. Customers can access their CRM data from ALL GroupWise clients: Linux, Mac OS X, WebAccess, Windows, Evolution, Outlook and BlackBerry and GroupWise Mobile Server devices!
Riva SmartConvert Drop Folders bring a feature to GroupWise clients that, to the best of my knowledge, does not exist for other platforms. By dragging an email into a SmartConvert Drop folder, Riva will automatically and transparently convert a GroupWise email into a CRM opportunity, quote or case. If required, it will automatically create the contact(s), account(s), opportunity/case, assign that case and synchronize it to the owner’s GroupWise account – without the user having to enter any information in the CRM!
Gert: RIVA integrates GroupWise with a lot of solutions. Name a few.
Aldo: Riva delivers transparent GroupWise integration for SugarCRM, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Salesforce.com, info@hand, Splendid CRM, Bluefin CRM and Microsoft SharePoint.
Gert: What’s in Riva’s future?
Aldo: We will soon be announcing Riva GroupWise Integration for Sage CRM and for Microsoft Project. What’s most exciting with Riva is the fact that the Riva platform can be used to provide integration with ALL CRMs and third-party applications and collaboration solutions. Future Riva connectors will be added based on customer demand. We believe we can turn around a connector for a new CRM or collaboration application, (for example: GoldMine, Siebel or Oracle), in as little as four weeks. We invite GroupWise customers who have developed proprietary CRMs to contact us to learn how our future SDK will allow them to build their own Riva connector and leverage the Riva platform to integrate GroupWise with their CRM or ERP.
And we invite the Novell GroupWise community from around the world to let us know what CRM or third-party integration they need for GroupWise. You know my standard question, “If we build it, will you buy it?”
Gert: RIVA is a new way to work with GroupWise. Riva also integrates other IT solutions with GroupWise. What does that mean for GroupWise and other applications?
Aldo: Riva is much more than an application to allow GroupWise administrators to manage GroupWise content or client settings. Riva is a collaboration integration platform that opens GroupWise to the world. We believe collaboration integration and integrated management are at the top of executives’ minds. In the next 10 years, collaboration integration market will see tremendous growth – growth similar to what the email industry saw in the late 1990s.
We get really excited about how, in the future, other companies will be able to leverage Riva connectors for their own applications. One of the first drivers we will deliver with Riva Version 2 is a Novell IDM driver. Just think about it. Create a new eDirectory user or add a user to an eDirectory group and have Novell IDM connect to a Riva driver to create that user in the corporate CRM, assign proper CRM team membership and apply the appropriate Riva CRM policy to synchronize the user’s CRM address book, calendar, opportunities, cases, quotes, etc. to GroupWise. Now, that’s what collaboration integration is all about!
Gert: What does Riva need to run?
Aldo: Riva requires a minimum of GroupWise 7.0.2 on the server with SOAP enabled on the post offices. The client version doesn’t matter because Riva provides server-side integration. Riva is compatible with GroupWise 7 – or GroupWise 8 – running on NetWare, Linux or Windows. Riva can run as a stand-alone desktop application to synchronize a single user (Riva Desktop Edition) or as a GroupWise Trusted Application to synchronize multiple accounts (Riva Enterprise Edition). The Riva Desktop and Enterprise Edition applications can run on SUSE Linux or Microsoft Windows desktops or servers.
Gert: Does Bonsai or GroupWise 8 add extra features?
Aldo: We are quite excited about GroupWise 8. The number one request we receive from Riva customers is the ability to use the Riva ConnectBar™ to edit CRM opportunities, cases and quotes in off-line mode. With GroupWise 7, you can view CRM opportunities, cases and quotes, but to manage them, you must be connected to the Internet. With GroupWise 7, when you select the Edit button in the ConnectBar, it opens the opportunity case or quote directly in the CRM. With GroupWise 8, we expect to be able to allow you to edit CRM opportunities, cases and quotes while running in caching mode in an airplane!
Another exciting feature with GroupWise 8 will be the enhancements to the Task APIs. These enhancements will allow Riva to deliver integration for project management applications like Microsoft Project, SugarCRM Project, and other project management systems.
GroupWise 8’s enhanced contact management will be fully leveraged by Riva’s CRM contact integration. We look forward to GroupWise 8’s ability to allow users to choose Microsoft Word or Open Office Write as the email editor. This will allow us to integrate email merges to CRM contacts directly from within the GroupWise client.
Riva will be able to leverage all of GroupWise 8’s new features.
Gert: How can people learn more about Riva?
Aldo: GroupWise customers can download the trial version of Riva from our website. We host regular web seminars customers can register for. Readers can review Riva success stories and articles, or check out the latest news.
Gert: Will Riva integrate with T+C or the Open Workgroup Suite?
Aldo: Yes. We plan on delivering Teaming + Conferencing integration shortly after GroupWise 8 ships. But before we can build other T+C integration connectors, we need feedback from customers! We invite T+C customers to user our Contact Us form to tell us what they need for integration points with T+C. Tell us what applications you want to able to integrate to T+C.
We believe that Riva brings tremendous value to customers who take advantage of the Novell Open Workgroup Suite. Based on our research, 80% of customers do not have CRMs in place. Novell partners and customers have the perfect combination to satisfy this need by bundling NOWS, SugarCRM Commmunity Edition (open source) and Riva to deliver a complete Linux-based integration solution. With the Novell Edition of OpenOffice, SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop, SLES, GroupWise and Riva CRM Integration for GroupWise, customers can experience the future of integrated solutions, today.
Omni and GWCheck look forward to reading the feedback from people who have questions, CRM or collaboration integration requirements or comments about the interview.
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