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Programming The Internet IT Technology

Software for a Virtual Office? 50

Posted by Cliff from the improved-communication-through-better-software dept.
Omega1045 asks: "I am working on a team that will soon be merging with another group of developers a thousand miles away, plus we already have remote people. Having been in this position at a previous job, I have used applications like IM, NetMeeting, email and a lot of phone calls to keep people in touch. Even with these things, there is still a lot missing in making sure we have good communication between members of the team. In my previous experience, we spent too much time on simple tasks like making sure everyone had the same copy of a file, the same update project schedule, etc. What tools would you recommend for a team working in Windows development? What experiences, good and bad, have you had with 'virtual office' applications. I am currently testing Groove Virtual Office which I spotted on Slashdot, earlier. Does Slashdot have recommendations for free software, or moderately priced commercial software, that might fig the bill?"
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Software for a Virtual Office? More

Software for a Virtual Office?

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  • GForge is good stuff (Score:3, Interesting)

    by tcopeland ( 32225 ) * <tom&thomasleecopeland,com> on Friday October 28, 2005 @05:01PM (#13899805) Homepage
    ...some of the recent changes in CVS have some Microsoft Project integration, too. GForge is pretty good at handling reasonably heavy loads [blogs.com]. And you can even get commercial support [gforgegroup.com].

    I'm not affiliated with GForge Group, although I was a committer on GForge for a while.
  • I had a contract last year where they used GoToMeeting with good results. It seemed to be a rather spiffy program, but others that have used it more extensively may have deeper thoughts on it. Generally we used it to present changes to clients via our project manager's PC. We would all also call in to a meeting number and the client app tracked who was on the phone and who was watching the project manager's presentation.

    https://www.gotomeeting.com/ [gotomeeting.com]
  • Sync a folder on the hdd, and it will solve alot of menial tasks.
    • rsync can be a pain to work with if files get added and deleted in different places, because it can't see whethere a file was added downstream or deleted upstream (and vice versa). Better to use a real version control system. Which would also give you old versions of files, logs of the changes, and information about who changed what when and how. All of this information can be very useful.

  • VPN routers, Wikis, and file servers (Score:3, Interesting)

    by treerex ( 743007 ) on Friday October 28, 2005 @05:24PM (#13900022) Homepage
    I spend a majority of my week working from my home office, driving the 50 miles each way into the company's building only a couple of days a week. I have a VPN router (LinkSys RV042) that extends the corporate network into my house. Our team uses a wiki for tracking issues and such, and shared file servers work fine: the approved or cannonical versions of software are put on the server and everyone is expected to stay up-to-date.

    The previous reply to use rsync is a good idea if you want to automatically keep (force) everyone to the save versions of files and such.

    We haven't used anything like GForge, though we do not have a lot of remote development going on (a few engineers cross country, the rest on the same coast.) Adding another email system (for example) on top of wahtever the corporate email system provides is a waste and senselessly duplicative. Similarly integrating our RCS into another larger system didn't make sense.

  • Subversion? (Score:5, Informative)

    by RAMMS+EIN ( 578166 ) on Friday October 28, 2005 @05:26PM (#13900033) Homepage Journal
    ``we spent too much time on simple tasks like making sure everyone had the same copy of a file, the same update project schedule, etc.''

    That sounds like nothing a version control system couldn't take care of. I don't know about other systems, but I have good experiences with Subversion [tigris.org], and I am told there are Windows clients for it.

    • Re:Subversion? (Score:3, Interesting)

      by josepha48 ( 13953 )
      Yes, I'd agree. SourceSafe or CVS would help there.

      Also centralized file repositories would help. A place where certain people could put files for others to read and get.

      This really sounds like a poorly managed workplace.

    • Re:Subversion? (Score:3, Informative)

      by Mr2cents ( 323101 )
      If you want version control with cvs/svn under windows, I really recommend tortoisecvs/tortoisesvn. These handy clients integrate with the file manager, and are very user-friendly. It has been a while since I used it though.

      http://www.tortoisecvs.org/ [tortoisecvs.org]
      http://tortoisesvn.tigris.org/ [tigris.org]
    • Already using CVS with WinCVS, so way ahead of you there. How do you have two (or 10) people authoring the same MS Project file at the same time with CVS, or the same word doc, etc, etc, etc. Merge does not work very well in these cases. How can people see updates ASAP with CVS? You cannot expect the team to run update several times a day just to get the latest changes close to when they happend. This is why I am hoping to find something else - that is not to say CVS (or subversion - I recommend the a
      • Hi, The easiest way for people to see updates ASPA is to use Tortoisecvs or Tortoisesvn it's much easier to use than WinCVS. As for multiple people editing MS Project the only solution is to change it to a server configuration (We have it set up that way at our work.) Getting multiple people to edit a word document will require sharepoint but that will cost you big time.

      • Re:Subversion? (Score:3, Interesting)

        by Mr2cents ( 323101 )
        In order to be sure you're convinced, I'll say it once more: you should give tortoisecvs a try.

        I also use viewcvs to make the repository visible through a browser, but you're probably doing that too already.

        http://viewcvs.sourceforge.net/ [sourceforge.net]

      • We've had good results using Sharepoint [microsoft.com] (hey, you said you were using Microsoft products) to track documents, schedules, tasks, todo lists, etc. It's not as robust as a full source control system like Subversion, but it works well for management stuff (bonus: it's all web-based, so you don't need a local client or enlistment). For binary files like Word or Project files, you really need a method of locking the file. SVN and CVS are really geared towards concurrent changes in text files that are mergeabl

      • How do you do any of this in a regular office? You can't. The experience you are trying to recreate is two people working on a document, one at the terminal, one standing behind him, commenting on what he is doing and giving suggestions. This can be easily accomplished using VNC in view only mode and a voice chat solution.
    • I agree.

      We use Subversion (see http://subversion.tigris.org/ [tigris.org]) with srvany (see http://www.iopus.com/guides/srvany.htm [iopus.com]) at work on a Windows server and TortoiseSVN (http://tortoisesvn.tigris.org/ [tigris.org]) on the clients and it works very well for code *and* documents. I would use SVN version 1.2 as it handles binary files better by being able to lock files.

      We find "svn:ignore" useful (http://svnbook.red-bean.com/en/1.1/svn-book.html# svn-ch-7-sect-2.3.3 [red-bean.com])
      And "svn:needs-lock" (http://svnbook.red-bean.com/nightly/en/s [red-bean.com]
  • That's what it does.

    • More Info on Sharepoint (Score:2, Interesting)

      by c_dog ( 219987 )
      My org has recently been experimenting with Sharepoint, and it works well for collaboration and document exchange. Much better than email, IM, etc. The software comes with several templates that let you manipulate the site into being useful for your intended purposes, and it is a free download from Microsoft.

      There are only a few caveats that can potentially be a show-stoppers:
      1. It requires Windows 2003 Server.
      2. You must be willing and able to run IIS on the box. In fact, you really cannot use the IIS instance o

      • Re:More Info on Sharepoint (Score:1, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward
        I had issues running sharepoint with web other applications running on the same install of IIS. But there are ways around it.

        1. Make sure to exclude the path to your other web applications, in the sharepoint administration
        2. Look at this article for web.config modifications that will allow sharepoint and .NET apps to co-exist.

        http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb; en-us;837376 [microsoft.com]

  • Wikis (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Knetzar ( 698216 ) on Friday October 28, 2005 @05:53PM (#13900285)
    I hate to use a tech buzzword, but wiki's (with offline copies) can be exactly what's needed. Building tables and documents directly in the wiki interface will make sure that everyone always has the latest copy.

    • Re:Wikis (Score:2, Informative)

      by NickTopMoumoute ( 926835 )
      I fully agree! Wiki's so simple to settle and use that it definitely worth a try. I've installed different flavors of Wiki (TWiki, Ouin Ouin, JspWiki, PHPWiki) 4 times and always with the same result: simply great! At the beginning you face the "oh no, not a new techno" pattern, but quickly developers realize they can share the same information and that it is always up-to-date. Here is an example of tasks my current Wiki is enabling:
      • List of people, contacts
      • Vocabulary used on the project
      • Team's To Do L
      • I've even used a wiki for collaborative design work. Typically one person posts a draft, a result of their own thinking or discussions via other media. Then others annotate, elaborate, dialog, comment, etc. The owner of the design is responsible for integrating resolved issues, etc.

        Same sort of thing can be done via email, of course, but a wiki gives you versioning and ready historical access. Folks who were not involved in the original discussions can come in later and review the evolution of the desig

  • Say no more! (Score:1, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Novell has heard the cry of thousands before you and they have developed a solution [novell.com]. Novell Virtual Office runs on Open Enterprise Server(OES) which can be either Netware or SuSE Linux.

    Sorry, MS is not a supported platform for this solution. MS did try their own solution but it fell way short with Share Point. Share Point blows chunks and sucks balls at the same time!
    • Virtual Office is good, yeah.
      It has some limitations, like the fact that it is web.
      With the combination of iFolder 3.0, it can make something good.
      Also, Novell has no solution for a collaborative file services. Something that can handle multiple copies of the same document, for example.
      Also, there is no access for other type of access, like wap or stuff like this.
      Virtual office is a low cost solution for companies who already have some Netware or OES linux servers.

  • Docushare (Score:3, Informative)

    by Llama Keeper ( 7984 ) on Friday October 28, 2005 @06:10PM (#13900414) Homepage
    Xerox's Docushare product is like Sharepoint on Steroids.

    Calendandering, versioning, chats & forumns, plus its a EDM (Electronic Document Manager), this coupled with e-mail, IM and a decent CVS, should keep you up to date.

    Groove Office is supposed to be pretty good as well, but I haven't used it much, just Docushare. Plus I love Docushare because you can have a Linux(or better yet FreeBSD!) Front-End to a MS-SQL server.

  • be religiously cross-platform (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward

    I work in a company of some 3000 people. The biggest issues we have with the "glue-ware" applications, which are used to keep everybody on the same page, come when the glue-ware requires a specific web browser to work, or is a binary that only works on one type of machine.

    Now that the IT managers have got enough complaints, we are moving away from this. But the number of times I had to seek out a Windows machine, just to file a trip expense report, was not even funny.

  • I have set up and supported remote sites and home based telecommuters. Listen to my advice, listen very carefully and save your sanity and driving : Find an older PC, at least PII 300 with 256 MB memory, to set-up as a headless ( no display or keyboard ) server and firewall. A simple web based interface can be used to Start/stop the modem and server, all other maintenance should be handled remotely via ssh, webmin [webmin.com] and vnc.

    1) Install a second NIC or connect the modem directly to the server. Connection to th

  • Make time to actually meet the "other" dev team (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Curmudgeonlyoldbloke ( 850482 ) on Friday October 28, 2005 @08:25PM (#13901631)
    There are plenty of good technical solutions to source code control, messaging, mail, etc. (lots of which are posted already) that allow you to work together, but to actually work together effectively yet remotely you need to get to know the people who you are working with - and this means meeting face to face semi-regularly.

    If you don't do this, then you'll always be two development teams - "us" and "them".

  • Some advice that you may not like (Score:1, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Use Sharepoint, someone flamed sharepoint, but I have been able to provide a much richer collaboration experience for all parties involved. I even got the sales team to use it. The ability to create lists allows me to replace home grown software used for management purposes. The document management may be better in Xerox's product, but I haven't used it and sounds like it does what Sharepoint does. Sharepoint is free, but only runs on windows.

    Use CVS! it's free and beats a lot of commercial software with
  • I know some remote people, too.
  • Use a combination of Groove Virtual Office & Skype to perform collaboaration activities. The licensing costs are reasonable ($229 / user) and the ability to coordinate across the Internet without having to worry about VPN connectivity or firewall traversal is wonderful. The co-edit capabilities for Word are very useful. Be sure to not skimp on training when you rollout because it will be a paradigm shift for most of your users.

    We use two workspaces for each customer, one internal & one external t
  • It seems like you need duct tape for all of the little things, so I think anyone who mentioned the wiki before made a great observation. I would suggest Twiki or MoinMoin. They are mature. They are free. They are platform independent and low deployment. They have access control and authentication. They have versioning. You can subscribe to email notifications or RSS feeds of changes to pages. They grow in an organic manner rather than having too much structure. They split the cost of management. They can
  • I just finished a 3 month consulting gig. I worked for the first 4 weeks onsite (I firmly believe that you have to get to know folks to start off).

    Everyone must be able to VPN into the central office. Cisco, OpenVPN, whatever. But everyone must be able to connect.

    For keeping code sync'd:
    CVS or svn. We used CVS because we all know it. Also it was in place already, but terribly underused and mismanaged.

    For tracking bugs and issues:
    Bugzilla. There are others. There was one in place there, already, but v
  • For people comfortable with developer tools, a lot of these comments are pretty good. I've used them all, from wikis to content managment systems, to version control systems.

    If you have non-technical folks on your team, however, very few of these tools will be welcomed. They're just too low-level for ordinary people.

    You mentioned that you've looked at Groove Virtual Office. That actually puts you way ahead already. One thing many people don't realize is that Groove's folder sync feature is often the onl
  • basecamp [basecamphq.com] plus email plus the IM client of your choice.

    There is a free trial, so there is no reason not to kick the tires on this.

  • VNC, for screen sharing and remote control.
    Others can see anything you see on your screen.
    Great for discussions and troubleshooting.
    Free.
  • We use www.centraldesktop.com to share documents, task lists and manage all of our projects. Its web-based and we especially liked it b/c its wiki-based and really flexible for our needs (we are a software development company for dispatching software) We use it for customers by creating separate workspaces for each deployment. We also use it for all of our internal communication and document management (business development, marketing intranets, project management, etc). We looked at several different so

  • I'll start by saying I've been working remotely for a long time. 4 years as part of a team in a remote office and another year working from home. I work for a reasonably large software company (~3000 employees).

    The communicaiton tools we use now that i am working from home have been mostly mentioned in previous posts:

    • VPN access to corp network
    • MSN Messenger
    • Team Wiki server
    • Team task tracking software (we use one that uses SCRUM methodology)
    • Sharepoint (for document storage)
    • WebEx / LiveMeeting
    • Lots of

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