Take Andersen Consulting. When Andersen had only a few people working in a particular area, it was easy to know which one of them to call for advice, explains Charles M. Paulk, Andersen's chief information officer. Knowledge Exchange, which Andersen launched three years ago, now consists of over 2,000 databases that consultants can tap into. As employees add to their database, they build a library to store the group's collective experience and knowledge. So when a question relating to a project arises, consultants can check the Notes database to find an answer quickly.
Employees can also use Notes for electronic consultations with each other.
No wonder sales of groupware programs are taking off. So, the groupware gold rush is on. Startups like Collabra Software and Mesa Group, as well as giants Novell, Oracle, and Microsoft are jumping in. Microsoft's Exchange groupware package is due out by yearend. Notes, on the market since 1990, has the edge.