Research-based pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline has committed to 10,000 Groove licenses as it cranks up early pilot testing. Bill Wood, head of collaborative computing research, says the management features are important. We have standard desktops and we don't let people just load anything. The server lets users dictate who gets the software and what add-on software they can download. GlaxoSmithKline has 110,000 seats of Lotus Notes and is looking at building collaborative workspaces.
Groove is very easy to get small groups started.
GlaxoSmithKline collaborates on research with bio-technology labs and universities, and wants a way for groups to quickly form, add new members and disband without a lot of IT involvement. Raytheon is launching three Groove pilot projects this month. The company, which has 50,000 Notes seats, is exploring use beyond ad hoc meetings, according to Saul Fisher, director of strategic initiatives. The pilots also will be used to validate Groove's security, which encrypts stored files and uses 192-bit encryption when transmitting data. Fisher says the additional IT features added since Groove was launched in beta late last year were key.