Review Rating – Two Thumbs Up! (because I have only 2)

Although we will review HyperOffice mostly as a "sharepoint alternative", it is pretty much the most comprehensive web collaboration software out there. It covers almost the entire range of features in the SharePoint & Exchange alternative domains, has sophisticated document management capabilities, and allows mobile access (HyperOffice on iPhone particularly impressed me) all rolled into one. 

To start our review, HyperOffice is web based, so it does not require any hardware setup, or any downloads at the user's end, as with SharePoint or some of its alternatives. To get going you need to sign up online (the customary free trial is there, and allows full access). You have the choice of setting up a domain with a HyperOffice extension (yourcompany.hyperoffice.com) or a custom domain (yourcompany.com) for a little extra charge.

Intranet - Each user gets a "personal area" which has a desktop (with announcements, to do lists, news, events, notes, access to tools etc), a mail client, personal document management, a personal calendar, personal contact management, "my tasks", "my links", "my reminders" etc.

In addition "group areas" can be easily set up for the entire company, departments, teams, ad-hoc projects etc. These group areas have a group desktop (or homepage) (group announcements, events, news, access to tools etc), shared document management, shared group calendar, group contact lists, group links, group project management, forums, polls, instant messaging etc. A group administrator can very easily manage membership of a group, by adding or deleting new members, and even managing the level of access different members have within a group.

This intranet design is very simple and logical, allowing employees to easily manage personal information, or get together and work and collaborate on group information. Each tool has its own nuances and power, but touching upon all of them would unnecessarily take up space.

Extranets & Customer Portals - Extranets/Customer portals are simply group areas which have membership of relevant employees and partners and clients, as applicable. So extranets can simply be seen as an extension of the intranet. External members can easily access these extranets with any web browser and the requisite login and password. 128 bit encryption ensures safety of company and partner information.

Customization - HyperOffice includes a "publisher" tool through which intranets and extranets can easily be customized to a great extent. "Publisher" is a push button tool, and does not require any designing expertise at all. You can easily manage the look, layout and design of group homepage; create any number of pages; add branding; create linkages to tools or documents etc. You can choose from a range of pre-built templates or even create entire websites from scratch. In addition you can choose what tools you want included in a particular group.

Customizing and branding intranets, extranets, and customer portals is a great way of impressing and motivating people. With HyperOffice's publisher, it is truly child's play.

Document Management - HyperOffice has an elegant and powerful document management system, and it is intelligently integrated with the intranet design as mentioned above. Some of its features are as follows:-

Organization - Personal and group documents can easily be organized as folders and subfolders.

Filetypes Supported - The system is filetype agnostic.

Collaboration - Multiple employees can get togather and work on documents and files. Versioning, change notifications, automatic locking, audit trails, document commenting etc facilitate collaboration.

Desktop Integration - HyperOffice's web folder concept allows users to access and work on files directly from their local system's desktop. You simply need to download a small module called "HyperDrive", which installs a "web folder" on your desktop through which you can easily navigate to all your files and folders like you would within Windows. Any changes you make to your documents are automatically updated on your online account.

Drag and Drop - Web Folders also allow you to drag and drop multiple files and folders to your online account. Beats doing it one at a time!

Access Control - The administrator can easily manage which people can access what information and what they can do with it (read, write, delete). Access can be set at the "group" level, the folder/subfolder level, or even the document level. Through "profiling" you can even hide information from people who do not have the rights.

Browser Access/Mobile Access – HyperOffice is accessible from any web browser, either Mac or PC. What’s more, its even optimized for mobile browsers. I was especially impressed with HyperOffice on iPhone. It pretty much powers iPhone to be used as a collaboration tool.

Security - In a web based system, letting go of your information and allowing it to be hosted on a third party's system is certainly an act of faith. HyperOffice certainly keeps the faith with an excellent record. They have extensive security protocols, 128 bit encryption, and automatic backups, which can be considered as better can provide in house.

Conclusion - The above features can well be called half of HyperOffice. It also includes integrated Exchange killer features like email hosting, Outlook integration, automatic synching; as well as cool concepts like “interlinking” (the ability to associate related data).

Pricing is very reasonable, at around $7 per user per month. Through ideal for small to mid sized businesses, the solution is highly scalable, with many 1000 user clients in its kitty.

All in all, it is a top notch tool, and goes highly recommended.

The much awaited Enterprise 2.0 conference concluded recently at Boston. The hot debate during the conference was the adoption of social media in an enterprise context. In conclusion, everybody accepted that social media gradually finding their way into the enterprise was the way of the future. SharePoint's attempt to sell itself as a social solution largely felt flat on its face. Other keynotes by the "biggies" like Oracle and Sony, also didnt find much favour with the audiences. All in all, it was brilliant new startups which took the show.

For some great coverage of the event, read this, this, this and this.

Though the title of this article may sound like salt in one's dessert, but my musings have quite naturally headed in this direction with the storm clouds of hurricane season brewing. To be honest, the thought isn't completely original, and my musings on this subject were evoked only after reading this article. It will not be exaggeration to say that small businesses, running out of small offices or even homes, are most affected by hurricanes. When the roof of your home is flying around, or when you're huddled in storm shelter, business information isn't exactly on top of your mind. But your business does suffer, and many a time you have to pick up the pieces or even start from scratch. Here are a few ways in which a robust intranet solution can help keep your business together even when the winds are swirling around.

1. Backup - An intranet solution with automatic backups ensures that even when information stored at one location is lost, it is always retrievable from the backed up location. Web based solutions offer automatic backups, and the information is never really on your local servers to be lost. It is stored in secure facilities scattered around the country, so you can rest easy.

2. Work Together Remotely - Stormy weather may prevent employees from coming to the office facility, but a robust intranet solution ensures that most of the tasks (collaborating on documents, discussing issues, planning, scheduling projects) may be done with everyone working from home.

3. Web Conferencing - Sometimes when mere exchange of information does not suffice, employees can get together and verbally discuss issues using web conferencing integrated with the intranet. It may not exactly be like being together in the board room, but it serves the purpose.

4. Extranets - Extranets, which are merely an extension of intranets, are a good way to keep the ball rolling when you're collaborating with clients and partners. The fact that you continue working on joint projects even with hurricanes in the region, will surely strengthen bonds.

If you think of any more ideas, please leave a comment :)

Since our site has a small business focus, I have my eyeballs directed at the "Most Innovative Small and Medium-Sized Infrastructure Software" category. The finalists are – eEmpAct, docufree, HyperOffice & Blue Cat Networks