Groove Networks Webcast Addresses Distributed Project Management Challenges

Groove Workspace Project Edition customers report shortened project cycles, productivity gains & cost savings

BEVERLY, Mass., December 2, 2003 – Groove Networks Inc., a leading provider of desktop collaboration software, today made available a webcast showcasing the benefits of using Groove Workspace Project Edition to manage distributed projects. Featuring two customer case studies and a demonstration of Groove Workspace Project Edition, the on-demand webcast is available at http://www.accelacomm.com/jlp/PR/0/10001142/.

“Analysts predict spending on distributed project management solutions to grow from $2 billion in 2002 to $7 billion in 2007. Why? Because the competitive advantage to be gained by outsourcing and off-shoring business processes, or just bringing together distributed teams, is too attractive to ignore,” said Dave Fowler, vice president of marketing for Groove Networks. “Many companies, however, get bitten by jumping into distributed projects too quickly, without equipping their employees and partners with the proper tools and training to work together virtually. Since we shipped Groove Workspace Project Edition four months ago, we’ve seen first-hand the latent need for geographically dispersed project teams to work together more effectively online. This is a need that spans all segments, from Fortune 500 companies, to government organizations, and small businesses.”

“Using Groove Workspace Project Edition to manage our distributed projectshas allowed us to improve the way our project teams work together,” said Jim Kilmurray, president & CEO of Grapevine Software. “Our use of email for sharing project information and status updates has been eliminated, as all deliverables and associated information are now managed completely inside Groove project workspaces. As a result, we save time and money, and improve the quality of our products, which positively impacts both our top and bottom lines.”

The distributed project management challenge
As companies seek to gain competitive advantage by tapping the talents of global, geographically distributed workforces and partner communities, the distributed project team is quickly becoming the norm. When teams become more distributed, however, the cost of coordinating projects and managing resources increases. A variety of boundaries, including physical distribution of team members, company firewalls, time zone differences, and language and cultural disparities, can impede effective project management and team collaboration. As a result, distributed teams often suffer from project “awareness deficits” surrounding task dependencies, project milestones and deadlines, changes in project status, and team members’ availability and daily activities.

Groove Workspace Project Edition
Groove Workspace Project Edition, featuring TeamDirection Project and TeamDirection Dashboard, allows distributed teams to manage and execute projects more effectively by eliminating barriers to effective teamwork and collaboration. Inside secure project workspaces, teams can create, assign and manage tasks, set milestones, track project changes, schedule and host online meetings, review presentations, check members’ online status, and more. Team members can work inside Groove project workspaces at any time, from any location, whether they are online or offline. All project activities are automatically and securely synchronized between team members’ PCs, and optionally with Microsoft Project plans, eliminating the burden of manually exchanging project updates via email and “rolling up” changes.

TeamDirection, an independent software vendor and Groove Networks’ developer partner, recently announced version 2.5 of its TeamDirection Project and TeamDirection Dashboard tools. The new versions, available separately and as part of Groove Workspace Project Edition, feature a number of enhancements including a scalable Gantt Chart and additional synchronization options between TeamDirection Project and Microsoft Project.

Pricing and availability
Groove Workspace Project Edition (U.S. $199) is currently available and can be purchased from Groove Networks’ online store at www.groove.net/shop, or by contacting a Groove Networks sales representative at sales@groove.net.

About Groove Networks
Founded in October 1997 and headquartered in Beverly, Mass., Groove Networks Inc. offers desktop workspace software, powered by mobile collaboration services, that provides people a better way of working together online. Groove software helps organizations, large and small, save money, time and eliminate travel by offering both a desktop application for instant teamwork, and a set of customizable, open collaboration services that enhance the utility and value of existing solutions. For more information about Groove Networks, visit http://www.groove.net.