Microsoft today announced that it will be purchasing Groove Networks. Groove's founder, Ray Ozzie, will become Microsoft's chief technology officer. The purchase of Groove is meant to add more to Microsoft's new Office software coming out sometime next year. Microsoft will tie in Groove's virtual office software with its new office software line. The terms of the deal have not been finalized.
Groove Networks was founded in 1997 to create software for information workers to use. The company is based out of Beverly, Massachusetts where it is home to more than 200 employees. Groove sells to regular customers like you and I, along with government agencies and large corporations.
The purchase of Groove Networks was not much of a surprise, since there are such close ties between the two. Some products Groove offers will fill numerous holes in Microsoft's office software, Office 12. Analysts believe that adding features to the Office 12 software will make customers eager to upgrade.
As a Windows® desktop-based collaboration offering, Groove's Virtual Office complements Microsoft's collaboration solution offerings, which include the following:
Real-time collaboration solutions such as Microsoft Office Live Meeting 2005 and Microsoft Office Live Communications Server that enable in-the-moment one-to-one and one-to-many collaboration
Server-based collaboration solutions such as Microsoft Office SharePoint® Portal Server and Windows SharePoint Services that allow businesses to create and manage collaborative work spaces online or on a company's internal IT system
Peer-to-peer collaboration solutions through Groove's Virtual Office, which let any Windows-based PC user instantly create ad hoc, virtual work spaces that securely and easily span organizational, geographic and network boundaries, and allow information workers to be productive whether they're online or temporarily disconnected from the network.
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