GroupWise vs SharePoint

March 10, 2025 | Author: Adam Levine
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GroupWise
OpenText GroupWise gives you modern email, messaging, calendaring, contact management and scheduling for today’s mobile world. With a dynamic, flexible interface, you can easily meet your organization’s requirements.
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SharePoint
SharePoint's multi-purpose platform allows for managing and provisioning of intranet portals, extranets and websites, document management and file management, collaboration spaces, social networking tools, enterprise search, business intelligence tooling, process/information integration, and third-party developed solutions. SharePoint can also be used as a web application development platform.

GroupWise and SharePoint, at first glance, appear to be two entirely different beasts, much like a hedgehog and a small filing cabinet. Yet, upon closer inspection, both are deeply concerned with the eternal human struggle to collaborate without actually speaking to each other. They both offer document sharing, security controls and integration with Microsoft Office, proving that even software can be diplomatic. They exist in both the cloud and on-premises, ensuring that no matter how much a company resists change, it will still inevitably be stuck with software updates.

GroupWise, which has been around since 1986 (and thus predates the internet as most people understand it), was designed primarily for email, calendaring and other crucial activities that keep office workers awake during meetings. Originally from the grand tech corridors of Novell, which later became OpenText, it excels at making sure emails don’t get lost in the vast digital void. Unlike SharePoint, it has a built-in disaster recovery system, which is tremendously useful for those who send regrettable emails and wish they hadn’t.

SharePoint, on the other hand, emerged in 2001 under the benevolent rule of Microsoft and has spent its life ensuring that documents never truly die—just get buried under layers of version history. It is the go-to tool for organizations that need structured document storage, complex workflows and intranet portals no one visits. Deeply entwined with Microsoft 365, it offers endless customization options, ensuring that any company with too much time and money can create a document management system that is uniquely confusing.

See also: Top 10 Email services
Author: Adam Levine
Adam is an expert in project management, collaboration and productivity technologies, team management, and motivation. With an extensive background working at prestigious companies such as Microsoft and Accenture, Adam's in-depth knowledge and experience in the field make him a sought-after professional. Currently, he has ventured into entrepreneurship, owning a thriving consulting and training agency where he imparts invaluable insights and practical strategies to individuals and organizations, empowering them to achieve their goals and maximize their potential. You can contact Adam via email [email protected]