Tuesday, April 3, 2012

SharePoint Workspace 2010 – Quick Comparison of various workspaces

Overview
}  SharePoint Workspace 2010 Availability:
·         Part of Office Professional 2010
}  Stated Purpose:
·         Anytime,  Anywhere collaboration
}  3 Types of Workspaces within Product
·         SharePoint Workspace
·         Groove Workspace
·         Shared Folder Workspace
}  Mobile device support (using Office Mobile)
·         SharePoint Workspace


Functionality Comparison
Functionality
SharePoint Workspace
Groove Workspace
Shared Folder Workspace
Online and Offline Collaboration on
SP2010 Content
Content on Client Computers
Content on Client Computers
Offline access to content
Yes
Yes
Yes
Auto-sync when online
Yes
Yes
Yes
Local Search
Yes
Yes
Yes
Library Functions (check-in/out, etc.)
Yes
No
No
Co-Authoring
Yes
Yes
No
Collaboration Team definition/control
Follows SP2010 Site Definition/Control
End User defined/controlled1
End User defined/controlled1
Facilitated by
SharePoint Server
Groove Server2
Groove Server2
1 Microsoft’s Public Groove server can enable collaboration with anybody (inside or outside organization) & anywhere (inside or outside corporate firewalls) with access to email and internet and with SharePoint Workspace 2010. However Group policies can be implemented to manage/restrict this functionality.
2 Organization can use hosted groove server inside the organization to facilitate (manage and govern) collaboration.

Use Case Scenario Comparison
Use Case Scenario
SharePoint Workspace
Groove Workspace
Shared Folder Workspace
Collaboration for Professionals on the move (desktop)
Yes
Yes
Yes
Working on sub-optimal network conditions
Yes
Yes
Yes
Access via Mobile Devices
Yes1
No
No
Ad-hoc workspace
No
Yes
Yes
Collaboration with trusted partners
Yes
Require Hosted Groove Server2
Require Hosted Groove Server2
Content Synchronization on multiple devices
Yes3
Yes
Yes
1 Office Mobile required
2 Hosted Groove Server can facilitate (govern and manage) collaboration with trusted partners
3 Access to SP2010 required, making it device + network dependent.

Security Comparison
Security Scenario
SharePoint Workspace
Groove Workspace
Shared Folder Workspace
Security Definition
SP2010 Site security
End user defined1
End User defined1
Content Synchronization
Require access to SP2010
Require Access to Groove Server2
Require Access to Groove Server2
Content Sync Dependency
Device/Network dependent
Device/Network Independent3
Device/Network Indepedent3
Offline Content Security
Tied to Device + Device login Credentials
Tied to Device + Device login Credentials
Tied to Device + Device login Credentials
Remote Wipe/Erase
Not Supported
Not Supported
Not Supported
IRM
Sync of documents (with IRM) supported4  but not IRM on SP libraries5
IRM on documents supported4
IRM on documents supported4
1 End User acting as workspace “Manager” can control the level of access other users get. Also using Microsoft’s Online Groove server (live services) user can extend workspace invitation to anybody with access to email, internet and SharePoint workspace 2010.
2 Connection to Groove server is required. Microsoft’s Public Groove server is available for anybody with email, internet and SharePoint Workspace 2010.
3 Device need local installation of SharePoint workspace 2010 product
4 IRM implementation is client software dependent (may or may not work as intended). Not all types of content can be secured via IRM.
5 Synchronization of SharePoint libraries with IRM (implemented via IMP) is not supported by SharePoint Workspace.

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