Novell hits the Vibe for enterprise collaboration

Novell has released new collaboration software called Vibe that can be used on-premise or via the cloud.

Vibe uses technologies from Novell's Pulse and Teaming platforms, and provides tools to help staff communicate and share more effectively across the network, the firm said.

The Vibe Cloud platform includes enterprise social networking tools for messaging, blogs and wikis, file sharing platforms that synchronise the cloud and the desktop, and the ability to collaborate on documents in real time across the enterprise.

Novell said that employees can create ad-hoc groups, and invite collaborators inside and outside the organisation to discuss ideas in an instant environment.

Vibe OnPrem, meanwhile, provides the ability to create workspaces for distributed teams, and offers automated work flows, document creation, content management and flexible collaboration tools.

Wendy Steinle, director of marketing at Novell, told V3.co.uk that the products meet growing enterprise demands for more streamlined and easy-to-use collaboration systems.

"With the Vibe platform businesses can get a combination of social software and enterprise applications, like real-time document editing and file access, that allows workers to be more productive across the business," she said.

"For example, instead of having to be human aggregators of information, Vibe will help staff keep contacts and assets in relevant locations, so they can more easily share and find information within and outside the business."

Steinle added that the two products will initially exist separately, but will merge over time to offer one set of functionalities across the two delivery models.

Novell Vibe OnPrem will be available in late 2010, while Novell Vibe Cloud will be available in the first half of 2011. No pricing details have been announced, but beta versions of the products are available on the firm's web site.