EGroupware

The collaborative solution EGroupware [16], developed in Kaiserslautern, Germany, provides a complete working environment much like OnlyOffice. The EGroupware environment is not limited to pure document processing with the help of an office suite. You can also test the package free of charge for 30 days by creating an account in the cloud. Just enter your email address to activate access.

The provider sets up EGroupware, and the access data is delivered by email. The commercially distributed variants provide various cloud access models to users in Germany. The data are stored in German data centers and are thus also subject to German data protection and security guidelines.

Once you have installed an on-premise solution in either the Pro or Community version [17] or activated the cloud infrastructure, you can access a clearly laid out portal that initially shows you a calendar after successfully logging in. The left-hand sidebar contains the configuration and service options required for first-time users. As the administrator, you can set up new groups and users with the appropriate rights (Figure 10).

Figure 10: At first glance, you might notice that the portal also supports collaborative work on documents.

Unlike OnlyOffice, EGroupware's office suite does not offer meaningful icons on the portal page. The file manager in the left-hand sidebar in the lower area lets you access collaborative document processing. It displays the existing datasets in list form.

You create documents using the horizontal buttons at the top. Clicking on the plus symbol opens a selection of the document types supported by the integrated Collabora server: In addition to text documents, these types include tables and presentations.

Once you have selected a document type, file name, and file format, the Collabora Office component formats the files in the free ODF format. Alternatively, you can also choose proprietary Microsoft formats, which are limited to the two current variants. The software does not let you save a document as a TXT or PDF file.

After entering the basic file information, the Collabora editor opens in a pop-up window. (You must either allow pop-up windows in the web browser or grant an exception in the associated settings dialog.) Alternatively, right-click on the file you created in the file manager and choose Open. The Collabora editor then appears in a tab of the web browser.

The benefits: You can open multiple files simultaneously, allowing fast access to the file manager or other EGroupware components without navigating through the web browser (Figure 11).

Figure 11: EGroupware opens different tabs for each application.

The existing documents also store the cloud variants in the cloud. If required, you can download documents to the local mass storage device. Use the File | Download as dialog, which also allows conversion to PDF format. For other users, the owner of a file sets up shares for collaborative editing by right-clicking the option from the context menu.

On Premise

Just like OnlyOffice, EGroupware offers a server with the same name for local installation. For local installs, you will find a community version available under the GNU GPLv2, which is available via the manufacturer's website for openSUSE, SLES, Fedora, RHEL, Centos, Debian, and Ubuntu [17]. The server is also available in the repositories of some distributions, such as ALT Linux, OpenMandriva, Mageia, and ROSA Linux.

The installation automatically sets up the Apache web server and PHP as dependent packages. In addition, you must manually maintain various add-on modules that you do not initially install into the suite.

The hardware requirements for operating an on-premise server are 8GB RAM, at least 50GB free mass storage, and a 64-bit operating system. Firefox, Chrome, or Safari are the recommended web browsers on clients.

For small businesses, a single server seems sufficient for all components, but the developers advise medium and large organizations to distribute the individual services across multiple servers. Email servers such as Dovecot, Postfix, or Cyrus, as well as the required web servers Apache or Nginx and database servers (we recommend MariaDB or MySQL) can be imported separately. The locally installed community server – as well as the paid enterprise version – offers all groupware functions, but does not have a collaboration server by default. Collaborative document processing is only possible if you integrate a cloud-based or locally installed Collabora server.

Documentation and Support

The EGroupware suite, which has been around for several years, is well documented. The manufacturers offer tutorials and video tutorials on the Internet, but also hold regular webinars. Enterprise customers can use their own support platform in differently sized packages. You have to create your own username and password. In addition, the chargeable offers include personal support based on fixed time quotas.