CeBIT 2012: Zarafa previews WebApp

Zarafa CEO Brian Joseph demonstrates the company's web application at CeBIT 2012 At this year's CeBIT IT trade fair in Hannover, messaging and collaboration specialist Zarafa is previewing WebApp, its next generation web interface. The new open source collaboration client for enterprises is designed to be easier to use than the company's previous WebAccess solution and adds a number of new features.

First previewed at the company's 2011 SummerCamp event, the Zarafa WebApp features multi-user weekly calendaring, support for shared folders and calendar overlay, and faster loading times. The user interface has been updated to provide quick access to frequently used features and it can be extended using plugins. Speaking to The H, Zarafa CEO Brian Joseph said that, for the launch, his company is focusing on six new plugins, including ones for Facebook, web meetings and online chat. Joseph added that Zarafa is currently working with Google to finalise a plugin for its Google+ social networking site.

A wide view of Zarafa's WebApp
Source: Zarafa The developers note that the new version can run in parallel with the existing Zarafa WebAccess app on version 7.0 of the Zarafa Collaboration Platform (ZCP), the company's Linux-based groupware product. ZCP offers IMAP/POP3 access, a CalDAV gateway, native MAPI integration with Outlook and its own WebAccess web client. Visually, the WebAccess client is closely based on Outlook 2003 and offers almost all the features found in Outlook Web Access. The community version of ZCP has almost unrestricted functionality, but limits the number of Outlook clients served to three.

An overview of new features can be found on the WebApp product page and API Documentation is also provided. Current development versions of Zarafa WebApp are available from the company's Community Hub web site; according to Joseph, version 1.0 of the new Zarafa WebApp will be available "in the next three to four weeks". The Zarafa WebApp is licensed under the AGPLv3.

See also:

• CeBIT 2012: Open source and Linux, a report from The H.

(fab)