Introduction

Many organizations are 'data rich' but 'information poor'. This is because the data is not easily accessible or in a form that is easily digested to impart real knowledge. This chapter is concerned with the impact on organizations of information technology (IT), in the form of groupware and specifically Lotus Notes, particularly with regard to how those organizations turn data into information and knowledge, how they have implemented software and how it has affected the way they work, their culture and the business itself.

The development of groupware to fulfil the expanded requirements of business to share knowledge about customers, new opportunities, new markets and products goes a long way to fill the gaps left by the usual, transactional based application software which forms the base of organizations' IT processing. But what is groupware? How does it work? Who uses it? How do they use it? What benefits do they get? What impact does it have on the organization? This chapter will attempt to answer some of these questions.

Definitions