Hopefully most of you have taken advantage of last months release of GroupWise 2014 R2 and GroupWise Mobility Service 2014 R2 and have deployed them or getting ready to deploy them in your environments. I have been getting a lot of positive feedback on the releases so I know quite a few of our customers have updated to those latest versions.

It is a new year and even though we are still enjoying the recent releases the #1 question I get is, "What is next?"

I would like to start sharing our plans for what we want to accomplish in 2016.   Our goal is to have two significant releases in 2016.  We would like to see GroupWise 2014 R2 SP 1 (14.2.1) released in the first half of 2016.  Late in the second half of 2016 we would also like to release GroupWise 2017. We also want to have multiple releases of GroupWise Mobility Services in 2016 as well. Today I am going to focus on the first half of 2016 with what we want to deliver in GroupWise & GroupWise Mobility. I will share with you our goals for GroupWise 2017 later.   Just know we are working on it.

Let's start with GroupWise 2014 R2 SP 1 (14.2.1).  I know, your first reaction is; "what is so significant about a support pack?". If you have seen me speak or been reading this blog you should know that we want to change how we release GroupWise updates. We want each release to contain enhancements that we have completed in addition to the quality improvements that you are used to seeing in support packs.  Most of the enhancements/features will come from the Ideas Forum for GroupWise. So you will be helping us determine what value to deliver to you. So make sure you actively participate in the Ideas forum.

So what do we plan to deliver in 14.2.1? First, you are going to see some re-branding of the product. Starting with the next release, GroupWise will be Micro Focus GroupWise. I am excited about the change as it kicks off a new era for the product line. The features that we are working on and plan to deliver in 14.2.1 include:

• • Change ownership of shared folders

• • Global Signature templates with Variables

• • Due times for Tasks

• • Save email as PDF

• • Customized Welcome messages sent to newly created users

I have already marked these features as Planned in the GroupWise Ideas Forum, I hope you are participating and watching the forum because we are. In upcoming blog posts I will share more specifics on those features and give you some previews on how they are going to work.

Next, let's talk about GroupWise Mobility Services. Right now we are working on GroupWise Mobility Services 2014 R2 SP 1 (14.2.1). The features targets for this version include:

• • SLES 12 Support

• • Shared Folders

• • Shared Address Books

• • Shared Calendars

Having access to your shares in GroupWise on your mobile device has been a long outstanding request. I am sure this release will be an exciting release for our community.

So now the next question to answer is, "When will they be released?". GroupWise 14.2.1 is a date driven release. Meaning that we will deliver this to you in the first half of 2016. The features that have been completed will be in the release, anything that isn't quite done will be in 2017. GroupWise Mobility Service 14.2.1 is a feature driven release. Meaning that once those features are completed we will ship. We are currently targeting the first half of 2016 for this release as well.

In the second half of 2016 is where we would like to deliver GroupWise 2017. I will save the plans for that release for a later post. However, I will say that a main goal in GroupWise 2017 is to integrate GroupWise Messenger into the GroupWise Web Admin Console. This brings messenger off of ConsoleOne and eDir and allows you to provision and manage your users from a single admin console.

As always, I hope this news delights you as a customer. I am looking forward to an exciting and productive 2016!