Work platforms: basic infrastructure for groupware-a conceptual framework

In the past, the field of CSCW has concentrated on providing support for the cooperative and coordination aspects of human work with the help of networked computer systems. The dominant issues now are the integration of different existing tools into comprehensive CSCW systems and the interoperation of heterogeneous CSCW systems. Work platforms based on services are providing new impulses for this integration: considerable contributions to integration can be made by standardizing the component parts offered as services in a globally networked system. The resulting increased reusability cuts costs. The paper presents a concept for a work platform for groupware applications based on services within a distributed system.