Zarafa Unveils Next-Generation WebApp Features

What makes a web app more than a web app? That’s a question Zarafa, the open source groupware vendor, is trying to answer as it develops the next generation of its mobile-ready WebApp tool for accessing resources from any device with a browser. Here’s a look at what the company has done, and plans to do in the future, to transform the application into more than a simplified access portal for mobile hardware.

Dubbed “the communication platform of the future,” Zarafa’s WebApp lets users connect to groupware resources including calendars and meeting platforms. It has a modular architecture that makes it expandable via plugins (Zarafa invites contributions in this form from the open source community) and is a more mobile-friendly version of Zarafa’s heavier-duty Webaccess tool.

In a new version of WebApp released last week, Zarafa introduced several enhancements that the company envisions as the “first tentative steps towards more than just a web application,” according to an email. The features include:

That’s what’s new in WebApp version 1.3. Going forward, Zarafa plans additional feature enhancements for the tool that include the following, according to a Zarafa representative contacted via email:

Zarafa expects to debut these features with WebApp version 2.0 this summer. It will also be showcasing the existing features in WebApp 1.3 at CeBIT in Germany in a few weeks.

Zarafa’s WebApp represents only one such tool out of millions. But the company’s focus on feature enhancements that will place the Web app on a par with traditional, non-mobile interfaces reflects a growing trend toward turning mobile apps into more than dumbed-down, overly basic versions of more sophisticated platforms. And that’s smart, particularly at a time when more and more users are accessing resources from non-traditional devices.