The Situation:

Hewlett-Packard is a world leader in the design and manufacture of products ranging from computers and printers to sophisticated instrumentation and medical equipment. Its products can be found in major corporations and medical facilities, as well as in the homes of individual consumers.

With approximately 93,000 employees worldwide, even the smallest groups and departments at Hewlett-Packard can be quite large, resulting in major scheduling headaches when it comes to setting a time for a group meeting or reserving a conference room. Scheduling teleconference meetings with geographically remote sites -- and there are many -- can be even more complicated.

To alleviate these scheduling ni.htmares, many groups within Hewlett-Packard, including the 270-plus Open Systems Software Division (OSSD) in Cupertino, California, have turned to a scheduling and time management software program called Synchronize(tm) from CrossWind Technologies, Inc., that is rapidly spreading throughout the company. Mark Runyan, productivity engineer with OSSD, recalls how quickly Synchronize was adopted into his group.

"We had just moved a major project into the evaluation stage," says Runyan. "I was already using Synchronize, and the lead engineer came up and asked if we could put other senior engineers on the system because she was having a terrible time scheduling meetings. When people see how this product increases productivity, and how easy it is to use, they are anxious to adopt it."

The Problem:

Prior to Synchronize, employees were more or less on their own when it came to scheduling and maintaining their calendars. Daytimers, desk calendars and, in a few instances, on-line personal calendars were the primary tools. Time was set aside at the end of each meeting to schedule the next meeting, and could take up to ten minutes or more. Even then, several managers would return to their offices only to find that their secretaries had scheduled the time that they thought was free, triggering a round of telephone calls or e-mail messages to reschedule.

Because OSSD meetings tend to be large, sometimes involving as many as 30 people, the group has two conference rooms at its disposal. Secretaries kept handwritten schedules for the rooms. In some instances, a meeting would be canceled, but the secretary would not be notified. In other cases, the room might end up double-booked.

For weekly group meetings, a calendar tool within UNIX(r) was relied upon to notify attendees the day prior to the meeting. Unfortunately, employees were often alerted even when the meeting had been canceled.

Finally, HP engineers rely on teleconferencing to confer with colleagues at other HP sites. "While scheduling a meeting within our Cupertino group could be a real headache, scheduling a teleconference could really stress everyone out," says Runyan. "Now, because so many HP sites use Synchronize, it's a lot easier on our nerves."

The Solution:

Synchronize is gaining popularity within Hewlett-Packard, spreading from one group to another since its initial installation in 1990. Currently, OSSD is beta testing Synchronize 1.3, the newest version of the software running under HP/UX. In addition, some users are testing the new Microsoft Windows version of Synchronize. OSSD runs Synchronize in a client/server environment comprising an HP9000 Series 720 server and more than 270 HP9000 Series 700 clients.

Recently, Runyan put Synchronize to good use when conferring with three engineers from another Hewlett-Packard laboratory in Chelmsford, Massachusetts. Runyan needed to obtain information required for the meeting -- which he listed in the "to do" section of his own calendar -- and then find a time when he and another Cupertino engineer could set up a phone meeting with their colleagues in Chelmsford, Massachusetts.

In the Day-at-a-Time view, Runyan clicked the "Create Event" button, which automatically opened his own weekly calendar in the Event Editor window. In this window, Runyan's default database in Cupertino appeared, and he selected the Cupertino participants. Next, from a pull-down menu within the same window, he selected the Chelmsford Synchronize database and was immediately provided with its names list. He then selected the Chelmsford participants. Synchronize immediately displayed available time slots for the combined groups. Runyan selected an available time slot, and it was immediately blocked out on all participants' schedules. Synchronize automatically adjusted for time zone differences.

"Within a couple of minutes, I had scheduled the meeting," says Runyan. "Without Synchronize, it would have taken a number of phone calls and a lot more time that could be better spent on the project."

The Future:

Because Hewlett-Packard has both UNIX and Windows-based computers, Runyan expects the new MS Windows version of Synchronize to attract even more users within the company. Runyan also looks toward a future where he can take his calendar on the road.

"Portable computing is more and more prevalent, especially here at HP," he says. "CrossWind is very responsive to its customers' needs, so I fully expect to see a version of Synchronize that will run on laptops in the not-too-distant future."

Synchronize is a trademark of CrossWind Technologies, Inc. All other products and services are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

CrossWind Technologies, Inc.

1505 Ocean Street, Suite 1

Santa Cruz, Ca. 95060

Phone:408-469-1780

Fax::408-469-1750

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Last revised: January, 1996