That’s all about to change. DataSync is developing a new OSS unification suite which will make many of the open-source tools used by small and medium sized businesses work together as if they were all made by the same company. The project is called the “DataSync Productivity Suite.” The biggest benefit of the solution is that there’s no redundant data between the applications. Instead of having a set of duplicate contacts in SugarCRM and Zimbra, you’ll just have one set of contacts. You’ll only need to enter the data once, and it will show up where it needs to in all of the OSS applications that you leverage.

The DataSync Productivity Suite will have integrated open source applications to meet any and all business needs. It features the Joomla Content Management System for your company’s website, SugarCRM for sales force automation and customer relationship management, Zimbra for your business email needs, and KnowledgeTree for document management. The architecture around the productivity suite is extremely modular, so it’s very easy to add in additional open-source applications as time goes on. In the near future, DataSync will be adding an e-commerce solution to its arsenal of OSS tools available.

DataSync’s Productivity Suite also features a unified logon module which will enable you to sign-on to Joomla, SugarCRM, Zimbra, and KnowledgeTree with one username and password. With a single sign-on, you’ll be able to access all of your business productivity tools at once.

Click Here to Learn More About DataSync’s Productivity Suite

On the Fly Preview – If you’re making changes to a page, you no longer have to save it before seeing what it’ll look like. Previously if you wanted to experiment with a page that you didn’t necessarily want to keep, you’d have to make a copy of it and then mess around with the copy so the original was intact. Now Joomla 1.5 offers a quick preview button that allows you to see what your new page will look like without having to save.

Improved Menu Management – Joomla’s menuing system received a significant overhaul in version 1.5. Previously you would have to click several buttons and configure things exactly how you wanted. With the new version of Joomla, you can add a new menu item with just three clicks.

New Media Manager – The media manager that is a part of Joomla received significant improvements in Joomla 1.5. There’s a vastly improved user interface that provides thumbnail and detail views of your content. You can also upload multiple files at once with easy and there are now some configuration choices that you didn’t have before.

Simplified Extension Manager – In Joomla version 1.0, there were separate installation pages for templates, components, mambots, and modules. Now there’s just one installation page that works with all of them. You just have to pick-out your file, and Joomla will determine what type of extension it is and install it in the appropriate place for you.

New Authentication Methods – In version 1.0 of Joomla, you were stuck with Joomla’s user accounts and had no other options. Joomla 1.5 now supports OpenID as well as LDAP, so you can integrate your existing user accounts with your new Joomla website. This is certainly a godsend for corporate intranet websites.

Joomla 1.5 has certainly made a number of significant improvements and is easily one of the top open source content managements systems available. Joomla 1.0 worked great, and now Joomla 1.5 has made what was good even better.

Learn More.

DataSync offers Joomla hosting as part of its productivity suite.

Sign up for Joomla hosting now.

“The amazing speed of Safari 3 has blown the Zimbra team away and we are excited to be the first major collaboration platform to support the calendaring standard CalDAV,” said Satish Dharmaraj, CEO and co-founder of Zimbra. “We also wanted to expand our support for the iPhone by adding an optimized mobile web experience on top of our iSync support.”

“Leopard is packed with more than 300 new features, including major enhancements to Safari and iCal,” said Ron Okamoto, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations. “We’re pleased that Zimbra users can take advantage of the world’s fastest browser with Safari and improved iCal group calendaring with CalDAV in Leopard.”

The Zimbra Collaboration Suite (ZCS) fully supports Safari 3, which is the fastest Web browser on any platform and is available for Tiger and Leopard users and is in beta on Windows. ZCS’s rich AJAX interface, including email, calendaring, Zimbra Documents, and customizable mash- ups called Zimlets, takes full advantage of Safari’s optimized AJAX browsing experience.

To meet the advanced calendaring needs of Mac users, Zimbra now supports CalDAV, a key feature for customers using Leopard’s iCal 3 as their calendaring client. Based on a public standard, CalDAV allows users to synchronize and browse free/busy time and recurring appointments easily, both with personal and public calendars.

Additionally, ZCS is now available to iPhone users via the Zimbra Mobile HTML client. The iPhone’s Safari browser enables fast access to the full-featured AJAX interface, and the Zimbra Connector for Apple iSync allows users to sync not only their email but also their address books and calendars to their iPhones.

These enhancements reflect Zimbra’s ongoing commitment to the Mac community, and to providing innovative features for the Mac platform. Zimbra has long supported iSync, which provides a two-way sync between Apple Mail, Address Book, iCal, Microsoft Entourage, and the ZCS server.

DataSync offers solid Zimbra Hosting that supports Safari & dozens of other platforms. Click here for details