Software provides organizations with an alternative to proprietary collaboration software while taking advantage of the benefits of open source.

Open-Xchange, a provider for open source groupware, today announced a feature update of its Open-Xchange Hosting Edition software that is delivered via Internet Service Providers, telcos and web hosting companies.

The company claims that in the coming weeks, service providers like 1&1 Internet, Network Solutions, OVH, Hostpoint and others will make the new features available to more than 8 million users. Further it says that its software will include features like integration of server-based plug-in architecture using the OSGi framework, new security and filter features for email, integration of GUI based plug-in architecture, customization of the graphical user interface (GUI), support of mashup capabilities, etc.

''The new features were all developed in close cooperation with our service provider partners and reflect the feedback and ideas of their end customers," said Rafael Laguna, CEO of Open-Xchange. "Using hosted software delivered as SaaS provides users with an affordable alternative that is equivalent to on-premise enterprise collaboration software and helps to streamline communications and improve their productivity."