One of the big features in Apple’s new Leopard Server is iCal Server — which finally adds group-calendaring options to Apple’s iCal calendar utility. A long requested feature that many creative studios have wanted for years.

However, iCal Server isn’t always the right fit for smaller studios who don’t require a full server installation. For those creative teams, BusySync ($19.95 per-user), might be a better calendaring solution.

BusySync Shared iCal Calendars

Install BusySync on each computer in your office and a new configuration options appear in System Preferences. From there, users can publish their iCal calendars on the network, and subscribe to co-worker’s calendars.

Despite it’s modest feature set, BusySync works the way iCal Server should. It’s simple for end users, elegant in execution, and allows users to share and edit each other’s calendars quickly and seamlessly. For a team too small to invest in a larger server, it’s an easy, intuitive, and low-maintenance method for collaborative calendaring.

BusySync Shared iCal Calendars

Source: This tip comes from the Mac Mac Work blog written by consultant Jordan Bojar. BusySync will be one of the solutions explored in an upcoming workshop for sharing iCal in creative agencies (workshop details below).

January 23 — Shared Calendaring Solutions. Leopard Server finally includes a group-calendaring server. For some creative teams, this alone may be worth the price of an upgrade. For others, another approach may be a better fit. We’ll dig into what works, what doesn’t, and what’s needed to provide group calendaring and shared address books for your creative team. Includes a detailed look at several different shared iCal calendaring solutions.