Collaboration Gets It Together

Computerworld - After years of hype, collaboration tools may finally be approaching that elusive goal of enabling employees, vendors and customers to work with one another when they're in different locations as smoothly as they can in face-to-face meetings. And for those organizing the meetings, these tools can help them do it a whole lot more efficiently than ever before.

Collaboration technologies had their humble beginnings in e-mail but now include everything from application sharing to workflow management to videoconferencing. But what's finally bringing these technologies into companies is the way they are being assembled into virtual workspaces.

"We were going crazy," says Christy Keener, senior vice president of organization at CNA Insurance in Chicago. She had the job of bringing together 350 people from different parts of the company to review corporate strategies and direction. Prior to the conference, those involved became bogged down in project status reports, budgeting, conference goals and, in particular, review and discussion of key documents. With input from hundreds of dispersed groups, keeping track of changes and responding to the revisions of others proved to be a nightmare. By setting up a hosted virtual office using the Caucus Consortium's Team software, Keener grabbed control of document tracking.

The Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Caucus Consortium is composed of a software firm, collaboration consulting firms and an educational institution. Team is part of a new generation of virtual workplaces. Available either as an in-house or a hosted product, the software combines communication, document management and project management features into a customizable, virtual-team portal.

"That project launched our use of collaboration technology," says Keener. "We couldn't possibly have managed without those tools."

CNA's experience is far from unique. Although the basics of collaboration involve nothing new, the tools have finally matured to the point where they can facilitate human interaction without being a burden on IT or users. As a result, Framingham, Mass.-based IDC estimates that companies have spent about $4.5 billion on collaboration applications this year.

Those sales are being driven not by technological breakthroughs so much as by product packaging and integration. Much like collections of related office or systems management applications, collaboration software packages now come bundled with tools for emulating every aspect of an office environment, from physical features such as conference rooms, bulletin boards, telephones, file cabinets and calendars to interpersonal interactions such as chat and document exchange. The latest tools create realistic virtual offices, minus the coffee.

Virtual Offices

Typically, virtual offices are set up as secure intranet or extranet portals. Some are designed to resemble a physical office, with "walls" where information can be posted or accessed. Team members have "facilities" to communicate with one another and move the project to its conclusion. These include all documents created during the project, discussion archives, calendars, bulletin boards and timelines as well as communication tools such as e-mail, instant messaging and videoconferencing. One useful newcomer is presence management, which works like AOL Instant Messenger's "buddy list"—an icon or picture indicates who is currently logged into the office and available for real-time interaction.