QuickStudy: Collaboration Software

By Russell Kay

July 19, 2004 12:00 PM ET

Comments

(1)

Computerworld - In many ways, computers make collaboration more awkward than we want. Go into any meeting carrying a piece of paper and, barring language problems, you know that other people in the room can read it, mark it up, pass it around and file it away.

Life isn't nearly so simple with electronic documents. It's considerably harder to mark up a Web page or to use the same filing system for e-mail and other documents -- and even if you can do those things, your systems may not work well or be readily accessible to other applications, whether located on your PC or on someone else's.

More
Computerworld
QuickStudies

Even though there are many collaboration and document-sharing applications on the market, it's still true that for the most part, the way we share files is to e-mail them back and forth as attachments. While this has been surprisingly productive for many people, it's a long way from collaboration.

In fact, this isn't significantly different from the "sneakernet" days of hand-carrying floppy disks from one desk to another.

Network Not Enough

Even though networked computers allow high-speed communications and the fast and easy exchange of data and documents, it's still remarkably difficult for a group of users to work together on a project from separate computers. Doing so requires all involved parties to install a variety of programs and utilities on their PCs.

All that started to change back in 1989, when Ray Ozzie at Lotus Development Corp. brought forth Notes, the first program that attempted to integrate a number of communication, scheduling and database-driven activities into a single software package that was designed from the start to live on a network.

In the years since, many other companies have attempted to produce and market collaboration software, using very different models and approaches. But no one has yet reached the goal of seamless, transparent, hassle-free collaboration between groups.

Collaboration can be done formally, from the top down, through established procedures and processes, or it can be done informally, from the bottom up, as communities and project teams collaborate in an ad hoc way.

Some large organizations may be concerned about the proliferation of project-based collaboration software, and they are likely to want a cohesive plan for supporting (i.e., managing and controlling) collaboration across the enterprise.

Comment Recommend Digg Twitter ShareThis

Email Print Send Feedback Reprints

Jump to comments

Voice mail

Additional Resources

WHITE PAPER

Do You Know the 7 Steps to Successful Data Migration?

Approximately 60 percent of data migration projects overrun time or budget, while some fail completely. Download this white paper, "Enhancing Your Chance for Successful Data Migration," to learn the critical steps you need to take to execute a data migration project with minimum cost and risk to your business.

WHITE PAPER

Total Cost of Ownership of Server Computing Vs. PCs

Read the Gartner research note to learn why the TCO of a server-based computing deployment used to deliver all applications to users is around 50% lower than that of an unmanaged desktop deployment.

WHITE PAPER

IDC White Paper: Linux in a Global Recession

Economic downturns have a tendency to accelerate emerging technologies, boost the adoption of effective solutions, and punish solutions that are not cost competitive or that are out of synch with industry trends. This IDC White Paper presents the results of an IDC survey of 330 companies in Western Europe, Asia/Pacific and the Americas that measures the receptiveness to Linux and takes into consideration changing views driven by the disruptive economic environment that businesses face today.

What People Are Saying

1 comments | Add new

See all comments (1) | Add new

White Papers & Webcasts

Informatica 9 Launch: Transform your Business. Transform your world.

LIVE Nov 10, 2009 12:00 PM ET

Architecting Business Intelligence Applications for Change: The Open Solution

LIVE Nov 12, 2009 02:00 PM ET

Applying Remote Support Technology for Maximum Impact
Download Now!

Top to Bottom Performance Management Excellence at the City of Chicago
View now.

IBM Migration Factory: A smooth transition to new technology
Find out how to migrate your applications smoothly over to IBM.

Effectively Implementing Datacenter Automation
Effectively select and deploy the best datacenter automation solution today!

Natural User Interface for Enterprise Applications
Download this Complimentary White Paper! Provided by Workday.

Aligning IT to Business: The Rising Importance of Application Delivery Networks
Application Delivery Networking (ADN) will play a vital role in helping enterprises incorporate strategic technologies to achieve business initiatives.

Moving Beyond Monolithic - What's Next for Enterprise Application Architectures?
Download this Complimentary White Paper! Provided by Workday.

Strategies for Driving Down IT Support Costs with Lite ITIL Practices
View this now!

Total Cost of Ownership of Server Computing Vs. PCs
Read the Gartner research note to learn why the TCO of a server-based computing deployment used to deliver all applications to users is...

Mitigate Risk, Lower Costs and Improve Network Efficiency
Create a stable IP network that not only meets today's challenges, but is flexible enough to also meet future demands.

All White Papers | All Webcasts