Tools & Technology
Real-Time Collaboration Has Stalled...for Now. Alex Williams offers an insightful editorial on a study by Forrester on The State of Technology Adoption. The post includes two charts that highlight survey findings. Key points are: i) Dominant use of email is the biggest challenge to real-time collaboration. ii) Information workers do not really use tools such as web-conferencing, instant messaging and video-conferencing. iii) Innate needs for collaboration are present. Also see our related post: Despite Innate Needs, Real-Time Collaboration Stalling.
Using technology to improve workforce collaboration by James Manyika, Kara Sprague and Lareina Yee. Increasing number of knowledge workers and associated wage premium amplifies the significance of collaboration. The article provides statics to this effect, followed by recommendations on improving collaboration. Included are interesting findings on waste in collaboration.
Why Google Wave Sucks, And Why You Will Use It Anyway. In this blog post Martin Sievert mentions some of the early interface and technical challenges of using Google Wave, while also noting it is in "preview" mode -- short of beta and full public release -- so deserves a little slack. Yet he also points out that it is likely to succeed as Google works out the bugs, adjusts the user interface, and people learn how to use it well. He points out some useful tips for the users and CIOs at companies that use Wave.
What Users Like/Dislike About Google Wave [DATA] by Jennifer Van Grove. Early quantitative results on user feedback on Google Wave.
Collaboration between Business and IT Leads to Innovation. Isaac Sacolick offers five main trends that support his proposition that internal collaboration leads to innovation. These trends are based on the need for speed, complexity of new products, choices for execution, multi-disciplinary nature, and budgetary constraints.
Collaboration 2.0. Oliver Marks offers a frequently updated blog on points-of-view, interviews with insiders, and technologies and tools.
A Survey of Asynchronous Collaboration Tools by J. Xu, J. Zhang, T. Harvey and J. Young. Authors compare features of ten asynchronous collaboration tools (WebEx WebOffice, Microsoft Office Groove, 2007, Zimbra, Collanos Workplace, ZOHO Project, PHProjekt, eGroupware, Basecamp, Bluetie and Microsoft SharePoint Server). The comparison featureset is: Communication (Email IM/Chat), Electronic Calendar (Shared Calendar, Electronic Notification), Information Sharing (File Sharing, Discussion, Wiki, Polls), Project Management (Tasks, Time Sheet, Gantt Chart).
Google Wave Drips With Ambition. A New Communication Platform For A New Webby MG Siegler. Detailed description of Google Wave as captured by the author at the Google I/O keynote in May 2009. The post provides visuals, potential uses and benefits, and examples.
Online Collaboration Tools - The Collaborative 2008 LearningTrends Map - MindMeister Mind Map. A single page, albeit quite large, provides a comprehensive relational categorization and identification of tools in the mind mapping format. The pictorial creates a view by categories of collaboration and associated tools.
Social Computing Changes the Enterprise Collaboration Landscapeby Rob Koplowitz with Matt Brown and Jamie Barnett. Making a case for wikis for enterprises, authors present survey data on the investment and business use of wikis, and how to view wikis in the context of business.
Universal Collaboration The Future of Unified Communications and Collaborationby Robert Henry. Focused on enterprise communication, the paper covers: i) Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities, ii) Universal Collaboration: The Evolution of Unified Communications, iii) The Rise of Consumer-Driven IT, iv) Customer Service as an Enterprise Process. V) Microsoft Unified Communications as a Web 2.0 Platform, and vi) Cloud Computing: Beyond SaaS to Software+Services.
Investing in Collaboration Tools by Michael Sampson. Recommendations by the author: 1. identify key user groups and create scenarios of how they could work better 2. Understand tools, but define your own architecture 3. Know the exit strategy for working with any vendor 4. Consider what is involved in migrating away from the current environment.
The questionable value of the real-time web by Daniel Tenner. “Real-time web” can mean any number of things, from “live updates without refreshing the page” to “see text as it’s typed”, but all those are technological rather than conceptual definition. At its core, the concept of “real-time web” must be about the immediacy of information flow. Real-time updates are very useful under some specific, work-related circumstances, but they come with a very real cost in stolen attention and disrupted workflows. Since they have a cost, you should think twice before using them, unless they also have a benefit to you. If you’re a consumer of information (and we all are), turn off the live notifications, unless you need the information for your work.
Collaborative Authoring Decreases Time to Market. The BT Group’s strategy is a combination of outsourcing content production and having the capability to continue to produce local content. The local training has to be produced rapidly and inexpensively, meet certain standards, and load easily onto BT’s learning management system, which is called Route2Learn (SumTotal). Recently, after assessing requirements and capabilities, the group decided to implement a collaborative system for authoring, managing and deploying learning content. The article outlines the process – Defining Requirements, Selecting a Solution, Extending the Scope – followed by lessons learned.
Two Approaches to Collaboration. IBM and Microsoft both offer quite good collaboration functionality. Which do you go with? That depends on your organization’s approach to messaging and IT infrastructure. The article outlines 4 pillars of collaboration (Messaging, Real-Time Collaboration, Team Collaboration, and Social Networking), followed by individual capabilities of IBM and Microsoft solutions.
The latest tech tool? People power. by Alan S. Cohen. How social networking can transform the CIO into a superhero! To be sure, for social networks to become the next great tool in the CIO’s daring arsenal, they need to evolve. They need to be secure. They need to integrate into corporate information systems. They need to support work processes that deliver business results.
Budget problems and IT collaboration issues present challenge to security by Steve Ragan. According to a new study by the Ponemon Institute and Lumension, the adoption of mobile devices, cloud computing, and collaborative technologies is happening faster than companies are able to adapt security policies. Part of this is due to poor budget allocation and broken IT collaboration.
Collaborate Using Online Toolsby Heather Clancy. Author proposes criteria for selecting collaboration tools and a high level comparison among tools based on user needs. At the end, the article offers highlights, platform types and pricing for the following tools: 37signals Basecamp, Central Desktop, Google Sites, HyperOffice, Sosius, Twiddla and Vyew.
Collaboration Tools Chart. Article describes categories of collaboration opportunities and associated tools. Specific categories are: Blogs and microblogs, Social bookmarks and tags, Multimedia sharing (including audio, photo and video), Collaboration, projects and productivity, Gaming, Instant messaging and communication, Library and book-related tools, Mashups and widgets, “Real Simple Syndication” or “Rich Site Summary” (RSS) and aggregators, Search engines, Social and collaborative networks, and Wikis.
Collaborative software. This Wikipedia entry is typical of an overview. Focus is on an overview and potential area for collaboration, rather than specific tools.
Collaboratively Writing about Collaborative-Writing Toolsby Eric Iberri, Jeanne Kim, and Alex Joppie. Authors describe and offer pros and cons of: Buzzword, EtherPad and Google Docs. The post is non-technical, and focuses on functionality and ease-of-use.
Web collaboration tools come in all shapes and sizes. Which one is right for you? Facilitate.com compares its offerings, limited in scope for various areas of collaboration. Dimensions of comparison are chosen in a way that they favor the vendor. However, the framework for comparing tools for specific needs is instructive and can be expanded to include your needs.
How to Choose the Right Collaboration Softwareby Darren Dahl. An easy, short read on some thoughts and examples by the Inc. magazine.
A Review of Team Collaboration Tools Used In the Military and Governmentby Michael Letsky. The report reviews the recent past and current status of collaboration tools for providing recommendations for the future with respect to crisis reaction. It is an effort to identify the “best” Web-based tools to support team work when members cannot reside in the same physical workspace.
HyperOffice vs Microsoft SharePoint: A comparative Analysis. Article is written by HyperOffice staff to promote its product. With that in mind, the approach presented is a useful way to assess competing collaboration tools.
StateMaster – Encyclopedia: Collaborative tool. Author offers a brief overview of types and levels of collaboration. The article includes examples of open source/free and proprietary software.
Collaborative Tools Strategy, University of California, Berkeley. An example of collaboration in practice.
Cisco Collaboration: Connect, Communicate, Collaborate. While this presentation promotes Cisco platform, the first part on “industry update” is not vendor-specific.
100 Powerful Web Tools to Organize Your Thoughts and Ideasby Alisa Miller. Provides brief descriptions of web tools for: Note-Taking and Documents, Bookmarking, Mind Mapping, Personal Wikis, Highlighters and Sticky Notes, To-Do Lists, Collaboration, Calendars, Time Trackers, and General Organizers and Task Managers.
12 alternatives to Basecamp. Admires Basecamp but proposes alternatives that may be suitable for users of various needs.
15 Useful Project Management Toolsby Cameron Chapman. Offers descriptions of tools categorized by: Basic Project Management Apps, Basic Project Management Apps, Bug and Ticket Tracking, Collaboration and Conferencing, Invoicing, and Time Tracking.
20 web-based business collaboration tools that lets make you breathless. Collaboration being structured and recursive process, the author outlines reasons for using collaboration tools and then provides descriptions of tools, primarily focused on professional project management.
27 Free Must-have Online Collaboration Tools. Crazygeekchick blog offers personal selection of her favorite collaboration tools, categorized by: Whiteboard, Bullitin Board and Workspace, Project Management, Collaboration - Intranet Style, Social Networking and Information Sharing, Bug Tracking and Source Control, Customer Service, Web-Conferencing, and Mind Mapping.
270+ Tools for Running a Business Onlineby Cameron Chapman. Cameron Chapman has complied exhaustive list, with brief description of tools categorized by: Accounting, Billing, Invoicing, Estimating & Contracts, Calendars & Scheduling, Charts, Diagrams, and Whiteboards, Collaboration & Workgroups, Conferences, Presentations & Meetings, Crowdsourcing, Networking & Community, Customer Relationship Management, Customer Service & Contact Management, Database, File Storage & Information Management, Email, Employee Management, Payroll & Human Resources, Feedback, Marketing & Publicity, Money Making & eCommerce Solutions Office Applications, Organization & Management, Phone & Voicemail , Task Lists, Planning & Project Management, Time Management & Tracking, Virtual Office Platforms, Website Tools, Industry-Specific, and Miscellaneous.
5 Ways to Collaborate on Documents Online in Real Timeby Doriano "Paisano" Carta. Focus is on collaborating on documents in real time, with brief descriptions of: EtherPad, Google Docs, Zoho, Microsoft Office Live and ThinkFree.
7 Virtual Collaboration Tools I Use Dailyby John Jantsch. Author gives a brief description and rationale for using these tools, which are: Dropbox, Basecamp, iLinc, SimpleEvent, GMail, Jott and Google Calendar.
Beyond Google Docs: 7 Web-Based Collaboration Apps by Serdar Yegulalp. Author describes and reviews Web services that let you and others edit and revise different kinds of documents collaboratively directly online. Services included are: Pastebin, Google Docs, Zoho Writer, DabbleBoard, Dimdim, Yugma and Bubbl.us.
Taking an Expanded View of Collaborationby John Jantsch. Author posits that collaboration at every level of your business is not really that difficult and outlines various business needs for which collaboration tools are available. Brief outlines and tools are suggested for: Prospects¸ Customers, Partners, Providers, and Staff.
Work Together: 60+ Collaborative Tools for Groupsby by Sean P. Aune. Mashable’s 1-2 line descriptions of tools for: Business Productivity, Creative Collaboration, Family and Social Collaboration, and Mindmapping.
Social and Business Collaboration Tools. Technology Magazine’s brief descriptions of tool for: Family and Social Collaboration, and Business Productivity.
Free Web-Based Collaboration Tools. A single page of evaluation and highlights of: Basecamp, Google Docs, Youtube and Google Calendar.
Review: Lotus Takes On Web Collaboration With LotusLiveby Edward F. Moltzen. Just as the title suggest, this is a brief review of LotusLive and its features.
The Best Collaboration Tools. A long lists of tools for collaboration with brief descriptions for: Business Productivity, Creative Collaboration, Family and Social Collaboration and Mindmapping.
The Online Collaboration Tools Guideby Eyal Sela. Author gives description of selected tools for: online editors, synchronization services, sharing and collaboration spaces, and ad hoc simultaneous collaboration.
Top 10 Open Source Web-Based Project Management Software. Article offers brief descriptions and links to: Codendi, Redmine, ProjectPier, Trac, Project HQ, Collabtive, eGroupWare¸KForge, OpenGoo and ClockingIT. Links are included for downloading.
Top 20 Web Based Business Management Apps & Tools. Focused on small business, the article offers brief description of tools for: Financial Management Applications, Documentation Management Apps, Project Management Tools, Communication Tools, CRM Applications and Complete Small Business Solutions.
Collaboration tools for Virtual Project Teamsby Bruce McGraw. Author provides description and critique of: SharePoint, Campfire, Basecamp, Zoho, EditMe, PBWorks and Approver.com.
