"Collaboration," is a popular buzz word these days. It does not matter what industry you are in, it does not matter if you are in the public or private sector. Collaboration is hot and transforming how people communicate and conduct business inside and outside the firewall.
Breaking into the collaboration market is another story. It's not as easy as you think...and it's even harder to get Collaboration right.
Take Google for example, a company that I very much respect and follow closely from an innovative market leadership standpoint. Almost everything Google does, they do it right and they do it well. However, with "Collaboration," Google has had its share of mis-steps. Who remembers Google Wave?
Google Wave was launched in May of 2009. Some said Google Wave was designed for complete world domination while others said it was designed as a Twitter Killer. At its core, Google Wave combined the best of email, instant messaging, media sharing and wikis to create a platform for real-time collaboration and communications.
It's clear Google was going after the $28B Collaboration Market (estimated by 2013.)
The RESULTS...
Google killed off Google Wave last week. As more people began using this new collaboration application, more people just got more confused on how to use it. Some users said, "overhyped disappointment," "dismal usability," and "humans may not be able to comprehend."
For all the companies out there...when it comes to your Collaboration Strategy do these three things and do all three of them right:
1. "Think Big," and take action now while planning for the mid-term and long-term. Make sure your Collaboration Strategy includes the following INTEGRATED components built on a standardized collaboration platform: messaging, team collaboration, enterprise instant messaging, video conferencing and web conferencing.
2. Take a Phased Approach to minimize risk and "Start Smart and Scale Fast." Start with one technology area like web/video conferencing and then expand into other areas like team collaboration, instant messaging, or document management. You can also just start with 1-2 business processes and then add others or just start with one business unit before a broad-scale rollout. Remember the "scale fast" part?
3. Save time and money and invest your dollars in companies with Market Leadership in the Collaboration Market, companies that have proven technologies and continue to innovate collaboration tools that are standardized on a unified collaboration platform. The companies with the strongest infrastructure will always be the most secure, the most reliable, the highest performing and lowest risk.
Web Collaboration a transformational technology that is changing the way people communicate and work together. Either stay ahead of the curve by embracing web collaboration technologies or get left behind.
Plain and simple.
I totally agreed with your reasons and it should be when collaboration does. Thanks for updating and helping me out.
Posted by: Amos | October 05, 2010 at 10:27 PM