Fast Guide to Collaborative Software
How important is collaborative software? According to Eugene Eric Kim, founder and director of Blue Oxen Associates, the future of the free world may well depend upon it -- and no, he's not kidding! Fortunately, there's a virtual host of collaboration tools available, and collaborative capability is being built into an increasing number of other products as well. In our Fast Guide, you'll learn about collaboration and the products and technologies that support it. We've got links about the state of the industry, current research, and real life case studies showing how collaborative software has been used to improve communication and productivity within the organization and around the world.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction to collaborative software
Proprietary products
Open source products
Case studies
Soft skills
Research and news
Glossaries
Introduction to collaborative software
These pages offer a good introduction to the area of collaboration and related products and practices.
The UsabilityFirst Web site includes a fairly comprehensive section about collaborative work.
This Essential Guide offers a comprehensive view of the challenges and benefits of using enterprise collaboration software.
NECTAR is a research network focused on collaboration technologies.
Royal Roads University explores collaborative working in documents from its Masters program in Distributed Learning.
Chapter 1 of David Coleman's book, An Introduction to Groupware is available online from Collaborative Strategies.
Wikipedia has a good entry about collaborative software.
It's not all about the tools -- this guide explains the importance of developing a collaborative strategy.
Avoid these common mistakes for success in a collaboration initiative.
Enterprise collaboration tools encourage communication inside and out.
Business collaboration technology enters a new era.
Business social collaboration: Where the industry stands.
Social software and unified communications create collaborative communications.
Proprietary products
In the beginning, there was Lotus notes... and then, as collaborative work became increasingly common, demand for products led to a growing market for groupware. Here's a list of links for the most prominent products:
Novell produced one of the first groupware products.
IBM's Lotus product group includes Notes, Quickplace, Sametime, and more.
Microsoft's SharePoint product group includes collaboration tools and services, a development platform, and a portal server.
Intuit's QuickBase has collaboration products for the Web or the corporate network.
Three Microsoft collaboration tools any Exchange admin should know.
Microsoft's Office product group provides communication tools for collaboration.
Groupville offers a free three-user version.
Webex provides online meeting, web conferencing and video conferencing services.
Group Jazz includes shared communication, workspace, and business process management tools.
Groove Networks Virtual Office offers communication, project space, and data sharing tools.
FirstClass has groupware for business and education contexts.
Scrivlet is a tool for shared Web page authoring.
IBM WebSphere Portal for Multiplatforms includes portal development and Web content management tools.
CollabNet offers collaborative software development and business management products.
Successful social collaboration projects have common key facets.
Effective enterprise collaboration strategy needs everyone on the bus.
Open source groupware vendors make their source code available; products are customizable to the criteria of each user/organization. Here's a list of some prominent examples. Many sites also have ongoing discussions, in case you want to get really nitty-gritty.
The Kolab Project grew out of a commercial venture called the Kroupware Contract.
Phpgroupware offers 50 web-based applications, including a calendar, an address book, an advanced Projects manager, a to do list, notes, e-mail, a newsgroup- and headlines reader, and a file manager. The phpgroupware system also provides modules to set up and administrate the work environment.
Project/Open offers collaborative online project management products.
eGroupware provides a demo, an overview, screenshots, and a guide to open-source groupware deployment.
TikiWiki is a web-based Wiki Groupware and Content Management System (CMS).
Mayetic Village offers free collaborative Web space.
Case studies
See how various collaboration products have fared in the real world:
CollabNet profiles client projects using their products.
Microsoft describes Web-based collaboration at Procter & Gamble.
IBM offers a case study about Lion's Gate Entertainment.
Intuit QuickBase describes how collaborative software helped Fleet Insurance Services.
Intuit offers another case study in "Multi-office project management."
Kanbanchi provides an example of using their product for small collaborative groups.
IBM offers case studies in its brochure, "Increasing productivity in an on demand world."
On SearchWindows2000.com, David Strom describes a case study in "NNTP server software eases workgroup communication."
SearchDomino.com offers a selection of Web links about case studies.
Soft skills
There's more to consider in collaborative work than individual technical skills. Group dynamics come into play, and things really get complicated when groups meet virtually rather than face-to-face. The following content explores the soft skill set required for successful collaborative project work.
An Intranet Journal article explores the human side of collaborative work.
MIT's Technology Review explains the "Rules of the Collaboratory Game."
SearchCIO.com reports on the importance of collaborative technologies and soft skills in small and medium-sized businesses.
A document from The Open University at Cambridge explores "Communication in Remote Group Working."
Extending the Work Group into Cyberspace explores the dynamics of establishing an e-mail news list for a work group.
Carleton University's Human Oriented Technology Lab reports on research into interpersonal aspects of collaborative work.
The University of Sydney's Science program provides an overview of interpersonal skills.
Research and news
The following links offer product reviews, how-tos, and reflections on the state of the industry:
Margie Semilof's searchWindows2000.com article reports "Open-source poised to compete with Exchange, Domino."
IBM's Lotus software pages describe "Shrinking the world through collaborative technologies."
A SearchWin2000.com review pits Domino against Exchange.
SearchCIO.com reports that "You gotta have team work."
An eWeek article reports that "Simplicity Eludes Group Work."
XML Magazine has an article about "Wiring the Collaborative Enterprise."
Weblog Kitchen "explores current research in weblogs, wikis, and other hypertext systems."
A SearchWin2000.com article is called "Collaboration nirvana: Are we there yet?."
CNET News has a story called "All take, no give: why collaboration fails."
Learn IT: Instant Messaging in the Enterprise
A SearchWin2000.com article reports that "Open-source poised to compete with Exchange, Domino."
Wikipedia provides a Perl Monks discussion on collaborative media.
Blue Oxen Associates offers Eugene Eric Kim's article, "A Manifesto for Collaborative Tools."
This SearchWin2000.com article describes the "Top 10 virtual office mistakes."
Words-to-Go: Groupware is a handy, printable glossary of abbreviated definitions of collaborative software terms, with (online)links to our full definitions.
GroupMap is simple to use, easy to get started and even easier to get used to. This software is a great way to take group collaboration to another level. It can also help make corporate planning and facilitation that much more easier to handle. It can help in capturing key ideas and themes, promote and encourage more honest feedback, and improve engagement of all the staff involved. Hope it's useful!