Simple InfoTech Works!

Collaboration...the sharing of information either in a single forum by two or more individuals usually discussing the same major topic.

There are many different ways to collaborate; email, file shares, enterprise collaboration tools like EMC Documentum eRoom or Microsoft Sharepoint, and as simple as using Notepad in a shared location.  To pick one, you need to know what the end goal is first before you start looking at your options.  Are you only needing to share ideas, or do you want a place to store files and have your own workspace?  Each option has its pros and cons but there are a few major features to keep in mind when looking for a good solution.

A server based system like Sharepoint or eRoom requires a lot more upfront planning and configuration.  On the other hand, these solutions offer a gamut of features like personal workspaces, workflow, databases, and places to store content.  If you business is very project centric, then these options provide a large return on investment by organizing and saving time.  These options present a wide variety of tools that can be used to complete many different tasks.

Email is a widely overused tool to collaborate.  Even though email was never designed to be a tool where ideas are shared, it is a simple and somewhat effective way to discuss ideas.  Because email is not technical design for this, it is very inefficient at the job.

Chat programs can also be used for collaboration.  This would allow users to discuss topics real-time.  The problem here is a lack of good history tracking.  You can usually archive chat sessions but they are not easily searchable.

Forums are a good place to work on ideas with a group of people.  They are organized in discussions, posts and/or threads.  This way you can create separate areas in your forum to segregate ideas and thoughts to collaborate on.  These do require some additional setup and maintenance.  Searching becomes easier and more effective with forums.

Newer cloud based collaboration services are becoming more and more ideal.  Most of these are quick setup and full of features.  Being web based, you can easily access the interface from anywhere in the world where there is an internet connection.  Sharing is also simplified where the author can send out a single link where the other collaborators can access the content directly.  To simplify the processes even more, you can share access without the need to login.

A good example of a web based collaboration tool is Google Docs.  With GDocs, users can start a document and invite others to login later or at the same time.  If you are collaborating real-time, users will see each other add content to the document.  You can also check back in and see any changes that have been made and who made them.  This is probably the simplest choice for getting collaboration up and running with very minimal setup.

To summarize, finding the right collaboration tool is an important step to working together with others on a single idea.  I would suggest looking at these options whenever there is a need to collaborate; you will benefit in the long run by have a more effecient process for sharing and getting together to discuss a topic.  You will also have a good wealth of historical data to be used again in the future.

Make sure you figure out the need before looking at the options.  If you pick a solution before you find the need, you can do a lot of work that may need to be redone if the solution does not have all the right stuff.

I went out and acquired simpleinfotech.com so now I am official.  I am looking to expand this weblog and try to make a brand out of it.  I am excited to see where I can take this.

Interesting to think about a mouse being old technology.  You just seem to forget that you are even using it.  What would you rather use, a mouse or your finger?

I have changed the name and URL of my blog to Simple InfoTech @ http://simpleinfotech.tumblr.com

SimpleIT just didn't make much sense if you didn't know the premise of this blog.

I have also changed my twitter handle from @therooster0514 to: @SimpleInfoTech

In the past 5-10 years, there has been a big push for more cost effective software solutions.  Before that, software was "spared and no expense."  Companies would buy software based on "wow factors" and not return on investments.  Since the decline of the economy, companies have had to re-look at this strategy and come up with better ways of saving money, but still leveraging their business with technologies.

With that said, I think we will see a lot more adoption of non-Microsoft applications.  This has also changed the game for big companies like Microsoft to force new features and more agile applications to keep up with the competition.  Google apps is a great example with it gaining a lot of traction.  Microsoft has been forced to join the "cloud" movement; even though it is a little late in the game.  I love the Microsoft ads, "to the cloud!" as if they have invented this cloud thing.