Comments on: Invest in Collaborative Tools, Get More Than Double Return, Study Says

By: Hyoun Park

Hyoun Park — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 03:07:24 +0000

Agreed. My own research in video conferencing in August showed that SMBs were getting value that rivaled enterprises on an ROI-based basis because of their increased adoption of PC-based video throughout the enterprise and B-2-B based solutions.

Collaboration is based on empowering end-users, providing work flexibility, and getting to a result more quickly. Everything else is feature bloat and it’s something that a majority of collaboration vendors still don’t seem to get. It’s not about technical superiority in specific types of display; it’s about providing technologies that actually drive value. The lack of value-driven analysis is both one of my frustrations as an analyst and an opportunity that I hope to take advantage to provide more transparent metrics of collaborative value over the next year.

By: Michael Malmborg

Michael Malmborg — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 22:30:01 +0000

“is a disruptive tool that unless used in a highly regulated and disciplined environment can and does lead to waste of time and unnecessary and unproductive chit-chat”
What kind of achtung bitte attitude is that?! IM has a number of advantages which is so obvious, to most knowledge workers and people in the UC space, that I’m not going to list them.
I my company I have applied no regulation what so ever regarding the use of IM. We use Skype IM internally and externally… in all kind of situations… from group chats in projects to communication with Chinese manufacturers that are too shy to speak English. For example, yesterday I placed a USD 246 000 order for bathroom accessories after communication and file share conducted only by Skype.
Shim, If you are a Manager that apply these types of communication bondage I think you should rethink you standpoint for the sake of the company you work for. Therapy may help.
“highly regulated and disciplined environment”… my god…

By: Pankaj

Pankaj — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 20:44:17 +0000

The SMB section of the study is indeed a little hard to digest, if one compares it with numerous other studies which suggest that SMBs are the main segment leading the adoption of online collaboration tools.

By: Daily Links for October 16th through October 22nd | Akkam's Razor

Daily Links for October 16th through October 22nd | Akkam's Razor — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:01:12 +0000

[...] Invest in Collaborative Tools, Get More Than Double Return, Study Says – While the study shows that companies investing in top-of-the-range telepresence and telephony systems get the most return, even organizations deploying just basic collaborative tools (like IM and web conferencing) reap a return on collaborative investment of over two times. The study suggests this is because teams using collaborative tools can benefit from a network effect — the more users on a network, the more value is realized from it. [...]

By: Collaborative Technology Increases Productivity and Profit | Lawyerist

Collaborative Technology Increases Productivity and Profit | Lawyerist — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:03:04 +0000

[...] Invest in Collaborative Tools, Get More Than Double Return, Study Says| Web Worker Daily [...]

By: Shim Marom

Shim Marom — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 12:40:20 +0000

I’m surprised by the inclusion of IM in the same category as the other collaboration tools mentioned in the report. IM, while enabling fast and unstructured communication, is a disruptive tool that unless used in a highly regulated and disciplined environment can and does lead to waste of time and unnecessary and unproductive chit-chat.

By: Justin

Justin — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 23:09:26 +0000

A great collaborative web conferencing and remote support tool is a 4-in-1 Appliance by RHUB. It’s a hardware that you can deploy behind your firewall for greater protection and it offers web conferencing, remote support, remote access, and webinars. A few features are video broadcasting, ability to record meetings for macs and pcs, white board, annotation, etc.

Take a look at what they offer: http://www.rhubcom.com

By: Invest in Collaborative Tools, Get More Than Double Return, Study Says | Productivity Hacks

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:58:43 +0000

[...] via Web Worker Daily. [...]

By: links for 2009-10-15 | Yostivanich

links for 2009-10-15 | Yostivanich — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:09:18 +0000

[...] Invest in Collaborative Tools, Get More Than Double Return, Study Says “While the study shows that companies investing in top-of-the-range telepresence and telephony systems get the most return, even organizations deploying just basic collaborative tools (like IM and web conferencing) reap a return on collaborative investment of over two times. The study suggests this is because teams using collaborative tools can benefit from a network effect — the more users on a network, the more value is realized from it.” My current workplace needs to use more collaborative tools. (tags: business productivity collaboration socialnetworking im) [...]

By: Jasper Westaway

Jasper Westaway — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:14:41 +0000

I totally agree on the broader message that collaboration is a good thing – I’m a collaboration software vendor after all. But I dislike the positioning of conferencing as the definition of high end collaboration.

Just because it’s high-end tech, it doesn’t mean it is a high end solution. The opposite in many ways – we don’t know what good collaboration looks like so we’ll make it look exactly the same as working in the same room!

Successful (and truer) collaboration solutions like Google Docs and Basecamp are generally employed by SMB’s but I doubt they featured much in the survey (hence the poor returns for SMB;s)