Much has been made over the last few years about the dawning of
the information age. Many people believe knowledge and experience
are an organization's most critical asset and a source of competitive
advantage. In addition, the development of global competition,
ever-shrinking product cycle times, and changing demographics
have placed a premium on an organization's ability to quickly
and effectively use resources. As a result, new technology-based
collaborative tools are being developed to meet these emerging
needs.
Under this backdrop, organizations are increasingly looking at
collaborative technologies as a way to help. In a survey conducted
by Collaborative Strategies, a collaboration consulting firm based
in San Francisco, 83% of the companies interviewed replied that
collaboration is critical to the functioning of their business.
Other survey results showed that:
The results of the survey suggest that, while companies clearly
recognize the importance of collaboration, only a small percentage
believe that existing collaborative technologies are very effective
in supporting collaboration. Why the disparity? Clearly, collaborative
technologies are not yet widely adopted . But will they ever be?
While there appears to be a market for them, several obstacles
be must overcome to move the industry from possible to profitable.