by admin on July 20, 2010
What is Group Collaboration Software?
Group collaboration software is also referred to as team collaboration software. It’s aim is to facilitate communication and collaboration between teams, work groups and third parties that need to effectively manage and share documents, collaborate on projects and communicate effectively from remote locations.
What should your group collaboration solution include?
Your team solution should include 5 essential features -
- Task Management tools
- Document Management tools
- Project Management tools
- Team Communication Tools
- Client Management Tools
Types of Group Collaboration Solutions -
- Free – Several free group collaboration solutions are available for small teams. These, however, offer limited functionality and don’t provide an enterprise grade security infrastructure to guarantee that your business data is secure.
- On Premises – On premises collaboration platforms are hardware based solutions. While on premises ensures data security, it also requires expensive hardware purchase, installation, maintenance – which means expensive IT staffing is also needed.
- SaaS – Software as a Service solutions are on – demand services. SaaS software solutions host the solution and all user has to do is sign up and login to use. SaaS solutions allow users to sign in from anywhere, at anytime, and don’t require expensive IT solutions. Top collaboration solutions provide data security and backup, as well.
For more information on group collaboration software, check out http://www.centraldesktop.com or take a free 30 Day Trial (no credit card required)!
Collaboration Software Is Key to Team Collaboration
More and more businesses are realizing that the key to effective team collaboration is to transform the way team members share data and knowledge.
Collaboration software meets this need, by providing collaboration tools that accelerate the sharing of knowledge and information between teams. Features like online document management, task management and project management are conveniently packaged into a single, comprehensive collaboration platform that a business can use to connect all departments into a single, collective and unified body.
If you’re looking to purchase a collaboration platform for your team, there are a couple of things you should do before you sign that contract:
- Determine what your biggest needs are. There will never be a “one size fits all” collaboration solution for businessses. Ask yourself- what are the top functionalities that you will need in your collaboration software? Will they produce a measurable ROI that lets your know you made a worth investment?
- Determine your budget. While larger enterprise corporations might have room in their budgets for a costly solution like Sharepoint, most small business and midmarket firms can’t afford the costs, time and resources that go into adopting Sharepoint. Even after the initial purchase, some studies show that the buyer will spend over five times more than the initial purchase price on additional training, IT resources and hardware maintenance. For smaller businesses, there are more affordable alternatives available, such as Central Desktop, Basecamp and PB Works.
- Plan your software implementation ahead of time. Implementing a collaboration solution like Microsoft Sharepoint can take many months. For those who want a solution that sets up quickly (as in, a matter of minutes), Central Desktop is a great alternative. Not all SMB and midmarket businesses can afford to hire a costly implementation specialist or IT technician to rollout implementation. Instead, Central Desktop offers an out of the box solution that can have you up and running in a matter of minutes.
- Research and plan out your user adoption strategy. A great collaboration solution is worthless if noone in your company is using it. Whether it’s through an online manual, e-book, through the Intranet or with a Help Center, decide how your team members will be properly educated on all facets of the software solution. If you train them properly, and if they realize how collaboration software reduces clutter, noise and boosts productivity, they will use your solution.
Hope these tips help, and if you’d like to test a collaboration software for your team, you can sign up for the Free 30 Day Trial to the right.
