Mar 24, 2014

Throughout schooling and job experiences, people are always taught to work well as part of a team, but without the right tools, it’s difficult to do so. In the enterprise, many projects and workloads are becoming complex enough for several staff members to work on together. The emergence of mobile devices and online file sharing has helped make this effort more achievable. Decision makers need to determine the value of collaboration within their company and provide users with the features they need to finish their tasks effectively.

Teaming up with other staff members can seem like a foreign concept in some industries, but many are taking a second look at how collaboration can improve overall operations and boost potential benefits. According to a recent report by MarketsandMarkets, the enterprise collaboration market will be valued at more than $70 billion by 2019, driven by evolving communications standards.

As more organizations create hyper-connected networks and collect more communication data, collaboration tools will be essential to ensuring that staff can leverage their resources effectively. While IT departments have often tried to control sensitive documents used in collaboration initiatives, secure file sharing programs can be utilized instead to provide IT thecontrol they need and users the tools they want. This ensures that employees can work together efficiently without compromising the safety of important data.

“In recent times, enterprise collaboration has gained more attraction,” according to the report. “Due to complex communication and rapid pace of business operations; enterprises are facing strong need for efficient and cost-effective enterprise collaboration solutions. Various efficient collaboration technologies are emerging which help in enhancing the efficiency of employee and reducing the operational cost.”

Creating a more efficient workplace
Many workplaces had staff that were dividing by job title, department and numerous other delineations, but this created a segmented business model and has been deemed inefficient. Collaboration efforts have been adopted by organizations across a variety of industries to meet the demands of fast-paced consumer expectations, and these tools have completely changed company mindsets. According to the Financial Post, cloud adoption and mobile devices have been incorporated as part of the collaboration trend, facilitating faster decision making and less travel time.

The new technology has improved teamwork capabilities and allowed staff to do business from any location. Using file sharing solutions, for example, several members can be working on a document at the same time — any changes made will automatically be reflected in real time, ensuring that all viewers have the most recent version. Collaboration efforts are becoming a major part of business operations. The tools are contributing to overall boosts in productivity as well as ensuring that staff have a means of functioning in the face of potential disasters.

“Whether one calls it productivity or business continuity, the end result of a well-structured and secure collaboration approach can be measured in many ways, including shorter commuting times, less staffing, faster cycle times, 24/7 accessibility to global offices and customers, reduced real estate requirements and travel costs, to name a few,” the Financial Post stated.