Collaboration as a Business Edge
In today’s global marketplace, businesses find that they have to branch out from their traditional ways of thinking and operating. This means opening up their systems to work with others outside the enterprise. Tocompete and win you MUST collaborate. Obviously, this is a big hurdle to overcome. Traditionallycompanies are hesitant about opening up their network and information systems for very valid reasons.How does a business do this without exposing trade secrets and risking a competitive edge? Once that isovercome the logistical concerns surface and prove to be daunting tasks? How can one manage electronicinformation and documents? How can one manage key personal data like employee information andtimesheets in an efficient and effective way? Collaboration offers the answers to these challenges.Collaboration is a standard for academia, business, and government. This is not surprising as people aresocial beings. Collaboration can be a natural fit for a lot of people hence the popularity and growth of easysocial networks and other collaboration technologies. The benefits of collaboration are numerous. Costreduction is, of course, an immediate benefit as is ease of communication both internally and externally.Collaborating fosters innovation, ties enterprises together with others, and leverages the capability of theentire enterprise.We have been collaborating on computer networks at various levels for years. There are two basic ways of collaborating: asynchronously and synchronously. Asynchronous, or non-real-time, collaboration includese-mail, usenet-style threaded discussion, and file sharing. Synchronous, or real-time, collaboration includescapabilities such as instant messaging (IM), voice over IP (VOIP), video, and application sharing. Moderncollaborative tools integrate these types of capabilities into a virtual collaboration environment.Collaboration is a process defined by the recursive interaction of knowledge and mutual learning betweentwo or more people who are working together, in an intellectual endeavor, toward a common goal.Collaboration does not necessarily require leadership and can even bring better results throughdecentralization and egalitarianism. Collaborative methods are processes, behaviors, and conversations thatrelate to collaboration between individuals. These methods specifically aim to increase the success of teamsas they engage in collaborative problem solving. Collaborative processes are supported by a category of computer software: collaboration platforms are unified electronic platforms that support synchronous andasynchronous communication through a variety of devices and channels.There are four possible levels of collaboration depending on the complexity and maturity of thecollaborative process:
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Information level (or transactional collaboration)
: sharing of data and information, e.g., prices,inventory data, logistics data, business performance data, design data, etc.
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Systems level
: sharing of applications, source code, software, middleware, databases andrepositories, hardware, etc.
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Process level
: sharing parts of a procurement process, inventory management process, supply chainprocesses, product design, etc.
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Relationship level
: sharing contextual competencies, e.g., tire manufacturing with automobiledesign, outsourcing context. The highest level of maturity is exhibiting dynamic collaborationcapabilities wherein enterprises are able to identify partners and work with them electronically.
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