Collaboration can be loosely defined as interaction among people, to achieve common goals without the exchange of goods and services. These interactions need to be facilitated, managed, and tracked by information technology, just as every business tracks traditional business transactions. A second generation of collaboration technologies is evolving on the Internet, loosely grouped as “Web 2.0” technologies. They are once again challenging the enterprise to derive value from collaboration tools.
This research note reviews the basic principles of enterprise collaboration, including:
- A description of the most common enterprise collaboration tools.
- The factors that make “Web 2.0” collaboration different.
- Key takeaways for small enterprise IT and business professionals to assist in strategy and planning activities.
Small enterprises especially are in a position to reap instant benefits from Web 2.0 peer collaboration tools.