Tools for a Virtual Organization
Our Board has decided that our global organization Change Facilitation will become a virtual organization. We need tools for virtual collaboration, mainly
- share documents
- jointly work on documents
- discussion forum
- short messaging
- whiteboard / desktop share
- remote synchronization of computers
- tele and video conferences / voice over IP
I know there is not one stone that kills all the birds. But we would like to have a simple and affordable solution.
What do you suggest?
Clarification added April 29, 2008:
Can somebody share their experience with Sharepoint?
Good Answers (12)
Ross W
Program Chair, Business Administration
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You might focus on the very different functions that will need to be included in your virtual collaboration and compare the detailed needs against software capabilities often contained in knowledge management (KM) systems. Possibilities include (1) content management, (2) visioning & direction setting, (3) coordination & debottlenecking, and (4) relationship building. The different software tools not only address each function above differently, but work at different time horizons.
- Storage of documents is critical, but so if the necessity to manage that content as to who has access (both read & write) and the process for keeping the information current (or properly archived for historic reference). Extension of content management can include check-out and revision management at one extreme to wiki co-editing at the other extreme. Again, each type of content management fits different uses and different requirements of permanence and control over what is contained in the documents.
- Visioning can be expressed in blogs and how discussions are conducted. In both cases, who is documenting their thoughts and the manner it is presented for others becomes part of the process of clarifying the vision and diffusing it across the organization.
- Some KM systems include or interface to task managers for coordinating and prioritizing activities among multiple people. Discussions can also be employed to document issues and discuss approaches to their resolution.
- Whiteboarding is often seen in different collaboration systems, but is a function that I have not seen much use for because of its limitations. I always relate virtual activities to actions taken in face-to-face meetings. In most cases, I find it better to use shared applications for capturing and organizing information real-time than trying to capture the same information on a whiteboard and then having to convert that content over to another application. In rare cases, visual drawing on a whiteboard may be the way to go, but not that often. More useful is shared editing of a document under development.
- VOIP is much better today than a few years ago and can be interchanged at voice conference calls supported with web conferencing. The key here is to have both synchronous and asynchronous capability to permit quick sharing and fill the time between those sessions.
SharePoint does a fair job, but not without some problems, especially in its lack of key functions that are oftentimes needed. I have also worked with LiveLink that was good, but expensive. More recently, I am in an organization that is using Clearspace, which might be a consideration for your organization.
Links:
- share documents
- jointly work on documents
I have used Google Apps/Sites , so these above are taken care of in there.
- discussion forum
Probably the best way is the simplest, a wordpress blog or a PHPBB/VBulliten forum. But i would recommend a private wordpress blog.
- short messaging
- whiteboard / desktop share
- tele and video conferences / voice over IP
You can use Skype for the above 3 , with WhiteboardMetting Addon. There are other collaboration addons in there as well. There is also a HighSpeedConferencing Addon (paid service) , if the normal skype conferencing doesnt work for you.
- remote synchronization of computers
Not sure what sort of syncing you are looking for.
I like the answers of Sabeen Malik. just want to make some additions or you can simple say my own thoughts
for the following points
1. share documents
2. jointly work on documents
3. discussion form
I would recommend use of Basecamp (www.37signal.com)
4. short messaging
5. whiteboard / desktop share
6. tele and video conferences / voice over IP
use your cellular phones for short messaging ;) , what could be simpler than this. if not then use Skype as Sabeen suggested. yeah you can use the plugins he mentioned.
but for desktop sharing, we use GoToMeeting ;) excellent tool
7. for remote synchronizations of computers
"rsynch"
Gary C
Director Strategic Partners at LibreDigital
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There are so many better applications than sharepoint! Refine your business requirements, budget and then start exploring content management applications. There are a number of hosted (Saas) solutions as well as open source and COTS based solutions on the market.
Karl G
Director of Advanced Technology at Array Information Technology, Inc
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I've used Sharepoint to support a number of distributed teams and it works well enough for a shared workspace with a CMS, wikis, blogs, etc. If you've already got MS Exchange support/expertise, it's a good place to start and is often a pretty easy sell to management.
Often adoption hurdles are generally more cultural than technological, so I'd make sure you have the Sharepoint site setup before kick-off and the PM ensures documents and updates are rapidly posted to the site.
Karl
Jeff SKI K
Founder and CTO at To be named later
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Some good insight shared by others. allow me my two Euros worth:
I like phorum a lot; been a user since v3.x -- see link.
Also, we use GoToMeeting dot com a lot, even works on my Apple Mac; other than I cannot share my desktop... but I can control any PC desktop in the sessions from my Mac.
-ski
Links:
- share documents and jointly work on documents:
eRoom is an option (company EMC Corporation, on their site look for Documentum)
- discussion forum: can also be eRoom or Sharepoint. Maybe create your own wiki and forum?
- short messaging: do you mean something like ICQ? Security needs to be taken into account. Be aware of sharing confidential info.
- whiteboard / desktop share: netmeeting works fine and is included in Windows. To have meetings with a lot of people there is Webex and Microsoft LiveMeeting (the latter one apparently cheaper than Webex).
To go a bit further there are things like SmartBoards on which the presenter can draw and this can be see by the other people on the line. Great stuff, but this hardware is expensive
Good luck!
As Dev. Mgr support ofr IT and as a point of contact to the development team I have a similar problem of working with a widely spread group of people.
Currently we tend to use apps that are commonly known and proven ease of use, so:
skype (voice comms) skype out is particularly good for calls with sales staff on the move around the world. It is the skype out that makes it more attactive than a lot of the other IM/VOIP solutions
skype also covers short messaging nicely.
For desktop sharing & on screen collaboration we currently use go to meeting, but there are free solutions. As GoToMeeting is well established tool with the business community - it means one less application to oversee in our IT infrastructure
Shared documents - we're experimenting with iDrive as it can also autobackup.
You might like to look at http://grou.ps/. although this is still very new it looks like it may have the potential to meet all your requirements within one environment.
Links:
I am a sharepoint consultant, with experience using other microsoft technologies as well; so I will limit my view around these technologies.
If your IT infrastructure is setup using Microsoft technologies, such as Windows Active Directory, MS Exchange Server, then SharePoint is quite easy to setup, easy to configure and customizations take shorter development time. SharePoint can boost end-user productivity if your company uses MS Office 2003 or 2007.
SharePoint supports sharing documents, creating document workspaces for collaboration.
SharePoint also has discussion boards, bolgs and wiki sites, although in my opinion they are barebones in this version.
Not only does sharepoint offer document workspaces, it allows e-discovery and compliance solutions out of the box. You may apply policies & out-of-box workflows around documents to enrich the overall document life cycle.
SharePoint is cheap considering other vendor solutions offering similar ECM features.
Office Communicator 2007 can be used for corporate messaging, doc sharing and also 'user presence'. This is quite interesting because it shows
information (in the IM windows) about the other person by accessing their outlook calendar (e.g. if the person is unavailable because of a meeting, when will he become available). And of course, there are security setting options to hide one's outlook information from becoming visible to others. I suggest taking a quick look at the webcast on Office Communicator, available on the micrsoft website .
Groove can be used for working on a document offline and synchromising later. Actually Outlook 2007 can be used to do this as well. But Groove offers more features.
I haven't heard of one tool that can do all of the tasks you're looking for to full satisfaction.
We have used Lotus Notes and associated domino server applications for document sharing and information management across all international subsidiaries.
Whiteboard and VOIP / Videoconferencing was done with Skype. Depending on your bandwidth and security restrictions, you can orchestrate a 8 people video conference without significant lag / delay.
Intl. Poject Management was done in MS Project, which was configured as shared application.
Bud C
Project Management Consultant - Helping companies execute their projects ►On-Time◄ and ►On-Budget◄!
For getting started, Mayetic Village is a great little place to start. Doesn't support the desktop sharing but works good for asynch collaboration. One alternative to webex for desktop sharing is Premiere Global Services. They use an all java applet that makes for better cross-platform compatibility.
Sharepoint, unless you are an expert, feels extremely cumbersome and linear in its thinking. An alternative is Joomla or another CMS for doing many of the same things.
Links:
John G
Principal Consultant - Advanced Microsoft Technology Solutions in San Diego
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Here is some suggestions if your budget constrained:
Microsoft Groove will share and sync multiple projects, files, discussions, etc. using peer 2 peer synchronization technology. It's a rich client application though...but very slick (Ray Ozzie, MS CTO developed it before joining Microsoft).
If your looking for more of a single server based solution, Sharepoint (hosted or customer premise) is powerful and integrates with the Office Suite (you can even sync groove clients to Sharepoint for example). Basecamp or other online file and collaboration portals might be a better fit too.
For Tele and video conferences / voice over IP /sms...you can't be skype on price or quality.
Skype In/Out = $50 a year per person to use the public phone system. Free skype to skype. For virtual PBX (to front end your land lines) with toll free numbers, email, extension transfers look for a GotvMail.com type solution.
Hope this helps...
More Answers (3)
Forrester has released a new report into the use of virtual worlds in the workplace.
I found a ffeedback of the report (check the link)
Enjoy
Links:
Sri Vilayanoor [
Global Product Development, Commercialization & Quality Management Professional
Best Answers in: Change Management (1), Organizational Development (1)
Sri Vilayanoor [ suggests this expert on this topic:
Raoul G suggests this expert on this topic:
This expert has an online tool (SAAS) which would be ideal for your organization!
Please contact Bob, as he is a personable individual.
