How to Buy Collaboration Tools

Things to Consider Before Purchasing

You will probably narrow down your buying choices considerably after identifying your needs and seeing what software and hardware products are available. Before making a final decision, you have a number of things to think about:

• What specific purpose will each product serve?
• What is the cost of the product? Look not only at the outright cost but also at the cost and time of training employees in its use. Think about the cost saved by the productivity increase resulting from use of the product.
• In what ways might the product take away from productivity?
• Does the company that sells the product provide training? What type?
• Is the product compatible with existing tools and programs (such as your ISP, your computers' operating systems, your other applications, and your existing mobile tools)? If not, what kind of syncing is possible?
• Can the product work offline as well as online?
• Can the product grow with your business, or will you need to upgrade if you add more employees?
• What privacy issues are associated with the product?
• What will be lost if you don't purchase the product?

As you answer these questions, you'll discover that some products are obviously unsuitable because they might facilitate collaboration but negatively affect other areas of the company. For example, you might find that your employees could communicate more effectively from remote locations with a new IM program but that it would encourage excess personal online conversation among in-office staff. Or you might discover that the training and time necessary to learn the new system would not outweigh the benefits it provides.

In some cases, you'll find that the product is right but that you must choose a particular brand name for purposes of compatibility with your existing systems. Or you might find that you need to take extra security measures when beginning to employ the new product. For example, many businesses are using Google Apps, which combines features such as documents and spreadsheets (file sharing), e-mail, online calendars, and chat services. This set of applications stores information on unencrypted Google servers, which can raise security concerns. If you plan to share only files and information containing no sensitive content, however, these tools may be sufficient.

Many businesses are now also using the new Google Gears for more-secure online (and offline) collaboration. This product allows for free collaboration, which permits a business to test out its need for services; it should be noted, though, that Google Gears is still in beta phase (and could be for a while, since Google products sometimes stay in beta for years).

Collaboration can greatly benefit your business. It allows you to make use of the skills of new employees located in areas where you don't have an office. And it permits you to increase the communication among your on-site employees during their busy days, in and out of the office. Unlike what some people seem to think about collaboration, it is not the wave of the future--it is the way business is done today.