Do We Have to Hug? Part II -- Collaboration Tools

by Jim Love

In Part I of this two-part Executive Update series, we looked at the barriers to and possible benefits of collaboration. I examined the "four pillars of collaboration," which provide a foundation that supports collaboration and collaborative structures. I also put forward the proposition that there are a vast number of tools available to facilitate collaboration in the modern enterprise. Many are available for little or often no direct cost. Even though we are still in the relative infancy of collaboration tools, what is readily available is mature, feature-rich, and, in many cases, scalable to the enterprise level.