I read the above statement on an analyst’s website recently and it made me think about how this may be important for our customers. For me the idea of a conference is straight forward; 2 or more people come together at an appointed time to discuss a particular subject. Typically, people think of a conference as being a phone call possibly with video but it can also include instant messages, desk top sharing and document sharing. With modern IT systems these types of applications and services are available and often called collaboration.

However, for me collaboration is a working style or process where many different activities produce a tangible outcome. Four colleagues might work on a report together using real time communications tools (IM, video and phones) but the collaboration can continue separately when each is able to work on a separate part of the report. Collaboration, and productivity, must have a measurable outcome to be able to calculate the value of the investment in time, resources and service consumed.

The next stage must me to be able include others outside the one organization using a shared set of tools. The most common one being telephone conferences. However, there are several web based services that allow users to share visibility of documents etc. I am looking forward today when customer and suppliers can collaborate in real time and off line on the same project. I am sure I won’t have to wait long! www.star.co.uk/worklife