The Changing Culture of Collaboration

[Tim Stone (Tim_Stone)]

With over 1.3 billion people set to be working using mobile technology by 2015,* what will the future of collaboration look like? 

Technology has shaped the way we communicate, collaborate, and share information. Although we may take most of it for granted, the technologies we use in today’s workplace has had a significant effect on how and where we work. Gone are the days when face-to-face collaboration meant having to be physically in the same room and the only “connected” device was the traditional desktop phone. Technologies and applications that make it easier to connect and collaborate are becoming a critical part of business success. People now expect to be able to connect from anywhere and from any device, the workplace of today comprises of an ever-increasing assortment of smart, always connected devices and collaboration tools.

Video has become an essential collaboration tool; enabling today’s workforce to communicate, collaborate, and share content in real-time, from anywhere in a very personal way while helping to attract and retain top talent for the business. When and where we work can have a big influence on how we get our best ideas. The changing culture of collaboration is not just about new technology; it’s also about creating working environments that help spark creativity and enabling new working practices that provide flexibility in when and where people work. Face-to-face collaboration can spark creativity and innovation; by providing virtual collaboration tools such as video conferencing, online document sharing, virtual white boards through delivered through connected rooms, PC’s smartphones and tablets,; companies can allow the workforce to work anywhere, any time while helping to increase productivity and profitability.

The office of the future will not just be the permanent physical locations of the past. Organisations will require both physical and virtual workplaces in order to maintain a digitally connected collaboration environment while reducing the high costs associated with real-estate. Telepresence will be the norm as increased adoption of video in the workplace and a growth in cloud computing  enable virtual hubs of collective knowledge focusing on creativity and innovation through collaboration. The consumerisation of IT and a generation Y workforce will drive an increase in social media and mobile video collaboration into the workplace .

The culture of remote working requires smart thinking to maintain business connection and collaboration across boundaries. Workplaces need to embrace new technology in order to take that first leap into the workplace of the future. From an IT perspective the deployment of scalable and flexible video solutions is fundamental to enable knowledge sharing, diagnostics and analysis to drive innovation and growth.

Watch this Culture of Collaboration IDC Videoand learn how cloud, mobility, big data analytics and social business will enable IT to defy distance within your company.

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Melissa Fremeijer
Senior Analyst IDC EMEA Telecoms and Networking

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*Source: International Data Corporation (IDC), 2012