Collaboration Tools
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Archived Viewpoints
2020
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September:
Opportunities for Recruiting Automation
Key Areas to Monitor -
August:
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July:
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June:
The Pandemic Crisis: Scenarios for the Future of Digital Connectivity and Lifestyles
Scenarios Presentation: The Pandemic Crisis: Scenarios for the Future of Technology Development
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May:
The Pandemic Crisis: Key Forces That Will Shape the Future of Digital Connectivity and Lifestyles
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April:
Pandemic: A Critical Test of Remote Work
The Partnership between Samsung and Microsoft Intensifies -
March:
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February:
The Rise of China's Collaboration-Tools Market
Open versus Private Communications in Collaboration Tools
2019
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December/January:
2019: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2020 -
November:
Future Pathways for Collaboration Tools
Workplace Is Working -
October:
Progress in Human–AI Collaboration
Activity-Based Work Spaces -
September:
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August:
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July:
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June:
Microsoft's Fluid Framework
Collaboration for Legal and Compliance Tasks -
May:
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April:
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March:
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February:
IBM Kills Off Collaboration Software
Collaboration Finds Its Voice
2018
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December/January:
2018: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2019 -
November:
The Changing Business Customer
Collaborating in Virtual Reality -
October:
Collaboration and the Decentralized Web
Collaborating with AI -
September:
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August:
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July:
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June:
Voice Assistants for Workplace Collaboration
Digital Whiteboards -
May:
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April:
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March:
Collaboration versus Productivity
Microsoft and LinkedIn: After the Acquisition -
February:
Offices without Email and Paper?
Face Recognition in Social Media
2017
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December/January:
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November:
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October:
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September:
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August:
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July:
Artificial Intelligence and Collaboration
Smart Eyewear in the Workplace -
June:
Collaboration Lessons from DevOps
Social-Media Companies as Publishers -
May:
Chat Bots and Workplace Automation
Plurality in Social Media -
April:
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March:
More Collaboration, Less Security
Social Media and Content-Quality Control -
February:
Atlassian's $425 Million To-Do List
Collaborative Robots: An Update
2016
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December/January:
2016: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2017 -
November:
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October:
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September:
Dropbox Continues Diversification with Paper
The Rise of Mobile Video Calling -
August:
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July:
Microsoft Acquires LinkedIn for $26.2 Billion
Cisco and Apple Integration for iOS 10 -
June:
The Future of Brain-to-Brain Communication
Google Launches Google Spaces -
May:
Failing to Make the Most of Videoconferencing Tools
What Millennials Want -
April:
Continued Rise of Cloud-Based Services
Insider Trading via Video-Game Consoles -
March:
Risks of an Increase in Collaboration
Consumer Tools for the Enterprise -
February:
2015
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December/January:
2015: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2016 -
November:
Collaborating with Robots
Brands and the Stars of Social Media -
October:
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September:
Google Scales Back Google+
Microsoft Sees High Demand for Surface Hub -
August:
GigJam: Microsoft's New Collaboration Concept
Innovating Collaboration in Regulated Industries -
July:
Collaboration Tools in the Post-App Era
Listening Devices in the Workplace -
June:
Virtual Reality for Collaborative Work
Collaborating with AI -
May:
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April:
Smartwatches and Workplace Collaboration
Vendor Profile: GitHub -
March:
Messaging Apps' Assault on Large Vendors
Human–Machine Collaboration -
February:
2014
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December/January:
2014: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2015 -
November:
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October:
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September:
Amazon Enters the Collaboration-Tools Market
Continued Change in the Consumer Social-Media Market -
August:
Apple and IBM Partner for the Enterprise Market
Enterprise Social Networks Lag Consumer Services -
July:
Smartwatches and Health Tracking in the Workplace
Data-Driven Approaches to Recruiting and Retaining Staff -
June:
Security Concerns and Cloud Progress
Marketing in a Diversified Social-Media Market -
May:
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April:
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March:
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February:
2013
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December/January:
2013: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2014 -
November:
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October:
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September:
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August:
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July:
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June:
Should Social Software Support Work Tasks or Just Be Social?
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May:
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April:
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March:
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February:
Working Remotely: Survey Results and Practitioner Experiences
2012
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December/January:
2012: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2013 -
November:
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October:
The Maturing Social-Software Market
Work Marketplaces versus Artificial Intelligence -
September:
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August:
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July:
Large Vendors Will Dominate the Next Wave of Collaboration Software
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June:
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May:
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April:
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March:
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2011
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December/January:
2011: The Year in Review
Look for These Developments in 2012 -
November:
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October:
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September:
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August:
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July:
Before July 2011, the Collaboration Tools technology area was Knowledge-Management Tools.
About Collaboration Tools
October 2018
Collaboration tools combine software, hardware, and networks to enable dispersed employees to work together, share knowledge, and learn. Examples of today's collaboration systems are messaging apps, conferencing software, collaborative word-processing systems, and social-networking tools. In the long term, collaboration tools have the potential not just to replicate the experience of working face-to-face but to improve on it. In ten years, perhaps every business meeting will have a virtual component as software and hardware overlay pertinent information such as the name and schedule of each participant, automatically capture meeting minutes, and assign tasks to task lists. Future tools may also generate meeting transcripts and summaries automatically, provide simultaneous translation, and insert portions of telephone conversations directly into documents. These collaboration tools begin with today's social-software tools, knowledge-management systems, and conferencing technologies but add emerging developments in augmented reality, speech interfaces, artificial intelligence, natural user interfaces, and context recognition.
Today, collaboration tools are already a key priority for many enterprises as virtual teams become common in large companies, as flexible working practices develop, and as companies rationalize business travel. However, many organizations are facing challenges as employees reject corporate-sanctioned collaboration software and source their own collaboration software from cloud providers who offer easy-to-use, smartphone-friendly formats. Traditional collaboration-software providers, including IBM and Microsoft, have had to respond with updated, user-friendly tools. Research and development trends in areas such as big data, augmented reality, context recognition, and pervasive cameras and sensors suggest that a new generation of collaboration tools will emerge within five to ten years. Also important for future collaboration systems are research and development in speech-to-text technologies to transcribe conversations accurately and progress in artificial-intelligence software to analyze the collaboration activity and automate many of the functions that require human administration today.
Demand for collaboration systems is likely to remain high because virtual teams are becoming a standard working configuration, flexible work is growing, and enterprises need to contain the costs of business travel. But if advanced collaboration tools fulfill their potential, they will do far more than simply bringing remote workers together. Future tools could improve productivity and reduce costs by enabling the best available team to work on a project—no matter where each individual is, automating routine work such as updating documents, automatically informing teams and managers about the location and tasks of coworkers, providing ready access to people and archived content to support a task, or analyzing workplace communications and workflows to discover promising individuals and process bottlenecks.