Establish a Communication and Collaboration System Strategy

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Communication and collaboration portfolios are overburdened with redundant and overlapping services. Between Office 365, Slack, Jabber, and WebEx, IT is supporting a collection of redundant apps. This redundancy takes a toll on IT, and on the user.
Shadow IT is easier than ever, and cheap sharing tools are viral. Users are literally carrying around computers in their pockets (in the form of smartphones). IT often has no visibility into how these devices – and the applications on them – are used for work.

Our Advice

Critical Insight

You don’t know what you don’t know. Unstructured conversations with users will uncover insights.
Security is meaningless without usability. If security controls make a tool unusable, then users will rush to adopt something that’s free and easy.
Training users on a new tool once isn’t effective. Engage with users throughout the collaboration tool’s lifecycle.

Impact and Result

Few supported apps and fewer unsupported apps. This will occur by ensuring that your collaboration tools will be useful to and used by users. Give users a say through surveys, focus groups, and job shadowing.
Lower total cost of ownership and greater productivity. Having fewer apps in the workplace, and better utilizing the functionality of those apps, will mean that IT can be much more efficient at managing your ECS.
Higher end-user satisfaction. Tools will be better suited to users’ needs, and users will feel heard by IT.

Establish a Communication and Collaboration System Strategy Research & Tools

Start here – read the Executive Brief

Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should develop a new approach to communication and collaboration apps, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.

1. Create a shared vision on the future of communication and collaboration

Identify and validate goals and collaboration tools that are used by your users, and the collaboration capabilities that must be supported by your desired ECS.

2. Map a path forward

Map a path forward by creating a collaboration capability map and documenting your ECS requirements.

3. Build an IT and end-user engagement plan

Effectively engage everyone to ensure the adoption of your new ECS. Engagement is crucial to the overall success of your project.

About Info-Tech

Info-Tech Research Group is the world’s fastest-growing information technology research and advisory company, proudly serving over 30,000 IT professionals.

We produce unbiased and highly relevant research to help CIOs and IT leaders make strategic, timely, and well-informed decisions. We partner closely with IT teams to provide everything they need, from actionable tools to analyst guidance, ensuring they deliver measurable results for their organizations.

What Is a Blueprint?

A blueprint is designed to be a roadmap, containing a methodology and the tools and templates you need to solve your IT problems.

Each blueprint can be accompanied by a Guided Implementation that provides you access to our world-class analysts to help you get through the project.

Table of Contents

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Guided Implementation 1: Identify what needs to change

Call 1: Identify goals and vision.
Call 2: Study the end user.
Call 3: Distill user requirements.

Guided Implementation 2: Map out the change

Call 1: Categorize tools.
Call 2: Identify requirements.
Call 3: Prioritize initiatives.

Guided Implementation 3: Proselytize the change

Call 1: Create a training plan.
Call 2: Identify top apps.
Call 3: Create a communication plan.

Author

Ken Weston

Contributors

Marianne Chester, President/CEO, mEnterprise Solutions, and Acting CIO, X-Gen Pharmaceuticals
Diane Smith, CEO, ChoiceTel
Jan Wenzelburger, Enterprise Program Management, X-Gen Pharmaceuticals
Kurt Haas, Cloud/Mobile Architect, QuikTrip
Cisco Systems, Inc.
A special thank you to 29 anonymous contributors