What is an enterprise collaboration strategy?
Enterprise collaboration refers to the various ways in which an organization gathers and shares information amongst employees and partners. Beyond simpley email and phone calls, enterprise collaboration solutions incorporate audio/visual (AV) hardware, data sharing platforms, and productivity software. The aim is to improve communication, facilitate teamwork and ensure tasks are completed more efficiently.
An enterprise collaboration strategy outlines the infrastructure, budgetary requirements, and planning needed to ensure the finished system works optimally. In today’s remote working environment, it’s more important than ever to have a well-implemented enterprise collaboration strategy that encourages participation and communication.
The benefits of a powerful enterprise collaboration strategy
If communication is the key to a healthy relationship, a well-defined enterprise collaboration strategy is the key to a healthy business. The modern business environment operates on a global scale, necessitating collaboration with people from different countries, cultures, and backgrounds. To stay ahead of the game, your company must be able to conduct business with people from all over the world in a positive, effective and productive way.
There are various enterprise collaboration services available that fulfill different requirements, including office space design, unified collaboration tools, and the Internet-of-Things (IoT). Using real-time Unified Collaboration (UC) tools enhanced by IoT, disparate workforces can come together under one virtual roof to complete projects, manage negotiations, or supercharge productivity. Today’s sophisticated digital environment means you never need to struggle through patchy conference calls or endless group emails again.
With enterprise collaboration tools like UC and the IoT you get:
- all the information and resources your team needs in a single, secure environment
- flexible and varied communication options
- real-time updates and interactions
- creative tools for sharing ideas and tracking progress
Developing your enterprise collaboration strategy
To achieve a successful outcome when developing your enterprise collaboration system, you’ll need to plan according to your business strengths and requirements. The following steps will help you define your enterprise collaboration strategy:
1. Decide which type of enterprise collaboration you need
Depending on your type of business and how it operates, you’ll need to choose a style of enterprise collaboration:
- Internal – involves collaboration amongst employees within an organization.
- External – is more focused on employees collaborating with consumers, partners, or brands outside of the organization.
2. Assess your requirements
Find out what your specific business needs are and what you can realistically implement. This can include, but is not limited to, any or all of the following examples:
- Additional Hardware (phones, computers, screens)
- Analytics and reporting tools
- Integration tools (APIs)
- Social networking (external or corporate intranet?)
- Document management software (SharePoint, etc)
- AV Meetings (video calls, conferencing, etc)
- Enterprise collaboration software (Teams, Slack, Trello, etc)
- Productivity platforms (MS Project, etc)
- Enterprise search system
- Workflow and automation (Microsoft Power Automate)
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3. Conduct cost/benefit analysis
Estimate the cost of implementing each solution and evaluate whether it provides a sufficient benefit. This can often be difficult to achieve, particularly with platforms you aren’t familiar with.
For each potential enterprise collaboration solution, ask yourself questions like:
- Is my team large enough to necessitate this system?
- Is the problem it solves one that we struggle with frequently?
- Will this solution help open up new avenues for our business?
These can be tough questions, so it’s beneficial to enlist the help of a third-party professional to ensure you don’t overspend unnecessarily. An external consultant with experience in enterprise collaboration can assess your business needs and provide a better informed proposal.
4. Define your budget and research your options
With your enterprise collaboration strategy complete, you can begin researching the options available to you and weighing up the budgetary implications. Beyond the initial implementation of hardware and infrastructure, you’ll need to consider office space, staff training, performance tracking, fine-tuning, and other ongoing costs and concerns.
Many businesses benefit from outsourcing the development of their enterprise collaboration strategy to an IT Managed Services Provider (MSP) with the skills and expertise to deliver a fully functional and efficient enterprise collaboration platform that works from day one. An enterprise collaboration technology consultant can serve as a strategic partner in defining your collaboration strategy.
How can Yorktel help?
Yorktel is an IT Managed Services Provider with a strong pedigree in collaboration, communication, and digital workplace solutions. Our approach to an enterprise collaboration strategy covers all facets of business interactions, offering services in audio-visual (AV), unified communications (UC) & the Internet of Things (IOT).
It’s a personable approach that takes into account the importance of community within the office environment, helping to support teams that work together seamlessly. With our long history of supporting business communications combined with modern-day professional IT systems, we are perfectly positioned to accelerate digital transformation in a way that makes sense for your company.
Speak with a Yorktel advisor today and find out how we can help you build the perfect enterprise collaboration strategy for your company.
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