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Collaboration software adoption way behind the hype in Europe
Tuesday, September 16, 2008 by Angela Ashenden
As part of our Collaboration Continuous Advisory Service, we are carrying out twice-yearly market studies to understand the level of adoption of collaborative working practices and different types of collaboration software within the European market. We’ve now finished analysing the results of the first study, and the corresponding report is published today.
Perhaps the most interesting insight from the study is that – while European organisations are enthusiastic about driving more collaborative working practices – adoption of today’s state-of-the-art collaborative technologies, such as team workspaces, web conferencing and social software, remains limited, with most organisations using their various existing technology environments to support collaborative initiatives.
The report is only available to service subscribers (although you can request a free service trial if you’d like to see more), but here are a few highlights:
- A collaborative culture among managers and professionals drives technology adoption and innovation. Our research shows a direct correlation between those organisations with a more collaborative culture, broad usage of collaborative software, and a high proportion of knowledge workers, suggesting that such a culture is a prerequisite for collaboration software adoption and collaborative working initiatives
- Workforce efficiency is the primary driver for collaboration investment. While innovation and business differentiation are often cited as important business drivers for collaboration, our research indicates that it is workforce efficiency that provides the initial justification for a collaboration initiative, with innovation benefits becoming relevant only as the initiative becomes more established and mature.
- Organisations are looking to coordinate collaboration strategies across the organisation. While it is difficult to take account of the varying requirements of different groups within an organisation, our research shows that organisations – even those with less collaborative cultures – are actively working to centralise their collaboration strategies, both in terms of working practices and technology investments.
The study was carried out in June 2008 and involved 201 telephone interviews. 71 respondents were based in the UK; 65 in France; and 65 in Germany. The respondents were also evenly split across seven industries – energy & utilities, financial services, government, manufacturing, retail, telecoms, and transport & travel. We did the research in conjunction with our partners at Freeform Dynamics.
Posted in Collaboration