The document discusses implementing a collaboration platform and provides guidance on key steps. It recommends: 1) Planning for both initial platform deployment and ongoing collaboration solution design to ensure long-term success. 2) Conducting initial deployment followed by designing specific collaboration solutions that match tools to business patterns. 3) Budgeting for both deployment and the ongoing costs of solution design to avoid cost overruns.

1. Implement a Collaboration Platform Implementation doesn’t end with platform deployment: build ongoing collaboration solutions.

2. Successfully implementing a collaboration platform involves two steps: the initial platform deployment and the ongoing solution design. Stopping after platform deployment will lead to a failure of collaboration strategies. This set will help you create an action plan that addresses both steps of the implementation. Introduction This Research Is Designed For: IT project managers responsible for implementing a collaboration platform. IT staff who are responsible for carrying out the initial deployment of a collaboration platform (for example, gathering integration requirements and building the necessary infrastructure). IT Architects and Business Analysts who build ongoing collaboration solutions upon existing platforms. Business managers who are interested in the impact of a collaboration platform on team productivity and business process efficiency. This Research Will Help You: Separate the implementation project into initial platform deployment and ongoing solution design. Establish a persistent platform of collaboration technology services and permanently integrate with other enterprise systems. Establish a catalog of common enterprise collaboration patterns and design solutions by mapping collaboration technologies to these patterns. Prioritize different combinations of collaboration solutions based on their value to the enterprise.

3. Executive Summary Implementing a collaboration platform is a challenging project that requires a two-step approach: organizations must plan for the initial platform deployment and ongoing collaboration solution design. Budgeting only for the initial deployment is a sure-fire way to experience long-term cost overruns. Before implementation can commence, outline an overarching collaboration strategy, then select a collaboration platform vendor. The initial deployment should begin with outlining solutions for permanent teams (i.e. departments or business units), then moving into designing the front-end, back-end, and maintenance models. A pilot project with a tight feedback loop from end users is essential to getting it right when it comes to rolling out the platform to the entire enterprise. Ongoing solution design focuses on creating specific collaboration solutions for permanent and ad-hoc teams. Solution design rests heavily on collaboration pattern matching: pairing the right collaboration tools with the appropriate collaboration patterns. The tools that are matched to each pattern should be the ones that meet business requirements in the most effective and efficient way possible. A collaboration business analyst can be invaluable in assisting the business with ongoing solution design. Optimization of the collaboration environment should be undertaken to squeeze the most business value out of the platform. End-user adoption is a necessity – train users so that they are comfortable with the platform, and assign collaboration evangelists who can help champion the solution among their peers. Bring senior management on board to increase the visibility and profile of the solution with users. Conduct an annual audit of the collaboration platform to identify and correct deficiencies.

5. A sound strategy begins with evaluating the business costs and benefits. Managers must develop an understanding of how traditional collaboration tools can be paired with social (i.e. peer-to-peer) tools to create collaboration solutions.

7. There are a number of prominent offerings on the market: Microsoft’s SharePoint is the incumbent collaboration heavyweight, but other vendors such as Open Text and ECM provide robust solutions as well.

9. Platform deployment is similar to other IT-centric rollouts (e.g. CRM or ERP), but ongoing solution design should involve a designated individual who can translate business collaboration requirements into specific solutions built on the platform.This solution set addresses collaboration implementation. Collaboration Implementation

11. Focus on enabling knowledge sharing and team-based productivity.

12. Allows employees to efficiently share ideas.

13. Business value derived from creation of high-performing knowledge workers and project teams.

14. Focus on enabling individual productivity.

15. Allows employees to efficiently communicate whenever/wherever/ however makes the most sense.

16. Business value derived from reduced impediments to communication.Enterprise Collaboration and Unified Communications strategies are complementary, not mutually exclusive. Implementation strategies for one impacts the other. For more aboutUnified Communications implementation and optimization, see Info-Tech’s solution set, Develop a UC Strategy.

17. Do NOT just plan your implementation around initial deployment – also plan for ongoing solution design Collaboration platforms do not automate existing business processes with transactional services that support interactions between people and systems. This process automation is typical of CRM and ERP packages… but not collaboration platforms. Collaboration platforms do enable technology services and tools that can integrate with business process execution to support interactions between people and teams. It’s a common misconception among IT that implementing a collaboration platform should be restricted to the initial platform deployment, just like a typical transactional system. While this is an important step, it is not sufficient for collaboration success. After the platform is deployed, IT must permanently partner with the business to help design ongoing collaboration solutions for ad-hoc teams, departments and business units.. IT A successful project plan for implementing a collaboration platform includes traditional platform deployment, but also establishes a persistent framework for designing collaborative business solutions around the platform’s technology services and business collaboration patterns. Business Units Don’t start celebrating the deployment of your collaboration platform when the business units are lined up with specific solution requests in-hand!

18. The costs of an implementation misfire are substantial: create a complete roadmap for the implementation, or risk failure A failed implementation wastes time and money, and will not create business value. The implementation of a new collaboration platform is not a trivial exercise. Insufficient planning for both initial platform deployment and ongoing solution design engenders considerable risk to both IT and the business. Cost overruns and value proposition failure are common for botched implementations… and IT managers who fail to deliver will lose credibility with the business on future projects. Don’t fall into the same pitfalls that others have encountered… learn from their mistakes. The Situation The Mistakes The Disaster A mid-sized professional services firm needed to boost the knowledge sharing and productivity of its employees. The organization settled on SharePoint 2010 Enterprise as its solution. IT was tasked with executing the actual implementation of the platform. IT focused solely on getting the platform deployed as soon as possible, with no attention paid to initial or ongoing solution design. Virtually no points-of-integration were established with other applications, and the platform went live to the whole enterprise with no testing or piloting phase. After deployment, IT did not provide training or assist the business with ongoing solution design. The platform failed spectacularly. End user uptake was almost non-existent due to insufficient familiarity with the platform. Teams that requested specific solutions were unable to receive help from IT with ongoing solution design. The platform did not enhance knowledge sharing or productivity. Management estimates the failure wasted over $80,000.

19. Section 1: Build a Strategy for Collaboration Implementation Build a Strategy for Collaboration Implementation Deploy a Collaboration Platform Create Ongoing Collaboration Solutions Optimize the Collaboration Environment Sections: What’s in this Section: Defining an overall collaboration strategy and selecting the right platform are critical steps for enabling employee-to-employee collaboration. See our related solution steps for in-depth advice on collaboration strategy and selection Separate the implementation project into two phases: the initial platform deployment and ongoing solution design. Initial platform deployment involves robust implementation requirements analysis and a well-designed pilot project. Ongoing solution design involves matching the right tools to the right collaboration business pattern

21. Enabling employees and teams to form direct (peer-to-peer) connections to other employees and teams, based upon knowledge and expertise, shortens cycle times, improves knowledge reuse and builds long-lasting relationships between employees across organizational boundaries.

22. Organizational hierarchies are valuable for resource management but are not sufficient as a framework for E2E interaction. Leverage knowledge networks instead.

24. Review the current collaboration product market to make sound upgrade and/or procurement decisions from among the options of collaboration platform vendors, especially MS SharePoint 2010; pure-play social collaboration vendors; and enterprise application vendors (CRM, ERP, etc.).For more information on this stage, refer to Build an Enterprise Social Collaboration Strategy

26. Don’t eliminate the niche vendors out of the gate – many of them built their platforms with specific collaboration goals in mind and may provide an improved experience over the more established vendors (like SharePoint).

27. Start with your requirements to weed out any unnecessary functionalities.

28. Weigh integration with existing tools as high in order to boost usage. The more points-of-integration the platform natively supports, the better.

29. Usage of collaboration tools is lacking in many of the organizations that have deployed them; do not expect the infrastructure to grow organically.For more information on this stage, refer to Select the Right Collaboration Platform.

31. A successful platform deployment is necessary but not sufficient to ensure success. IT needs to break out of the mindset that once the platform deployment is complete, their job is over.

32. Ongoing solution design involves creating specific solutions by matching business collaboration patterns with the specific tools that are best for the job. IT must work with the business to prepare tools to meet the needs of teams and business units.

33. Ongoing solution design requires a high degree of cooperation between different stakeholders. Having a collaboration business analyst is highly recommended.A common failure point is handing off the platform to the business immediately following rollout. Incorporate ongoing solution design into your implementation project in order to maximize success.

34. The first step in collaboration implementation is to deploy the platform itself – a familiar process for many IT managers Deploying a collaboration platform is similar to many other deployment projects that IT managers have faced, although it does entail unique challenges and opportunities The Collaboration Platform Deployment Road Map The first step in initial platform deployment is to outline collaboration solutions for persistent teams(i.e. departments or business units). The next steps are to design the front end, the support model and the back-end of the collaboration platform. Following design steps, the appropriate policies must be put in place. The final step in the initial deployment is to launch a pilot project to a select group and gather feedback, then deploy the platform to the entire organization The initial deployment is vital to the platform’s long-term success. Assemble a team of IT managers, architects and developers with a proven track record in platform deployment to assist with the initial rollout.

37. Three of the most common high-level E2E collaboration patterns are meetings, content creation, and content consumption.

38. Patterns can be synchronous or asynchronous.Pattern matchingis the process of orchestrating collaboration patterns with collaboration tools to produce a specific collaboration solution. Pattern matching forms the foundation of ongoing solution design. More on this later in Section 3.

39. Don’t just budget for initial platform deployment, or the costs of ongoing solution design will create overruns Organizations need to have an understanding of the costs involved with both initial platform deployment and ongoing solution design. Failure to appreciate both sides of the equation will result in inadequate resources for ongoing solution design. Investments made during the initial deployment will include hardware (for on-premise platforms), software (the platform itself), and other indirect costs such as the allocated time of the IT deployment team. A typical deployment of a popular on-premise collaboration platform like SharePoint typically involves purchasing the server software as well as licenses for end-user clients. For SMEs, software costs can range between $5000 and $100 000 for the complete solution. Costs involved in ongoing solution design involve the salary of a full-time collaboration BA (or the FTE equivalent when the role is assigned on a part-time basis to someone else in the organization). Bandwidth costs will also be incurred for certain collaboration tools like web and video conferencing. There will also be costs associated with optimizing people and processes (i.e. end user training). Use Info-Tech’s Collaboration Implementation Budgeting Tool to help build a 6-year TCO for initial deployment and ongoing solution design: An example of a collaboration implementation is presented in the Info-Tech Collaboration Budgeting Tool. Leverage this tool to create your own budget for collaboration implementation.

41. Section 2: Deploy a Collaboration Platform What’s in this Section: Sections: Build a Strategy for Collaboration Implementation Deploy a Collaboration Platform Create Ongoing Collaboration Solutions Optimize the Collaboration Environment Initial platform deployment is the critical first step for implementing a collaboration solution. Deploying a collaboration platform involves gathering business, infrastructure and development requirements, then translating those requirements into specific design points. Establish a persistent platform of collaboration technology services and permanently integrate with other enterprise systems.

42. Initial platform deployment must be an IT-centric activity Outline Collaboration Solutions for Persistent Teams The first phase of collaboration implementation is the initial platform deployment. IT must lead the charge during this phase of the implementation. The implementation can be broken down into several discrete steps: outlining solutions for persistent teams, designing the front end, the support model and the back end, developing standards, carrying out pilot projects, and finally widespread enterprise deployment. Develop Policies & Standards Access & Ownership Information Architecture 1 2 3 4 5 Design the Front End Security Considerations Maintenance Implement Pilot Projects & Leverage “Collaboration Evangelists” Design the Support Model Design the Back End Storage Planning Points-of-Integration Custom Development 6 Enterprise-Wide Platform Launch

43. Use Info-Tech’s Platform Deployment Checklist to help guide the steps that should be taken for initial deployment of the collaboration platform. Project Template: Platform Deployment Checklist The Collaboration Platform Deployment Checklisttool provides IT leaders with a framework for organizing the initial deployment of their collaboration platform. This tool contains the necessary steps that should be taken by IT leaders when moving forward with the initial platform deployment. The tool also provides a structure for project management by specifying start dates, end dates, task ownership and completion status. Project steps can be added or deleted based on the organization’s specific needs and collaboration requirements.

45. A collaboration solution is created by matching the right collaboration tools with the appropriate collaboration patterns. For example, a collaboration solution for team meetings might involve pairing a synchronous tool like video conferencing with a pattern like a daily scrum meeting where most of the team members are working off-site.

46. Create a cross-functional team consisting of IT and the business to build a solution library for persistent teams. Use these solution outlines to guide deployment decisions (for example, around design points like information architecture and security). Use some of these solution designs for pilot projects, and roll the rest out immediately following deployment.Business Units Initial Deployment Departments Ad-Hoc Teams Creating examples of collaboration solutions that will be required post-deployment is an excellent way to get the implementation team thinking about business requirements. Creating solutions for persistent teams is a great way to kick-start the platform following deployment, and sets the stage for ongoing solution design. Ongoing Solution Design Project Teams Org. Communities Design collaboration solutions for persistent teams (business units and departments) during initial deployment, then handle requests from ad-hoc teams during ongoing solution design.

48. Structuring information in a clean, logical manner is important for encouraging user uptake and knowledge transfer. Design your information architecture around the end user – folders and team sites should be laid out in an orderly fashion that makes pinpointing relevant information as easy as possible.

49. Architecture setup means answering these questions:

50. How will metadata be used?

51. How will content be organized?

52. Content availability – what content will be available at each “level” of the platform?

53. Content creation templates – will users have easy-to-use templates that relate to common team processes?Design collaboration IA from the top down. Mapping out information architecture is necessary for ensuring that information exists in a structured, logically consistent manner. Do not dive in to the implementation with no regard for how data will be structured… doing so will lead to significant rework and governance headaches in the future. Start by creating an enterprise portal. From here, create portals for business units, departments, teams and projects. Each level should only contain information that’s relevant to the entire subsection.

54. Establish access privileges that safeguard confidential information while allowing knowledge sharing IT needs to set up user access privileges and assign ownership for department and team-specific portals. The deployment team must work with relevant business stakeholders to determine who should have access to what material. There is an inherent trade-off in assigning user access privileges between the need to safeguard sensitive information and the need to make the collaboration platform as porous as possible to permit cross-functional knowledge sharing. Avoid creating “walled gardens” unless there is a specific justification for doing so. Closing off large portions of the platform restricts the availability of knowledge for future reuse. Material that is ‘in production’ (incomplete) should be available only to pertinent team members, but published material should be available to the entire organization unless it is of a sensitive nature. Administrative controls should also be restricted… don’t give users the ability to alter the underlying information architecture of the platform unless they know what they’re doing. In-Production Content Sensitive Materials Administrative Controls Completed, Team-Generated Content You never know how information might be useful across different business units and project teams, so make it available to as many people as possible (unless it falls under one of the three exclusion categories). The majority of content in the platform should be viewable (and searchable) by most users.

55. Keep the platform running smoothly by creating a support model that delineates responsibility for platform maintenance During implementation, IT and the business must develop a support model that addresses ongoing platform maintenance. IT will need to be involved in aspects of infrastructure and technical maintenance of the platform – for example, diagnosing and correcting malfunctions. If the organization has a Help Desk, these staff should be trained on how to troubleshoot problems with the collaboration platform. Responsibility for maintaining content should rest with designated individuals in business teams – it’s up to teams to decide which content should be kept and which content should be pruned. Teams should be encouraged not to delete content solely for the sake of deleting content. It’s inadvisable to turn on “auto-pruning” features (if the platform has them). Of course, retaining large volumes of content will also impact storage requirements – take this into account when planning the storage model. Collaboration Maintenance Framework: Maintenance of the platform is distinct from ongoing solution design. The former refers to basic upkeep of the underlying platform, while the latter is the creation of specific solutions that meet the needs of different departments, teams and projects. Periodic maintenance is required to keep the platform “on the tracks”.

57. Corporate strategy (where applicable)

58. Proprietary product development information

59. Industry-specific compliance restrictions (i.e. patient records in the healthcare industry)Keep a roster of active, authorized users: when an employee leaves the company, promptly remove their credentials from the system. Integration with directory services can speed this up. On-premise collaboration environments should also be secured from external threats. Ensure that the software is up-to-date with the most current patches and hotfixes at all times. For more information on security strategy, see Info-Tech’s research storyboard, Build a Security Architecture & Roadmap. Collaboration platforms often contain confidential and proprietary information. Be cognizant of information in the platform that should not be available to all users, and implement the necessary access restrictions. On-premise collaboration platforms should be secured behind the firewall in order to reduce the platform’s vulnerability to external threats. Cloud-based solutions must meet necessary compliance requirements. Collaboration Security

61. If yes, estimate future demand and use storage hardware to support it.

62. Will there be quotas?

63. If not, predict growth of each site carefully.

64. Will there be upload size restrictions?

65. Use restrictions to prevent unnecessarily large documents from occupying space.

66. Will rich media be uploaded?

67. Rich media (e.g. videos) requires substantially more storage, so only enable them when necessary.

68. How long will documents be kept?

69. Shorter refresh cycles free up space by clearing old content, but may limit knowledge re-use.

70. Is version control a necessity?

71. If not, turn off to save space.On-premise solutions are typically more expensive in their need for storage capacity (as they often require a share of existing storage space or new investments in infrastructure). Forecast storage requirements by multiplying the expected size of each user’s “content portfolio” by the number of end users.

72. Make use of in-platform customization whenever possible: move to extension and custom development only if necessary There are three pillars of collaboration platform development: customization, extension and custom development. Customization refers to carrying out in-platform tweaks in order to meet business requirements. This usually involves making changes to platform control panels. Most platforms give administrators the ability to make a large number of customizations natively: take advantage of easy-to-use customization by training team leads to make their own tweaks. Extension uses 3rd party software to augment the capabilities of the collaboration platform: for example, SharePoint plug-ins. Custom development involves writing specialized code to enable required platform functionality. Custom development can be used to permit special integration between the platform and applications that do not have a native (or 3rd party) integration bridge. Custom development is expensive and labor-intensive: use it only as a last resort when required functionality can’t be achieved via customization or extension. Overview of development options: Avoid custom development whenever possible. If the required functionality can be achieved in-platform, custom development is a waste of time and money. For more information on SharePoint-specific deployments, see Info-Tech’s solution set, Manage a SharePoint Customization & Development Team.

73. Defining points of integration between the collaboration platform and other applications drives adoption and success Collaboration platforms offer powerful tools, but organizations that integrate them with other technology services and applications are likely to realize better end user adoption, more efficient workflows, and superior realization of business value. Points-of-integrationare the junctions between the collaboration platform and other enterprise applications or platforms. Many popular collaboration platforms offer native points-of-integration with popular enterprise software, while other points-of-integration may need to be enabled through 3rd party add-ons or custom development. There are three categories that should be considered for integration with the collaboration platform: Client integration Mobile integration Directory services integration Usage improves by 3% for each point of integration High (80%) Collaboration Usage Establishing and enabling points-of-integration will drive business value by enhancing both the effectiveness and the efficiency of the collaboration platform. Organizations must prioritize points-of-integration by targeting applications/platforms that are most commonly used in project workflows. Low (40%) Source: Info-Tech Research Group, N = 79 Number of Points of Integration

74. The collaboration platform should be integrated with e-mail, browsers, and common enterprise productivity applications Collaboration platforms must be integrated with common enterprise applications – particularly those that are used “in the flow” (as part of capturing knowledge during project workflows). Client integration encompasses applications like browsers, e-mail, instant messaging and office productivity suites. End users should have one-click functionality for sending content in an application into the collaboration platform. Some platforms permit e-mail integration by providing an address that all project-related material can be CC’d on. Most collaboration vendors also permit in-platform integration with productivity suites like Microsoft Office. Common in-platform integration permits library version control within productivity applications. Enable this integration to save team members time and effort. Web Browser E-Mail Point-of-integration Point-of-integration Example of Client Integration: SharePoint 2010 offers native integration with Microsoft Outlook. Information such as contact lists, calendars and tasks can be synchronized between the two: See this SP resource. Collaboration Platform Point-of-integration Point-of-integration Client integration enables contextual collaboration for ad-hoc purposes. Knowledge workers should be able to easily synchronize content created in productivity applications with the information contained in collaboration platforms, as well as quickly send content from e-mail and the web into the platform. Instant Messaging Productivity Software

75. Directory services integration is where users meet withaccess control restrictions Directory services integration is a key requirement in the selection of a collaboration platform. Without it, you have no way to apply access controls to sites or content. Directory services groups must be defined to correspond to collaboration user groups used in solution design. Permanent groups like departments or teams are a given. But other directory groups may be needed for project teams. Advanced integration directory services can support the use of digital signatures and/or user-level encryption of content in collaboration solutions. Directory services integration with collaboration platforms is not just an IT implementation task. Business analysts must consider directory services implications during collaboration solution design and initiate change requests as needed to support collaboration solutions.

76. Mobile is huge: integrate your collaboration platform with mobile devices to meet the needs of the “on-the-go” worker Integrating your collaboration platform with mobile devices is a necessity in today’s wireless world. Many knowledge workers expect to receive on-demand mobile access to collaboration resources. During vendor selection, priority should be given to those platforms that offer native mobile access (i.e. via a dedicated app). Integration with mobile devices will vary depending on the mobile platform involved. Integration is typically easier for organizations that have standardized on a single mobile operating system (i.e. Blackberry or iOS). If the collaboration platform does not offer a native application for your mobile OS of choice, it may still be possible to access collaboration resources through a mobile browser like Safari. Cloud-based platforms can usually be accessed directly via the mobile browser. For on-premise platforms that are behind the corporate firewall, employees’ smartphones may need to be configured to use a VPN to access collaboration portals and team sites. Paths to mobile integration: Collaboration Platform: Cloud-Based On-Premise VPN Mobile integration isn’t just about initial deployment of collaboration systems to mobile devices for content consumption. Smartphones and tablets with photo/video capabilities will enable mobile devices to contribute content to collaboration systems. Keep this in mind when designing collaboration solutions. Mobile Browser Mobile Application End Users

78. Information structure: for example, how should metadata be used?

79. Social tools: How should they be used? What information should appear on employee profile pages?

80. Records retention: Define records and required policies around retention.

81. Content audit: Determine frequency and type.

82. Creating new sub-sites: Determine site ownership, security, database administration, and navigation.

83. Security: Plan in design phase, communicate with users to determine appropriate access

84. Branding: Use standards, consider co-branding and differences from external branding

86. Identify business unit power users & bring them on-board to serve as collaboration evangelists in order to drive adoption End user adoption of the collaboration platform is critical for realizing business value. During the pilot project(s) and initial rollout, identify and train power users who can serve as collaboration evangelists. These users should be knowledge workers who are comfortable with collaboration technologies and demonstrate fluency with newer, social tools. The ideal collaboration evangelists are influential team leads who can get their persistent teams excited about the collaboration platform. Users with a track record of exerting peer-influence also make good candidates. End users who assisted with the solution design process for persistent teams should be “called back” to gauge their interest in being collaboration evangelists. These individuals should be rewarded in some fashion (i.e. small bonus) for being on-board. Collaboration evangelists must drive user adoption by proving business value of collaboration solutions and by providing peer-to-peer training. It is very important to find champions in each department. [IT] can really turn a lot of people off because we’re always the people trying to push new things, and they think of it like extra work. If you can get someone else to actually use [the collaboration solution], get them to be the champion, and you just support them, it’s a much easier integration. - Paula Habas, Manager, IS, Professional Engineers Ontario Gathering a group of evangelists, ideally one in each department, will help significantly with all stages of collaboration implementation - from initial training, to ad hoc problem solving, to promoting usage. However, do not force anyone to help in this capacity, ensure it is voluntary, or you’ll send the wrong message.

87. Finally, roll out the platform to knowledge workers across the enterprise & begin the process of ongoing solution design After pilot projects have been wrapped up and iterative changes made to the platform, the final step in the initial deployment is to officially roll the platform out across the enterprise. Two elements should comprise the enterprise rollout: deployment of “my sites” (employee profile pages and activity feed aggregators, as well as other social tools like employee microblogs) and the solutions for persistent teams (some of these solutions were probably piloted… now is the time to roll out the rest). Don’t be shy… the enterprise platform rollout should be accompanied by a great deal of fanfare. Hold staggered department meetings to introduce end users to the platform – this should include a statement of purpose, preliminary training on basic functionality and highlighting some of the ways the platform will make users’ lives easier. With the enterprise-wide rollout, initial deployment is complete – but IT’s job does not end here – prepare to assist the business with ongoing solution design. Proceed to Ongoing Solution Design

88. Section 3: Create Ongoing Collaboration Solutions Build a Strategy for Collaboration Implementation Deploy a Collaboration Platform Create Ongoing Collaboration Solutions Optimize the Collaboration Environment After the platform has been deployed, organizations need to create ongoing collaboration solutions that meet the needs of persistent and ad-hoc teams. Collaboration solutions are created by pattern matching: aligning the right tools with specific collaboration patterns. Organizations should have a full-time role assigned to ongoing solution design, for example, a collaboration business analyst. Build a library of patterns for common and repeatable collaboration solutions.

89. The collaboration platform cannot just be handed off to the business: IT must be involved with ongoing solution design The mindset that the collaboration platform is “the business’ problem” after it has been deployed is a dangerous one. Although some solutions will have been rolled out along with the platform (i.e. for persistent teams), ongoing solution design is a necessity to meet the needs of ad-hoc teams (e.g.cross-functional project teams). The business cannot handle ongoing solution design on its own: IT must take an active role in helping with collaboration pattern matching. Info-Tech Insight In order for both groups (the business and IT) to succeed with solution design, everyone needs to be kept in in the loop throughout all steps of the implementation. The business and IT must work in lock-step in a tightly coupled development model. IT can’t simply take the requirements and disappear for a week – communication is critical to ensure solutions meet team needs. There is a certain “give and take” between IT and the business when it comes to ongoing solution design: The business must identify their specific collaboration patterns. If IT becomes the champion, you run the risk of people saying, “it’s just another IT project”. They wonder what the new technology will do for them. I now have five or six people who have been willing to champion areas within different departments... They are doing Webinars and seminars and people are more open to it because IT isn’t promoting it. Now, others are seeing their colleagues becoming efficient in certain areas, and they’re asking about when they can get this technology and training. - Paula Habas, Manager, IS, Professional Engineers Ontario Then, the business needs to go to the IT department to help them match the collaboration pattern with the appropriate tools available in the platform The IT department carries out the implementation.

90. When possible, provide a dedicated resource for solution design – consider hiring a Collaboration Business Analyst Adding 1 FTE improves usage by about 4%. Bridge the gap between the business and IT The Collaboration Business Analyst (CBA) will: Design technology solutions to enable business collaboration requirements and processes. Engage with project managers and project sponsors to develop project scope and vision for all collaboration-related projects. Assist in conducting research on collaboration software and hardware products to meet agreed upon requirements and to support purchasing efforts. Identify and establish scope and parameters of requirements analysis on a project-by-project basis to define project impact, outcome criteria, and metrics. Usage % See slide 38 for a link to the full Collaboration Business Analyst Job Description Dedicated FTE’s Source: Info-Tech Research Group, N = 70 As a business analyst, it’s really best to be cross-trained. You have to be cognizant not only of what’s going on with the IT solution, but also what’s going on across the business and the different pressures they’re being put under. So, it’s really about keeping up with the underbelly of the company, being that ‘elevator staff’ member who is able to go up and down as you need to, at the right level. That’s what a business analyst has to be able to do. - Steven Spencer, Manager, Ardenwood Consultants

91. The CBA will be most successful if they have a strong business background, coupled with IT knowledge Survey respondents were asked to rate the importance of certain CBA skills on a scale of 1 (not important) to 6 (very important). It is clear that while the role resides in IT, there is a heavy weight on business knowledge and understanding of pattern matching; ensure you hire a CBA with these skills. Recognizing that hiring a new FTE may not be feasible for small organizations (or those with a hiring freeze), there are alternative options: Add some CBA responsibilities to anyone serving in a generic IT business analyst role. Hire a contractor to get the solution deployed, and have them train an existing resource on ongoing solution design. Add some CBA responsibilities to individuals in other departments, i.e. Communications, or HR. 87% of respondents said understanding business requirements was 5 or 6. Only 31% of respondents said applications development skills are 5 or 6 on a scale of not important to very important. How much will it cost to hire a full time CBA? Business Analyst salaries range quite drastically depending on skill level and qualifications, however expect to pay anywhere from $50,000 – $70,000 to fulfill the job description on the next slide. Business Analyst, IT Median Salary Range C$51,217 – C$69,615 1 = not important 6 = very important $69,615 $59,975 $51,217 Application Development skills Collaboration Tool Knowledge Mapping appropriate tech services to business patterns Understanding Business Requirements Low Typical High N = 69 Source: Payscale.com

92. Use Info-Tech’s Collaboration Business Analyst Job Description to find the right candidate Click here to access the full Collaboration Business Analyst Job Description. Different organizations function in different ways; sometimes the Collaboration Specialist sits in a different department. Portions of this job descriptions can be used for roles in other departments as well. We didn’t have a Business Analyst available for the intranet project; however, we have an Internal Communications Manager, who is the advocate for internal collaboration. This person sits outside the Information Technology department and is specifically spearheading our intranet project. She is driving it, and we’re essentially responding to what the end user interests are. Though she doesn’t sit in IT, there’s definitely more benefit than challenges. I think that the only challenge is that we really don’t know where she stops and we start. However, I think that will become clear as we continue to develop our intranet. - Brent Maher, VP – Core Infrastructure & Collaboration, Johnson Financial Group Info-Tech has 155 ready-to-use Job Descriptions located on our Website. They can be downloaded and altered to fit your organization.

93. After designating responsibility for ongoing solution design, the next step is to build solutions via pattern matching The Fundamental Collaboration Equation: Collaboration solutions are created by matching the right tool with the appropriate pattern. Collaboration tools: tools are the technology services that enable employee-to-employee collaboration, both directly and around business artifacts like documents. Most collaboration platforms offer a variety of tools, both traditional (i.e. content management) and social (i.e. peer-to-peer). Collaboration patterns:patterns are recurring interactions that dictate how E2E collaboration takes place. There are many patterns, but some are more common than others. Three of the most common high-level employee collaboration patterns are meetings, content creation, and content consumption. Patterns can be synchronousor asynchronous. Pattern matchinginvolves identifying a natural fit between patterns and tools, and then enabling team collaboration by using the applicable tools and technology services. The solution to enabling team collaboration is combining the right collaboration tool with the applicable collaboration pattern. Three Overarching Collaboration Patterns: Ongoing solution design makes use of pattern matching in order to address the requirements of ad-hoc teams and provide a means for contextual collaboration. There are three steps to pattern matching: identifying and understanding tools, identifying and understanding patterns, and execution of the matching. Employee-to-Employee collaboration typically takes place in three contexts: meetings, content creation, and content consumption. We’ll examine each in turn.

95. Collaboration platforms offer a diverse subset of individual tools. These tools can be broadly classified as traditional or social collaboration tools.

96. Traditional tools focus on features that permit real-time communication or content management (library services) .

97. Social tools borrow functionality from consumer social media and apply it to the enterprise – for example, employee activity feeds and microblogs.

98. Match tools with patterns by identifying complimentary aspects between the technology and the collaboration patterns.

101. Many different meeting types can exist within an organization:

102. Team Meetings

103. Department Meetings

104. Training Sessions

105. 1-on-1 Meetings

106. Client Meetings

107. The key requirements of meeting patterns are:

108. Note taking (whiteboard, personal)

109. Decision making/voting

110. Document/application sharing

111. Action (follow-up) item tracking

112. Shared document library

113. Audio (unless collocated)

114. Video (unless collocated)

115. Vertical industry or compliance requirementsTwo types of meetings: Physical Meeting (i.e. face-to-face) Virtual Meeting (mediated by technology) Web Conferencing Screenshot. Source: Adobe Systems, Inc.

116. The Publishing Pattern: Employee-generated content is king One of the hallmarks of Web 2.0 is the lowering and removal of barriers to internal content creation. This enables efficient content creation by employees instead of relying on older, centralized content publishing paradigms only. Modern social collaboration tools enable employees and teams to create their own syndication feeds from what they create. Social collaboration tools like blogs, micro-blogs, and wikis make it easy for employees to become internal publishers, ensuring information is fresher and more up to date. Employee generated video is one of the fastest growing forms of employee-generated internal content, enabled by high quality laptop cameras and microphones becoming a commodity hardware feature. Process-driven publishing is not dead, but process is no longer a barrier. Socialtext Signals is a popular microblogging application that employees can use to quickly generate content: Web 2.0 technologies have socialized content by enabling employee-generated content production and publishing. This doesn’t replace process-oriented publishing, but rather enables employees to publish less formal and fresher content updates in shorter time frames. As a result, the time-value of information is greatly increased.

117. The Consumption Pattern: Finding knowledge and expertise is a required activity for every project team Salesforce.com’s Chatter enables subscriptions to employee, document, and CRM activity with content and employee profile search capability. Finding information and expertise within the enterprise that may be useful to other employees and teams used to be painful and less than productive. This inefficient method relied on: Project managers remaining apprised of what each other’s projects were, with or without a formal PMO. Managers remaining apprised of every other activity going on in the department, trying to connect complementary efforts. Gurus and subject matter experts (SMEs) being exposed to the rest of the enterprise as experts in their areas via arcane HR employee profiles which were chronically in need of updating. Intranet search engines that got turned on and never touched afterwards, configured to be everything to everyone and ending up being useless to everyone. Now that common employee and team activities are exposed socially as “feeds,” the same social collaboration tools enable employees to create their own list of which feeds to regularly monitor and enable searching of feeds, and employee profiles (expertise). Source: Salesforce.com

118. After understanding the platform’s tools & identifying the collaboration pattern, match using specific requirements The final stage after identifying tools and patterns is to actually create a match between the two. Collaboration patterns help drive specific requirements – for example, a synchronous, distributed team meeting around content creation may require the ability for all team members to share content from their computers. Based on this requirement, there are several possible tools that could be selected – the tool that should be selected is the one that meets the business requirement in the most efficient manner possible. In the above example, e-mail could be an option – but e-mail is an asynchronous tool (i.e. it is not in real time). Although e-mail might get the job done, there is clearly a mismatch between the asynchronous tool and the synchronous collaboration pattern (i.e. a live team meeting). In this instance, it’s obvious that a synchronous tool such as web conferencing provides a more effective and efficient means for satisfying the business requirements present in the collaboration pattern. Collaboration Tool Selection Business Requirements Collaboration Pattern Collaboration patterns drive specific business requirements, which in turn drive tool selection.

119. Example: Collaboration Pattern Matching for a meeting at a mid-sized biotech organization Requirements for this meeting: Generic collaboration pattern: meeting. Specific collaboration pattern: department meeting at a mid-sized biotechnology company. Explanation: the research and development department at a biotech company is having its monthly meeting. Although most employees are geographically co-located, there are two branch offices and several remote employees who also need to be kept in the loop. After defining the pattern, it’s important to enumerate the requirements for this meeting. Managers created the list on the right as the minimum requirements needed for the meeting.

120. After requirements have been drafted, match the collaboration technologies to each individual requirement Telephone Wikis Instrument the Pattern with Technology, Requirement by Requirement E-Mail Internal Blogging Content Management Internal Microblogging Requirement: Employees will be located in different places. Discussion Forums Employee Profiles Instant Messaging Employee Activity Feeds Rationale: The best technology to connect employees located in different places is web conferencing. Web conferencing enables application and screen sharing, white boarding, chat, and IP-based voice and video. Web Conferencing Social Tagging Video Conferencing Employee-Generated Videos

121. Pattern matching (continued) Telephone Wikis E-Mail Internal Blogging Content Management Internal Microblogging Requirement: Content will be shared among attendees. Discussion Forums Employee Profiles Instant Messaging Employee Activity Feeds Rationale: Web conferencing is the most effective technology for sharing content live during a meeting. Participants can view shared workspaces and presentations in real time (without having to worry about being on the right slide, as would happen with an e-mailed document). Web Conferencing Social Tagging Video Conferencing Employee-Generated Videos

122. Pattern matching (continued) Telephone Wikis E-Mail Internal Blogging Content Management Internal Microblogging Requirement: Notes, past and present, must be accessible to employees at all times. Discussion Forums Employee Profiles Instant Messaging Rationale: Uploading minutes and documents from past meetings to a content management platform (i.e. SharePoint) allows users rapid access to the files they need. Version control and permissions prevent users from making unauthorized or haphazard changes. Employee Activity Feeds Web Conferencing Social Tagging Video Conferencing Employee-Generated Videos

123. Pattern matching (continued) Telephone Wikis E-Mail Internal Blogging Content Management Internal Microblogging Requirement: Department highlights are shared with other departments. Discussion Forums Employee Profiles Instant Messaging Employee Activity Feeds Rationale: Internal blogging and uploaded video of the meeting allows other departments (i.e. marketing or sales) to learn about developments that occurred during the meeting at their leisure. Video summaries are also popular for inter-department and project updates. Remember, video can be a talking head but it can also be a series of slides or images with a spoken soundtrack. Web Conferencing Social Tagging Video Conferencing Employee-Generated Videos

124. Pattern matching (continued) Telephone Wikis E-Mail Internal Blogging Content Management Internal Microblogging Requirement: Voice communication is required, video is not. Discussion Forums Employee Profiles Instant Messaging Employee Activity Feeds Rationale: Telephony and web-based conferencing both satisfy the requirement for voice communication, through PSTN and VoIP respectively. Depending on the protocol and client, it’s possible that IM could also be used (some instant messaging services also support voice and even video). Web Conferencing Social Tagging Video Conferencing Employee-Generated Videos

125. Put it all together to create the solution Telephone E-Mail Content Management Discussion Forums Instant Messaging Web Conferencing Video Conferencing Collaboration Solution for Department Meetings

127. Pattern matching is an especially useful methodology for IT groups responsible for managing collaboration platforms on a permanent basis, such as MS SharePoint.

128. You can’t just turn end users loose on SharePoint. SharePoint sites require solution design just like any other collaborative applications.

130. Optimize people & processes to gain the maximum return from your collaboration platform In addition to platform deployment and ongoing solution design, organizations must optimize people and processes in order to get the most business value out of employee-to-employee collaboration. Like any enterprise platform, end user adoption is critical for success. Users that are inadequately trained on a platform will be unlikely to use it. Carry out formal training sessions and use collaboration evangelists (power users) to drive familiarity and proficiency with the collaboration platform. Don’t just train users around the platform: also train them on the collaboration solution (how to effectively pair technologies with specific collaboration patterns). Users must be aware of how exactly the collaboration solution fits into team workflows. Optimize processes by carrying out process analysis and identifying points of contextual collaboration where the platform should be utilized. Expanding the number of ways that the platform can be used to enable more efficient knowledge-sharing and team productivity Despite the importance of collaboration, less than a quarter of organizations report high levels of usage. No usage 3% Successful platforms are characterized by high levels of adoption. High Usage 23% Minimal Usage 27% Moderate Usage 48% Source: Info-Tech Research Group, 2011, N = 79

132. Survey users at the beginning, middle and end. See the appendixfor survey questions.

137. Create opportunities for face-to-face information training (e.g. Lunch and learns)

138. Plan for renewal training which shares group best practices with the enterprise

139. Perform periodic audits to discover what features aren’t being utilized and which are being utilized correctlyWe continue to have monthly live training sessions to allow for a refresh as well as to train new associates. Attendance has been consistent, so we continue to do them. We plan to look into features that are under-utilized after the platform has been in use for about 6 months and then train on those features. - Brent Maher, VP, JFG

143. Have one per department, tailored to that department.Minimum Manuals

145. 10–15 per session

146. keep #s low to allow for 1-on-1 help

147. In-person or via web-conferencing

148. Structured format

149. Informal, online forum for people to ask colleagues or IT questions, start discussion groups etc.

152. Should be informal and allow lots of time for questions

153. 15 -30 mins, depending on feature complexity

159. Utilize the “review” function to leave comments for other team members .

161. Project spaces can be ad hoc or formal, new spaces can be created and removed quickly.

163. keep a micro-blog of recent activities or announcementsEmployee Activity Feed Source: Microsoft

165. Issues and anticipated challenges with collaboration front-end, support model, back-end functionality, and governance policies.

166. Project recommendations and next steps.Developing a collaboration strategy does not end when it is documented. Modify your strategy annually to make sure you’re getting this most from your collaboration solution.

167. Summary Separate the implementation into two phases: initial platform deployment and ongoing solution design. Plan and budget for both – failure to do so will result in cost overruns and a lack of collaboration business value. IT must lead the charge for initial platform deployment. Create solutions for permanent teams, then proceed with designing the front and back ends and establishing a maintenance model. Run one or more pilot projects with the platform before going ahead with an enterprise-wide rollout in order to debug potential problems. Establish “collaboration evangelists” to help drive awareness and familiarity with the platform. Establish a permanent role for a collaboration business analyst. If hiring restrictions are present, diffuse this role across existing staff. The collaboration business analyst serves as a bridge between IT and the business; the analyst assists permanent and ad-hoc teams with ongoing solution design. Pattern matching is the cornerstone of ongoing solution design. Pair the platform’s collaboration tools with the collaboration patterns that are present in the enterprise. Optimize the platform by providing ongoing training to end users. Training should be held on not just the platform, but also the solutions themselves. Secure the support of prominent senior executives – having a champion for collaboration is extremely valuable. Carry out an annual audit on the platform to identify and correct weaknesses, and highlight areas of opportunity.

168. Appendix

169. Survey Questions from test with initial users at Johnson Financial Group Please circle your age bracket: 18 – 30 31 – 40 41 – 50 51 – 60+ 2. Please rank the following 3 Microsoft Communicator features (1st Place / 2nd Place / 3rd Place): Instant Messaging ______ Presence ______ Desktop Sharing ______ 3. Please estimate on average how many minutes per DAY that our collaboration platform helps you to save: ______ Examples of time savings might include: receiving an immediate response to a question, alerting an associate without leaving your work area, by knowing when an associate is NOT available, you save time walking to their empty desk and desktop sharing reduces travel to other locations. 4. Do you have prior professional experience with instant messaging? Please circle one. Yes No 5. Please rank the business value this communication tool provides on a scale of 1 (no value) to 5 (excellent value): _______ 6. Please share business uses examples (optional): __________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 7. Additional feedback (optional): _________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________