COLLABORATIVE  COMPUTING

Kenneth Crow
DRM Associates

© 2002 DRM Associates   All rights reserved. May be used with attribution. Other use prohibited.

Collaborative computing technology is used to facilitate communication, share information, and obtain in put and feedback in a timely manner. Properly used, these technologies aid collaboration, and, therefore, speed-up the development process and insure a better product as a result of participation of experts from multiple disciplines.

There are a variety of tools and technologies to facilitate communication and collaboration. Collaboration can happen synchronously where all participants view information and/or meet at the same time or asynchronously where participants view information and provide feedback at different points in time. These tools and technologies include:

• Email exchange of drawings, models and project information (asynchronous)
• Group scheduling and messaging (asynchronous)
• Secure and non-secure instant messaging and chat rooms (synchronous)
• Teleconferencing and videoconferencing (synchronous)
• Web-hosted meetings and presentations (synchronous)
       WebEx, PlaceWare, eZmeetings, and seeUThere
• Project hosting tools to create one pool of all released project documentation with email alerts for updates (asynchronous)
       WebGroups, Groove, eRoom, QuickPlace, 1Workgroup, Evis, and NextPage
• Collaborative project management and project statusing (asyncronous)
       eProject, MS ProjectCentral, TeamPlay Paradigm, and CommonOffice.com
• Drawing viewing sites (intranet and web-based) with view and mark-up capabilities (asynchronous)
• CAD collaboration sessions (synchronous)
• Workflow and groupware software (asynchronous)
• Product data management, product information management, collaborative product commerce (generally asynchronous)

The selection and use of these tools will be based on technology availability and cost; geographic dispersion and related time zone differences; need for access by partners, suppliers and customers; product complexity and degree of technical issues; and other factors.