Is Technology-Aligned Classification Appropriate?
How should we classify the tools? Do we use traditional IT terms, eg, messaging, VoIP, real-time and non-real time, file sharing? This classification is okay for IT understanding how to manage the tools, but it doesn’t work for end users because the terms don’t align with the problems they face on a day-to-day basis. Another issue is how to align a technology within the classification to the actual business problem faced by a team? Larry’s proposal: to use a new approach to collaboration tools, that is understandable by both IT and the end users. The IT department needs to view itself as the owner of the application, not just the operator. Collaboration in the Business Process Since collaboration tools are still immature, we need a framework that links business goals to the technology that is deployed. Larry’s proposed framework is shown in the diagram below. The essential idea is that business goals and objectives drive a series of business processes, which generate tasks for people t
