Enterprise Collaboration Software Trends to Look Out for in 2017
2016 proved to be a big year for emerging trends in enterprise collaboration software. Indeed, many companies benefitted from the way that new and better options to work together reached the market last year.
There are some trends that have been around and will surely continue to be in 2017. However, it is certainly possible that 2017 sees even greater and more exciting advances. Your collaboration with colleagues will be simpler and more enjoyable. The following are some of the possible advances in enterprise collaboration software that could come to the fore next year.
Real-Time Collaboration
The need for real-time collaboration software is something that is likely to keep on growing this year. This is partly due to the increase in globally dispersed teams, with home-working and the use of remote freelancers. The situation is leading to a greater need for easy enterprise communication and collaboration solutions.
This advance could take the shape of workflow software, video conferencing and other ways of helping people to work together whenever they need to share ideas. The most important issue is that the whole team can get together quickly and efficiently no matter where they are.
With the benefits of real-time enterprise collaboration it will be possible to advance new projects more quickly and to clear up potential roadblocks as soon as they arise.
Even More Mobile Options
It is now common for a team of workers to each go into the office using their own mobile devices. This means that new software has to work well across a wide variety of devices and give true integration.
Businesses also need to consider options such as the security of sensitive data in their overall mobile device policy. However, the benefits on offer for enterprises that allow their workers more mobile options far outweigh any difficulties.
Because of this, we can expect to see more options for people looking to use their own phone or tablet as their main working device as part of an overall enterprise collaboration strategy. Of course, this also means that people can get involved in their enterprise content collaboration tasks at any time and from any place in the world too.
People Are Everything
While exciting new software has been making the news in recent years, the focus should really be on the people using it. After all, the best trends in enterprise collaboration software should be about software that helps people work better.
This means that we can expect to see trends in 2017 that help to overcome the things that can stop people from doing their work well. This includes the likes of more intuitive interfaces and integration with the most popular apps.
All of this adds up to mean that teams will now look for a useful enterprise collaboration system that works for them, rather using the one chosen by their company.
Better Integration for Easier Working
For most enterprise companies, flexible solutions are vital if they are going to survive the cut-throat competition around them. This means that they don’t want hugely complex pieces of enterprise collaboration software that make their processes difficult and time-consuming to carry out.
One way in which smart software developers can help enterprise teams to collaborate more easily is by making the integration of different software seamless and intuitive. This means that transferring data from one department to another or switching between tools will become completely hassle-free.
In this way, the end to end processes and enterprise project management tasks that they carry out can become a lot more fluid and natural.
Big Data is Getting Bigger and… Faster
The phrase “big data” has become extremely popular in recent times, and it’s becoming bigger. However, even this point is not so important comparing to the speed. Companies have huge databases, every enterprise team needs to be able to analyse and share a huge amount of data as quickly as is humanly possible.
Even a relatively small improvement in this respect could help the team to work better and to get the upper hand on the competition. As long as the data remains relevant and accurate, a speed boost can work wonders in terms of enterprise project management software.
Those companies that don’t upgrade to faster data systems could find themselves getting left behind by their faster rivals.
Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality
The appearance of virtual and augmented reality software in the last couple of years has been viewed by many in purely an entertainment and gaming context. However, could it also provide an innovative new way for enterprise teams to increase productivity and collaborate more effectively?
Just imagine how much easier it would be to share ideas if you could show your colleagues exactly what you mean using enterprise collaboration tools based around VR and AR? It could make the task of explaining new concepts very simple. You just connect together and walk through the world that you want them to see.
Currently, there appears to be no limit to the thrilling and exciting possibilities offered by virtual and augmented reality. Have you already used your house pictures to look how the sofa from IKEA would fit into your living room? Are your children playing with their favourite cartoon characters made “alive”? It will be fascinating to see in which direction project management enterprise software companies and enterprises are able to take it.
Internet of Things and Moreover Internet of Everything
The Internet of Things and even newest term Internet of Everything are another popular topics just now. How could it be affect trends in enterprise collaboration software in 2017? Well, the essence of this area is the ability to connect devices, processes, data and people over the internet, which could bring massive benefits for many different businesses.
Having devices that can communicate with each other and work together could bring fresh new ways of saving time and money in many tasks. For instance, by letting your devices communicate and work together then you can take a big step towards automating your team’s collaboration tasks.
As with most of the points covered here, there is still a large degree of uncertainty over how this will actually work in the real world, leaving us with a delicious sense of anticipation for the moment.
A Push for Greater Security
These days, there is a massive demand for greater security, as concerns about personal data storage have to be met by software developers. Basically, everyone wants their own personal data to be stored in the country or region where they live.
There are a number of ways of meeting this desire for tighter security in terms of enterprise online tools. One of them is for each developer to maintain servers in the countries where they operate and sell software.
Perhaps a more practical solution in some cases would be for the developer to integrate more tightly with a big, worldwide player like Google.
The Use of Bots
Bots can now be found in many different places. They are used mainly to automate messaging and chat software for the time being. However, there is a good chance that their capability is eventually put to good use in collaboration software too.
Perhaps we will see them used to automate tasks and run parts of the enterprise project management office. Or maybe they even will be able to collaborate with team members when needed. This will allow the process of collaborating to become slicker and less time-consuming
By using bots more widely, this will free up time for creative team members to concentrate on other issues. Bots will get on with their work at the same time.
So, it just remains for us to keep an eye on the hot new trends in enterprise collaboration software as they pop up in 2017. Will there also be others that we haven’t covered here?