Content Management Colliding with Collaboration

"Further," Yankee predicted, "businesses will become increasingly desperate to use the e-mail client as the common interface into other applications and as a framework for enhanced collaboration. Recognizing e-mail is the most widely used communications application, vendors such as Kubi Software are building collaboration directly into the client."

Among the consultancy's recommendations for enterprise, Yankee asserted that enterprises must identify existing use of collaborative applications. "As the survey data shows, there is a significant amount of content in today's businesses generated by collaborative applications. Unless this content is effectively managed, it will lose its value and eventually become an obstacle to productivity," Yankee wrote.

In addition, enterprises must determine what groups require collaboration and then select tools that will cause the least disturbance to existing internal processes, Yankee concluded.