Groupware enablers and business solutions

It is pointed out that leveraging information technology to support effective teamwork and collaboration is a critical challenge for organizations as businesses become increasingly global. The authors describe their efforts to integrate electronic meeting rooms, the Capture Labs, with business applications and enterprise-wide groupware to enhance and transform face-to-face and distributed collaboration. They first discuss the nature of the collaboration challenge and the potential of collaborative technology. They then describe the technical infrastructure for collaborative work that the Capture Labs provide. They focus on two business applications, process modeling and strategic planning, to illustrate how collaborative technology provides a new paradigm for solving business problems. They also share their experiences using enterprise-wide groupware to support distributed meetings and ad hoc teams.<>