The People Part of Enterprise Collaboration and Virtual Teams

• Factors Affecting KM … Shawn lists 7 key factors that affect knowledge management in organizations: (1) executive support, (2) technology, (3) organization and people, (4) routines, rituals and recognition, (5) information management, (6) external drivers, and (7) the spatial arrangement of people and workplaces. Anecdote
• KM at Caterpillar … Sarah reports on the KM work at Caterpillar, with a focus on its home-grown knowledge sharing network: the five components (eg, communities of practice, lessons learned), realized benefits (eg, faster resolution of issues), and best practice ideas for other companies wanting to do the same. ManageSmarter
• Conflict in Virtual Teams … Sujatha asks for input on the top conflict areas in virtual teams, and what to do about it. There are 9 reactions so far. LinkedIn
• Teamwork Excellence … Primer on excellence in teamwork situations for high-performance teaming. ThomasNet

The Technology Trends of Enterprise Collaboration and Virtual Teams

• New Features in iCal … iCal in Leopard includes 12 new features, including delegation, CalDAV group scheduling, and equipment and room reservations, among others. Apple (hat tip, CalendarReview)
• Lookout Acquired RSSCalendar … Lookout Software announced the acquisition of RSSCalendar. “We are happy to announce that Lookout Software has acquired RSSCalendar. While we will be developing a more powerful commercial application based on the RSSCalendar platform, we will continue to offer the consumer-oriented version of RSSCalendar, as you know it now, free of charge.” Lookout Software
• On UC … Mike analyzes the need for unified communications technology. “I have talked to a lot of organizations over the decade-plus that I’ve been an analyst (literally thousands) and I can tell you quite clearly that the productivity hit on workers as they spend an inordinate amount of time triaging e-mail, voice mail, and other communication channels is enormous. It is made far worse when the tools are fragmented which causes the archival and records management (sometimes driven by compliance) far more complicated and costly. Adoption of a platform approach towards communications has obvious benefits.” Mike Gotta
• Coveo Enterprise Search 5.0 … Coveo released Version 5 of its enterprise search platform, which features special capabilities for SharePoint. Connectivity with additional data sources is a key addition: “Coveo continues to expand the free library of powerful connectors that expand the flexibility of CES by allowing businesses to index content from the most commonly used enterprise repositories including Salesforce.com, Microsoft Exchange, Documentum and Symantec Enterprise Vault. With API connectivity to Google OneBox for Enterprise, users can also obtain federated query results from content in enterprise repositories and business applications, such as SAP, Cognos and Business Objects.” Coveo
• RIM in China … RIM announced a partnership with Alcatel-Lucent for the distribution of RIM devices in China. “The announcement coincides with the first shipment of smartphones to distribution networks in China and availability for Chinese enterprise customers in key markets is expected to begin later this year. Alcatel-Lucent achieved certification of the 8700 model for the Chinese market through partnership with TCL Communications, a major mobile device manufacturer in China that holds the Alcatel brand for mobile handsets. RIM and TCL Communications are showcasing BlackBerry smartphones at the PT EXPO COMM CHINA 2007 show in Beijing this week.” RIM

Other Noteworthy Insights
Eric’s off to the Philippines next month to present a conference. He was written up in a local online newspaper. Cool.
Slide shows by Post-It Notes. Wow.
“Corporate PCs” to disappear?
Larry wants files to disappear too.