Collaboration Control

Provides collaboration arenas with a business context and gives business systems support for integrated collaboration tools

Our collaboration arenas need a business context

In most businesses, collaboration platforms and business systems are key IT tools.

In collaboration platforms such as SharePoint, Teams, Slack and Workplace, employees communicate and work together, create content, find and share knowledge and tasks. The content is largely in the form of unstructured data, such as documents, articles and various multimedia content. The work in these platforms is grouped in different collaboration arenas, such as “Customer A”‘s Teams channel, “Project B”‘s SharePoint room, the Slack area for “Product C” or the file area for “Agreements type D” in Dropbox.

In business systems we find the structured data, such as tables for customers and contacts, sales and accounting data, inventory status etc. It is a paradox that in many cases there are no IT connections between the business data and the related work performed in collaboration arenas in the collaboration platforms. 

Fantastic collaboration tools, but we are drowning in information

The use of modern collaboration platforms is spreading, and more and more information is being created. This is all well and good, but over time we experience that we are drowning in information: We struggle to find relevant information, even though it is probably found somewhere on one of the company’s collaboration solutions in one of many hundreds, not to mention thousands of different collaboration arenas. Every day, employees experience searching for information, in a number of different tools. We look for project descriptions, contracts, customer plans, product information, routine descriptions, we try to find an important e-mail, we do not remember where the chat message with the important link was posted, we do not find the meeting minutes, etc. This is not only frustrating for the individual, but it also has a cost and provides increased business risk.

 

Lack of overview and control results in lost productivity and increased risk

The lack of overview and control over the information in our interaction arenas results in lost productivity and increased risk for the business. A lot of time is spent finding or recreating information. The lost information can also be business critical and can expose the business to legal risk and increased costs. Documents may, for example, contain personal information that requires it to be deleted after a certain period of time, where breaches of the guidelines may result in loss of reputation and sanction costs. It is not only formal contracts that are important to preserve, a meeting minutes or an e-mail approval can also be business critical. Without control and overview of the content, it is very difficult to have good access control; people who should have access do not have it – and cannot find the information, while others have retained access to content they should no longer have.

Many collaboration solutions are not optimally utilized, since the creation of a new arena takes place ad-hoc, without control and system support. Not only are good descriptions and links to relevant business data and business process often lacking, the work surface itself is not adapted to the work task, and each arena is either adapted manually and differently, or not adapted at all.

 

Collaboration takes place in a business context

When we collaborate, this happens in a business context, such as collaboration on a case, a customer or a supplier, in connection with the implementation of a project, activities related to a department, product and service development or other business processes. It will therefore be natural to be able to connect collaboration arenas to relevant business contexts, and in a similar way be able to easily see or create a suitable collaboration arena directly from their business context (for example from the customer record in a CRM or ERP system).

Collaboration Control fills the gap between the collaboration solutions and the business systems

Collaboration Control ensures that the collaboration arenas have a business context and makes it possible to find and create suitable collaboration arenas directly from the business systems.

Create suitable collaboration arenas directly from the business systems

With Collaboration Control, collaboration arenas can be created directly from the business systems – in a business context. This can be done fully automatically, for example when a new entry has been created or given a new status.

It can be done semi-automatically, where the user initiates the process from a business system record, and can then make their own configuration choices, such as selecting desired template, choose a security policy, etc.

Collaboration arenas can also be created from a stand-alone “App” without being part of a business system, but will also be able to utilize the corporate master data, and connect to these.

 

Lifecycle management

 

A major challenge with today’s detached collaboration arenas is the lack of lifecycle management. Some organizations try to handle this by having owners regularly having to confirm that an arena is in use, otherwise it will be deleted. This is a dangerous strategy, because the owner may have left the organization or might not respond. Similarly, an older arena that has not been used for a while may still contain critical information that may be needed later. It is therefore much better to have control over the lifecycle through the link to the business data. For example, if the collaboration arena contains delivery or project documentation, automation can be created that handles these in relation to requirements for storage in relation to the time of delivery. For example, after 3 years, the content in such arenas can be automatically “compressed” and stored on an affordable archiving infrastructure. Then, after another 3 years, it is automatically deleted. Similarly, files with personal data can be automatically deleted when it is flagged from the business system that the information is no longer needed.

Templates provide more effective collaboration arenas

Many collaboration platforms support the use of templates and can be programmatically configured. With Collaboration Control, such template support can be leveraged so that created collaboration arenas are automatically configured with the correct template and other settings. The collaboration arena is therefore better adapted to the work in hand. Arenas of the same type get a uniform and predictable look and feel, which in turn results in more satisfied and productive users. When using templates, combined with a connection to the business context, arenas can have built-in functionality for automation – for example digital signing directly from the documents in the collaboration arena.

Quicker automation at a lower cost 


If we know the business context of the content in a collaboration arena, there are few limits to automation. For example, it will be much easier and faster to implement digital signing and solutions for automated document flow and task sharing when we in the collaboration arena already know the business context.

Business context is displayed in the collaboration arenas and connected arenas are shown in the business context

When a collaboration arena is connected to a business context, updated and relevant information from the business system can be displayed in the collaboration arena.

This is from a “bidroom” in SharePoint where documentation is produced for one or more related Opportunities. The status and link to the relevant Opportunities are displayed here.

 

Example: This is from an Opportunity in the CRM solution with a link to the bidroom.

Supports already market-leading collaboration platforms – and easy to create support for others

Links have already been made for the market’s leading collaboration platforms such as Teams and SharePoint, Slack, Workplace, Box, Google Drive and Dropbox. Other platforms, whether other standard solutions, niche solutions, or customer-specific solutions can be supported by configuring new links.

 

Dynamic, always updated directories

The links that Collaboration Control creates between the collaboration arenas and the business context are used as a basis for directory entries. These are dynamic, which means that they are automatically updated in the event of changes in the business data, such as status changes, change of responsible / owner of an information object, change of customer name, etc. It is also possible in the directory to display derived data, like security classification of related content, GDPR/privacy information etc. 

 

Better security and easier administration

By connecting the collaboration arena to a business context, the context can be used to automatically control access and user rights. For example, if the business object is defined as sensitive, only users who have specific roles in the business system to the related data will have access. Access rights can be dynamically updated in the event of changes in the business data. For example, by changing the customers key account manager, a new person can automatically gain rights to the relevant collaboration arenas for that customer. This automation not only provides increased information security, it provides less manual administration of accesses and lower support costs.
 

 

Built on LogIQflow – and can be combined with other solution concepts

Collaboration Control is an application area for LogIQflow, Skyvekraft’s advanced technology platform for digitization of collaborative processes. Security, scaling, performance and flexibility are important features of the solution.

Collaboration Control already has support for market-leading collaboration platforms such as Microsoft SharePoint and Teams, Workplace from Meta/Facebook, Slack, Google Drive, Dropbox and Box. Support can be created efficiently and quickly for new IT-solutions, new integration scenarios and internal IT systems, either cloud- or on-premise based. 

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