Automated and Group Collaboration Software

Automated and Group Collaboration Software

The current military office environment that is worked in can be cut into two sections when talking about office automation and group collaboration tools; the deployed and non-deployed office environment. Each section has its' own unique qualities and usually requires the same technology to operate, but each gets different support based the deployed environment being more of a priority.

To first answer this topic, one must understand that collaborative software is also known as "social software and embraces the communications systems, including e-mail, videoconferencing, instant messaging and chat" (Ziff Davis Media Inc., 2007). The current office, or non-deployed office, has numerous different software programs that bring the employees of different departments and locations together. There are four satellite locations; South Korea, Alaska, Hawaii, and Colorado that are all commanded from the main location in Washington. Each location is outfitted with standard Microsoft Office programs, mIRC, telephones, and video conferencing equipment. Most communication and document exchanges are done on some form of email, which tends to flow smoothly. Meetings are done on video conferencing, with a back-up on teleconferencing. Current calendars are done on Microsoft Excel and task assignments are done through Microsoft Outlook. The current version of Outlook makes it hard to manage large groups of employees on one calendar. The scheduling department struggles with whether to use Excel or Outlook. The push is to move to Office 2007 because of the ability to sync individual calendars with the main calendar. This leaves much of the data input up to the individual users as opposed to one scheduler. The hold up on the changeover to office 2007 is the military's reluctance to move to Microsoft Office 2007, because of the software's lack of backwards compatibility to older versions of Microsoft Office. The chat program mIRC is a good program for communicating back forth, but is very outdated and in need of improvement. There are much better programs on the market that allow for individuals to chat, pass documents, and show individual schedules on one program. The ability to show if you at your desk or away is a valuable tool when management needs to find answers to questions.

Due to the high travel requirements on project and office managers, the non-deployed office is looking to add the Blackberry and other devices that allow project and office managers to conduct office work away from the desk.

An article on computerworld.com argued, "In many ways, computers make collaboration more awkward than we want" (Kay, 2004). Files are stored and filed in email systems as opposed to traditional filing systems. Older Word Processing programs made it difficult to mark up and edit text programs; newer versions have made it easier to edit documents.

The deployed office, or future office, has the same tools as the current office, with a few extra and high-speed additions. Office

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