Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
of information exchange. As bandwidth and technical maturity increase,
these modes are beginning to extend to remote personal interaction
through telepresence and virtual space integration.
This chapter will examine the value of collaborative solutions, as well
as introduce many technologies that are already present and a few that are
currently emerging. While reviewing this information, keep in mind the
groups and roles in your organization. Collaborative technologies provide
a ready means to control, coordinate, communicate, and integrate the
business structure through directed alerts, shared workspaces, and other
modern versions of the gong and banner.
The Value of Communication
Wolves howl in order to coordinate movements of the pack across many
miles of territory while tracking prey. Armies have used complex horn and
drum patterns to control troop movements across similar distances since
King Minos's time. Modern warfare solutions are built atop an interwo-
ven mesh of data collection and information distribution channels, in
order to make better use of communications to direct participants under
the most dire conditions. Fortunately, most organizations will only fight
their battles with business rivals or purely electronic attackers, but the
need for communication and effective information sharing is just as vital
to effective business engagement as for physical conflict.
Communication Systems
Mathematician Robert Metcalfe expressed the value of a communications
network as proportional to the square of the number of users of the sys-
tem. This means that as the number of users increases, the value of the
mechanism for communication increases significantly (see Figure 6.1).
David Reed extended Metcalfe's law to include social networks, not-
ing that the value of a social network contains all possible channels of
communication for the primary group as well as those present within
each possible subgroup. This value is the foundation for social network-
ing sites such as Facebook and MySpace—the more connections that can
be expressed in a social network, the greater will be the level of commu-
nication and community that results from participation.
