Claromentis Intranet & Extranet manager provides several ways to collaborate and share information within an organisation. We have application called ‘Documents’ (Document Management System), ‘Publish’ (Content Management System) ‘Wiki’, and our new member of the family ‘Bookshelf’ (online policies & procedures).

In early phase of intranet deployment we frequently being asked by our clients, “Which tool is the best to share and collaborate a piece of information or should we  just stick with an existing company shared drive?”.

There isn’t one solution to all problems

The good starting point is to be aware of the pros, cons and applicability of individual tool available.  Unfortunately as an Information Architect we always says “There isn’t one solution to all problems”. The idea is by having the right solution (with right technology) to a specific problem, we can make everyone’s lives easier.
Let’s start with…

Shared Drive

Typically before an organisation deploys an intranet they have existing growing unmanageable shared drive(s). Shared drive is relatively easy to setup but it suffers from these issues:

• No version control – You ended up having similar files with version number scripted at the back of the file name for example:  “MyPresentation_ver2.doc” not to mention the frustration of someone overwriting the file you’re currently working on.
• Searching – Does everyone feel that it is easier to search information on the internet than on the share drive?
• Limited Access – When you’re not in the office, say on the road or working from home,  you either have to use slow & complicated VPN software or not having access to the company files at all.
• Security – There is no easy way to setup permission on a shared drive, typically it opens to everyone or if you have permission it’s so complicated to set up and configure.
• Audit - You can’t easily check who did what, when and where.
• Duplication – since a single physical file cannot exist in two places at once, you ended up with duplication everywhere.

Documents – Document Management System

Claromentis document management system is designed to address all of the common issues with company Share Drive. The heart of it is the application called ‘Documetns’ It provides built-in version control, searching & indexing, permission layer, easy access, and many enterprise features.

What are the Cons?

• It is not suitable for managing extremely large files. (Larger than 30Mb)
• Files are kept in native format, which means users need to have the application to open / view and edit the file.  For instance not all users within organisation have AutoCAD software needed to open a *.DWG file.
• Speed to upload and download the file stored in Documents are limited to the speed of your network / internet connection
• Extra steps may be required to edit a file. Typically you have to download it (temporary), make changes and upload them back in, although we have several solutions to make this relatively painless such as webdav.

Publish – Content Management System

Using publish, users with no web publishing skills can collaborate & create web pages easily.

• Better access – Information displayed as web pages are widely accessible. Users don’t have to download the file or installing software to view. They can simply read them online.
• Information Hub – everything can be connected in publish page, link to documents, link to other pages, or links to external website. For example you can create a health & safety page which may have link to ‘health & safety assessment guide.PDF’ which is store in Documents as well as link to HSE websites.
• Mash-ups – Publish allows you can embed rich media such as online videos, podcast, web widgets and much more.
• Enterprise features– Publish has everything you need to manage online content, from built-in version control, security & permission, reminder, audit trails, multi lingual and much more.

It may sound like a good idea to convert all documents into publish pages, but there are several points to consider:

• There is not much point converting complicated document such as spreadsheet into a publish page, you probably better of store them in Documents and just link it from a publish page.
• Content for publish page should be relatively short, concise and to the point. Remember the information is designed to be read on the screen just like web pages.

Wiki

A wiki is designed to enable everyone with fast and volatile collaboration. Claromentis integrates with Media WIKI, one of the most popular open-source wiki software. Wiki focuses on fast and real-time collaboration by minimising complexity in content creation. There are several issues to remember here:

• Wiki tend to have open access for everyone – You have to keep sensitive and proprietary data off the wiki.  Avoid posting sensitive data such as financials.
• Wiki syntax to learn, Wiki may focuses on simplicity but there is whole new syntax to learn. Wiki is typically very popular within IT department but what’s popular in one department may not be suitable others.

Bookshelf

Bookshelf is the application behind Claromentis Quality Manager; it is the latest addition to the information layer suite. Bookshelf is designed specifically for managing Company Policies & Procedures. It allows online procedures creation making sure that there is one version of the truth across entire organisation.

• Bookshelf allows company procedures and policies to be maintained online allowing true collaboration of subject matter expert.
• Once the policies or procedures are created online, it can then be read online or exported in various format such as MS Word and PDF.

Summary

These are just a few of the tools available in Claromentis Framework. There isn’t one perfect solution to all problems but at least you can choose ‘the best kit for the job’.

Any comments and feeback welcomed.

Solutions collaboration, document management, intranet consultancy, intranet software, online collaboration, Prod-Intranet, quality management software

Getting things done

Have you ever get into panic situation where your work is suddenly mounting, you feel worry that things may not get done, or you feel depressed because you know you are about to cause big disappointment for everyone?  Do you feel so much more positive as soon as you write things down on a piece of paper?  There is an old saying; if you share your problem things aren’t so bad as it sounds?

My job role

My role is an information architect (IA). I work daily with our business and technical consultants understanding client’s needs and their business problems. We’re working in a small team brainstorming debating ideas and deciding ‘the best approach’ on a particular issue for a particular client. In the back-end I have a trio: developer, designer and application tester ready to ‘get-on’ with it.

Challenging situation

Recently it has become quite a challenging situation. Amount of work shows no sign of slowing down; at the same time my trio is no longer solid with the departure of one of our team member.  Unfortunately I have to juggle with numerous tasks which require multiple skills.

Claromentis Shared Calendar

One tool which has helped me to get through this (believe it or not) is Claromentis Shared Calendar. We’ve been using Claromentis shared calendar in our Intranet system as our simple team to-do list. Each of us created a calendar, pick a particular colour and we simply share them. I have permission to create events on each calendar which I am using it to set tasks for my team.

We can easily see each other calendar or multiple calendars in one view. A quick access to particular combination can be done with one click URL allowing even quicker access. It solves classic problem knowing who is doing what and when.  Automatic notification is sent to appropriate person when an event is moved or changed which eliminates the need sending separate email around. I can quickly review my team’s workload.

Make sure things are scheduled

The idea is simply to make sure things are scheduled, it only takes me one click to assign task, the same way writing things down on a piece of paper. You can see at glance when things should be done or when you need to chase them. Shared calendar allows me to spread tasks into certain days instead of one big pile long list. A mountain of tasks suddenly becomes more realistic and achievable.

It has become our second nature just to set a task, pick a day when we can do it and you get things done easily. Sometime the best tool is the simplest one, you know it is working well when you don’t even realise it.

Products Claromentis, intranets, online collaboration, Social Networking

It has been fascinating to watch the gradual shift of collaboration platforms over the last 5 or so years in particular, as

• intranet and extranet platforms have evolved
• the world has flattened
• open source has raised the value expectations across all of IT.

These three factors are in my experience combining to create a new agenda for our clients and ourselves.

The previous focus on IT, HR and Marcomms systems that were largely driven by content and obsessed by command and control has been replaced by a new engagement that is refreshing, inspirational and challenging to us all. The legacy remains, and is still valid – but is now a necessary substrate on which true value is built rather than a goal in itself.

At Claromentis we we see in our most engaging clients that are achieving high ROI on their investments a focus on:

• Process Execution
• The extended Enterprise
• Innovation
• Sustainability
• Compliance
• Pure Platforms not vendor products
• Open source extendability for rapid response

This is a space in which Claromentis has been able to gain considerable market share as our major products and PHP based platform is proving an ideal environment for this new way in intranet and extranet deployment.

We are able to foster innovation and facilitate the rapid generation of  highly focussed open source applications within our framework, with the code either the property of our clients or available to all depending on the aims of our customers.

It is an exciting time in our company and we look forward to learning more from our most innovative customers, and to helping them discover new ways to interact and innovate.

Solutions online collaboration, open source

It is a shocking reality, many major corporations still running their entire business on Excel.  Let’s admit it,  Excel is being used on almost anything,  from managing company database, claiming our expenses, accident reporting or perhaps ordering lunch ? Don’t get me wrong Excel is a powerful tool but it gets over-used in business.

Recently one of our clients, a major out-door clothing brand is taking a leap from a tired, out-of-control spreadsheets to a complete web application. We developed a store audit application where a tech rep who visited retail stores can write, and sending an audit report directly to the central database through a web form.  Appropriate finance managers will get notification allowing them to complete the financial details. Data submitted are audited, stored in central database, accessible through corporate Intranet, ready to be extracted by appropriate managers for monthly or quarterly reporting with a simple click.

Now try to get that on Excel !

Products Add new tag, e-forms, internal customer communications, online collaboration, Prod-Intranet, software

Many companies want to embrace Enterprise 2.0, the same spirit that leverage UGC (User Generated Content), but most of them are unsuccessful. The Company Intranet has been seen as a formal platform where the information is coming from top to bottom, approval required type information and majority of staff having ‘read only’ rights. The main question has been how to create a sense of ownership, collaboration, communication,participation, and excitement when the information is majority coming in one-way direction. Let’s admit it top to bottom communication is boring, who wants to read the latest CEO’s deal or corporate press releases and why should they get excited about it?

One of our clients came up with this idea,  a “Community Portal” where information is shared outside a rigid Intranet. An area where all users can create content and mashing up publicly available media such as personal Blog, YouTube Video or Flickr  Photos within “Community Portal” in a corporate Intranet.

The result? Brilliant! Some users are posting YouTube video from their latest field trip, pictures from Flickr album from recent staff weddings, or some charity work they did recently. The staff feel their work is appreciated by getting feedback & comments from others,  and the executive get a glimpse on what their staff have  done in projects and events that really engage them.

It’s far from the anarchy that most management are often concerned about. It’s fun, interesting, and it makes an Intranet a place to visit everyday.

Solutions Claromentis, intranet software, intranets, online collaboration

I posed the question on a Knol by Abigail Lewis-Bowen about the possibility of using Tagged corporate intranet information combined with group or role membership to locate possible mentors within your organization.

The answer was very relevant and can be seen here.

The comment that I find intriguing is the use of activity streams to identify what you really are doing at work, as opposed to what your job title or direct responsibility is. I want to explore this further, as it ties directly into the current vision of Claromentis 6.0 and we have had some interesting debates about this concept – we did not call them ‘activity streams’ but I think the concept is perhaps similar.

With Claromentis 6 we will embrace URL based tagging irrespective of the underlying object. It doesn’t matter if it’s a document, a persons profile, an admin panel, Wiki, web page, customer profile, policy  or anything else. The point is that if that URL has been tagged, you looking at it tells us useful information about your interests and so contributes to your ‘consumer side’ Tag cloud.

The debate we had was that this is not how the wisdom of crowds normally works – that concept of course involves getting participation from the user by some concept of voting, or ‘digging’ – and aggregating votes to rate the article. More popular information sets can then float to the top of searches, or be found be specific questions seeking them out from increasingly massive information stores.

In Claromentis 6 conventional participatory crowd sourcing will be adopted – but in addition we will use the simple viewing of information to reveal something about what you find interesting, and therefore enable you to explore, if you wish, potential relationships with other people across the extended enterprise.

Why?

Because we don’t want to emphasize in the corporate world the fact that some people are just more comfortable spending time to vote, create tags and visibly participate – we want to also just find out what you frequently look at.

I should point out that each of our clients can chose to just turn all this off – this is not Big Brother – it’s a way to try to reveal potentially interesting relationships based on common interest without needing you to take time out to vote on something – just read similar tagged sets frequently and I am sure we can work out what you are looking for and currently finding interesting.

I will be really interested in how our clients embrace this.

In particular I will be fascinated how this is adopted internationally, given the different legislation, cultural issues and position in the technolgy adoption curve of various countries and communities. Will our USA clients be much more inclined to implement this in their Claromentis systems when compared to the UK for example? Will certain industries never see value in this, will others always embrace it?

Intranet-Extranet intranet software discussions, online collaboration

The recent development plans for the Project management application are extremely thought provoking.

We are now delivering a true collaboration hub, where individuals defining a new project can very easily select powerful collaboration tools that are appropriate for their requirements. These elements form the collaboration hub.

They may select from a Gantt Chart based approach because task management is critical, or version controlled document management, news channels, forums and form based work flows for any conceivable set of requirements. The Claromentis framework provides all of the permissioned access required to ensure users have exactly the access they need, without becoming cluttered and overloaded and that clients can engage with staff, suppliers and partners as required.

This is truly exciting – we are delivering collaboration hubs within a programme managed framework. Every project has an overview area, and each user can specify their preferences for receiving information by email when information changes in the project. Because the Claromentis framework is so comprehensive we can assemble for anyone involved in collaboration exactly what they need, with a very deep functionality set that extends across all areas of customised information management.

Prod-Project online collaboration, Prod-Project

I have detected a theme in some of our recent Blogs – which is related to collaboration, our core business as a technology vendor in this space, but to some extent addresses the silent partner of collaborative interactions. I refer of course to ‘listening’.

I noticed for example that Hilda in one of her recent posts on Oracle Expert referred to the vocabulary gap between the business users and the IT funded change agents – who often seem to users as from another planet. Informed interaction just doesn’t reach the goal required – in this case relevant and accurate product specifications. The two sides basically cannot listen effectively to each other.

Personally I recently discussed the importance of clarity, as perhaps the most important core value at Claromentis. Clarity comes from observing and listening to your audience – often so diverse – and making sure that communication is founded on understandable concepts that everyone has the vocabulary to absorb at their required level for project success.

Out there in the very much larger world Maureen Chiquet Global CEO of Chanel, recently wrote a short personal article in the Harvard Business Review (November this year) which I found enjoyable and insightful, where she admitted that the emotionally charged and heated advice she received in her early years at Chanel “you’ve gotta learn to listen!” turned out to be one of the most valuable things she ever learned, and that a listening focus now forms a foundation for her success as the CEO.

I was reflecting on the fact that in so many collaboration projects, and with so many client teams, we discuss the importance of user take up, which we tend to default to quantifying as participative content creation. We look at the audit logs to measure how many posts, documents, news items, blogs and just about anything else were created or edited this month as opposed to last.

I am wondering if we are missing something fundamental here.

Ever been to a party and met someone really interesting – then at the end of the evening realized you didn’t learn anything at all about them – they were just great and encouraging listeners? I am sure you have – it is an old analogy.

My point is that there might be a significant user base that is quietly listening and learning from the collaboration hubs, the posting, documents, blogging and general content creation that some types of users are either confident enough – or for whatever reason motivated enough – to participate in.

The fact that they don’t directly participate back to the discussion might not be important for certain types of users – they are absolutely engaged because they are listening.

Intranet-Extranet, Solutions listening, online collaboration

I am currently working at a client site for consultancy work. This morning I came to the client site and spent a frustrated hour cleaning up my mailbox, as I have yet again reached my email quota, and could not send any more emails before I do some cleaning up.

So I set up a small rule for myself. Sort by subject, and if there are any attachments, delete everything by the latest one, that way, hopefully I would end up with the “latest” version…

It never ceased to surprise me how large companies (and my client is one of the largest blue chips in the world) still do not take advantage of Document Management software or Online Collaboration tools. The irony is that these companies bought various tools and software, however they are disparate, IT driven, too complicated to setup, and ended up not being used. And people end up with the frustration of losing files, version confusion, same document duplicated all over the network, and full mailboxes..

Intranet-Extranet document management, online collaboration