Collaboration in 2012: Predictions 3 & 4

By David Coleman (@dcoleman100) Feb 2, 2012

As a follow up to my previous post, here are my third and fourth predictions for what 2012 holds for collaboration:

#3. Public Clouds, Private Clouds, Collaborative Clouds

We are all aware of the “public cloud,” the Internet, the Information Superhighway. It is what you log on to every morning. If you are at work, you log onto a private cloud, which is kind of like the TV program Cheers (where everyone knows you name). This might be where you do most of your work.

But just like working only inside a firewall is not enough today, public and private clouds are merging. They are merging to such a degree that the boundaries are not so clear any more.

When you work with clients and customers who are not part of your private cloud, yet you extend them the ability to do ongoing interactions (or collaboration) with you in a secure way — is this a public cloud or a private cloud? Maybe something in between that I call a "collaborative cloud." This is not to be confused with Collaborative Cloud, the online project management and collaboration tool, but rather looks at the more general case of when you need to collaborate in either a public cloud, a private cloud or both.

In some cases the collaborative cloud is seen as a place for document storage and sharing, making tools like DropBox (which is just file sharing) a collaborative tool. We don't see it that way. A collaborative cloud must provide the same type of person-to-person interaction that any collaborative environment must do (synchronous or asynchronous). Some like Information Weeks' The Brainyard, believe the collaborative cloud is where collaborative applications like Louts Symphony, At Task or SharePoint online reside.

Others think the collaborative cloud is a security threat. It may well be, but the amount of threat compared to the clear benefits result in an equation heavily in favor of working in the cloud, and cloud momentum will continue in 2012.

#4. The Nature of Work is Changing

I know I am not the first to talk about this or even predict it. But with the level of complexity in the workplace and the continually rising torrent of information, it is inevitable that something must give way, and the most likely thing is the way we work.

Lucy Kellaway in a recent article in the Economist, thinks the future is back to the past (to misquote the movie title). According to her, 2012 will require that white collar workers will at least have to look serious. This means,

In 2012 the following will be back in fashion: the landline, the jacket, the commute, the handshake and above all the office itself. Out of fashion will be the virtual office in which employees sit hunched over laptops in their local Starbucks, joined to their colleagues by webcam and e-mail. Instead, working life will start to resemble its old self before the internet was invented.”

Her logic for this is that “The repeated shocks to the world economy delivered over the past few years will bring in a culture of corporate risk aversion: the focus will be more on accountability than creativity.” Her vision of the office of the future (2012) will be rife with gossip and insecurity. With women willing to behave like men being promoted, and those that don’t, dropping out of the work force. The only one cracking jokes will be the boss…and you better laugh!