Sharing Documents Via Online Collaboration

Umesh Jain has two partners and six employees in the United States, and several clients and numerous vendors in the states, India and the Philippines -- all of whom regularly collaborate on digital documents.

Their best practice for sharing those documents? It used to be e-mailing each other's latest revised version to one another, using Microsoft SharePoint, or overnighting copies burned to CD-ROM. The result: Each person would regularly be awash in revisions, with no one really sure which was the most recent copy.

So last year, Jain and his partners bought copies of Groove Networks. The collaboration software allows users to share documents and files over the Internet, and track revisions so copies don't get confusing.

Now, anytime Jain, a partner, employee, client or vendor finish a revision, they distribute it to their project group on the network. Older versions are automatically synchronized with revisions. If they're working online at the same time, the software lets Jain see who's on and working on what project. It's like having a Web-based corporate intranet for $69 to $229.

"We have a secure, private network with no extra computers or servers and no added cost of monthly service charges or IT maintenance," said Jain, president of Merging Elements, a Miami Lakes, Fla., firm that does outsourcing consulting.

As workers go virtual, keeping content current and staying connected while online has become a key to success. Online collaboration products, such as Groove, Microsoft SharePoint, iCohere, Documentum eRoom and iManage, create a network that uses the Internet to connect those in a group.

The products are ideal for large corporations and governmental organizations, as well as small businesses and soloists in the "e-lance economy" who need a simple tool to share data and content, said Andrew Mahon, director of strategic marketing with Groove. The technology has grown in importance as companies embrace remote work and computing, he said.

"You can lower your corporate costs through virtual officing, but you need to perfect coordination to keep in synch," he said.

Weekend warriors who take work home can synchronize all their data to their laptop, and ensure they have all the latest versions of documents to work on. All data sent or stored to the desktop of any participating computer is encrypted for security. Once back at the office or logged back on to the Groove Network, all data is resynchronized. Best of all, the application requires no IT staff to install or maintain.

Because users can see who's on and working on what specific project, these "virtual hallway encounters" create a sense of camaraderie among remote workers -- especially those prone to working late, but never wanting to intrude with an instant message or e-mail someone in hopes of finding a peer online, he said. Mahon called it "peripheral vision." “I don’t just see that someone is awake and online. I can see if he’s working on my project,” he said. “Seeing them online gives me kind of a social permission, so that barrier to interaction really drops. If you have a healthy culture in the organization, you get value by keeping on the same page.”

Jain said he hopes future versions of Groove will including tighter integration with Microsoft Office applications, allowing "drag and drop" for text and documents between the applications.

Jeff Zbar, the ChiefHomeOfficer.com, is a speaker, writer and expert on alternative officing. He is the author of Teleworking & Telecommuting: Strategies for Remote Workers and Their Managers (Made E-Z Products, 2002); Safe@Home: Seven Keys to Home Office Security (FirstPublish 2001) and Your Profitable Home Business (on CD-ROM from Made E-Z Products). Visit his Web site to subscribe to Home Office Success Stories, his free electronic magazine on home business and teleworking.