Enterprise collaboration software is in huge demand, every company out there want one for them. But the dilemma is that today almost every vendor offering this solution has more or less same features and functionality. Hence having some standard criteria will give a better bargain for the company. Though the needs and requirements of each company are different but some basic factors will still remain the same.
Some of them are
1. Ease of use:
This is one of the deciding factors that actually make your collaboration software popular among your employees. If you want large number of adoption among employees then make sure your collaboration platform is easy to use with clean and neat layout. Many vendors to increase adoption build interfaces of their collaboration software similar to that of popular social networking sites like facebook and twitter this brings familiarity in using the platform. Some of them even imitate the color scheme. But that does not guarantee success and it always work in your advantage if you select a vendor who has a collaboration product that is easy to use and intuitive.
2. Features:
This is one of the prime factors while deciding to purchase enterprise collaboration solution though not the only one. But features tell you what exactly you can do with this collaboration product. Every organization has different requirements based on the work they do. So choose a platform with features that will solve problems that your organization is facing rather than a product which is stuffed with features. For eg If you have offices located across different regions and you need to have meeting every week then choosing a collaboration platform with video-conferencing facility will work best. Like this if you need to capture knowledge then having a discussion board feature is great.
3. Security and technology:
This is one of the primary reason why a large section of business shy away from enterprise collaboration software. As most of the collaboration solutions are cloud based and some companies are skeptical of storing their data on cloud. If you are reluctant to go for cloud based solution you can anytime opt for on-premise solutions. Apart from security the platform should be scalable and flexible.
4. Price:
Every company has budget for IT expenses. Usually, collaboration solution comes in subscription based or on-premise so depending upon the requirement you can purchase the solution. Make sure how many people you want to use this solution the whole business or just a small group. Which model suits your requirement best monthly based subscription or purchasing its once and installing on-premise.
5.Customization:
This should be checked with your vendor, whether they offer solution which can be customized as per your preference or is it just an out-of-the-box solution. Customization can be very important tom your business, it can be anything, your company’s logo, integration of other applications, some minor tweaks etc.
6. Customer support and maintenance:
Just purchasing or deploying particular enterprise collaboration software is not enough. You also need a robust maintenance and support, so as to keep your business running. You also need to check whether the vendor is giving support for free or he is charging for the same and if he is charging then how much and if he is giving the service free then for how long? Is it 24 x 7 service, whether you can have phone or e-mail support etc. Each vendor has their own support and maintenance policy go through it before making a final purchase.
