Collaboration may be the hottest trend to hit the enterprise this year. But what makes it so hot? Why now? According to "Benchmarking Your Collaboration Strategy," a new report from Forrester Research , two key trends make collaboration important to the enterprise right now: The amount of content that people produce is morphing, especially as the advent of social computing becomes more commonplace. Sponsor Second, inefficiencies are swamping the enterprise with the need to create collaborative strategies that provide a more structured approach to how information is managed. Four Key Factors Innovation: The poor economy is playing an important factor in how companies view the ways they develop products. Management is looking for more efficient and creative ways to innovate. And they are looking to Web 2.0 technologies for answers. According to Forrester, discussion forums and idea management tools are the top two Web 2.0 technologies being considered and piloted by IT decision-makers this year. Efficiency: Information workers are high-paid, valuable members of the enterprise. But they have a hard time finding information to get their job done, with 83% saying they waste time searching for information vital to their work projects. There is growing importance for tools that provide the ability to better find information and connect more easily with co-workers who can provide expertise to solve problems and drive efficiencies. Email Woes: A huge need is emerging for better ways to reuse information that normally would be lost in email communication. Email is used to share information but it only goes so far as the people in the email chain. Once in the chain, it's locked away. Changing email behavior is no easy task but collaboration technologies hold promise for more information to be shared throughout the enterprise. Governance: Managing business information is becoming a legal necessity. Communication is becoming so widespread that it is becoming difficult to track. According to Forrester, only 20% of businesses report that they're very confident that if challenged, they could demonstrate that their digital information is accurate, trustworthy and accessible. Benchmarking For Success Forrester's report is designed to provide a framework for building a collaborative practice in the enterprise. Senior level executives came to understand in 2009 the need for better collaboration. In 2010, we expect structured formats like what Forrester proposes will be increasingly important for successful implementation of collabortion technologies in the enterprise. Discuss

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Collaboration Is Hot: Why Now?

Yesterday we reviewed the past decade in online retailing . Today we look at some forward-looking statistics about e-commerce. In particular we analyze the upcoming holiday season and how online retailers can expect to fare. Amazon.com was founded in 1995, but it famously didn't make its first annual profit until 2003. Those days of struggle for e-commerce vendors are long gone. In its State Of Retailing Online 2009 report , Forrester Research reported that the vast majority of Web retailers were not only profitable in 2008 - in a recession - but also that their overall level of profitability grew . Sponsor The e-commerce market is expanding, due to a combination of factors. One is that consumers are no longer afraid to buy things online, as they once were. Also brick-and-mortar businesses are migrating more of their operations online. We also have technology advances to thank: better recommendations technology, social media, the emergence of mobile commerce. E-commerce Continues to Grow, Despite Economy E-commerce has ridden the ups and downs of the general economy over the past decade, but it has continued to grow throughout. In the State Of Retailing Online 2009 report , Forrester Research reported that retailers saw their Web divisions grow by 18% in 2008. Given that Forrester described 2008 as "one of the worst years ever" in retail, that's significant growth in online retail activity. Holiday Season Predicted to Grow 8% Online shopping always been a seasonal market and there are promising signs for the upcoming holiday season. The latest comScore statistics show that toy web sites grew 9% in October, which comScore claimed was due to some parents getting in early for holiday gifts. The retail apparel segment also grew by 9% in October. Overall, Forrester Research predicts that online holiday retail sales (over November and December) will grow 8% this year to $44.7 billion. Brick-and-Mortar Stores a Success on the Web A noticeable trend over the past decade has been the slow but steady flight of 'brick-and-mortar' retail stores to the Web. In the early days of online retailing, Web operations were typically isolated from the main sales channels. But nowadays, Forrester notes that Web operations are a strategic part of the entire organization. Two recent stories from industry website Internet Retailer show how traditional retailers are not only adapting online, but thriving . Best Buy's traffic has grown 18% over the past 12 months according to Nielsen Online. Meanwhile for the quarter ended October 31, 2009, Gap's Web sales increased 4.9% to $298 million. The web accounted for 8.3% of sales at Gap in Q3 09, compared to 8.0% in Q3 2008. Forrester outlined a number of reasons why online channels are appealing during a "challenging" economy - including enabling consumers to find products online that they can't find elsewhere, offering comparisons on product features and pricing, avoding holiday crowds, and more. All of this data is very encouraging to online retailers. Even during a down economy, the Web has come through for most of them. Web entrepreneurs, if you're looking for opportunities then look no further than online retailing! Photo credit: Sⓘndy Discuss

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Online Retail Thriving: 8% Growth Expected This Holiday Season