There is no denying that the business world is becoming increasingly competitive. New ideas drive the markets and startups appear seemingly out of nowhere, attempting to capture their share of a chosen sector. Despite having viable offerings, they often disappear into the ether like a shooting star in the night. Over half a million new businesses are started every month, but half of them will not survive for five years.
There are a variety of reasons that the failure rate of new businesses is so high. Some of the most common causes of a failed startup include:
- No market need for the product or service under development;
- Running out of funding or being outcompeted;
- Losing focus on the ultimate goal;
- Using the wrong team;
- Lack of a coherent business model;
- Poor marketing or ignoring customer demand.
Attempting to dodge these dangers can be extremely difficult, which is why so many businesses do not last. In many cases, a lack of communication between different parts of a business is a big part of the problem. A requirement of a successful business is the ability to share knowledge throughout the organization. The development team needs to be aware of any insights gleaned by the marketing department to effectively address customer concerns. Neglecting to adequately share an enterprise’s critical information will likely doom it to failure.
Collaboration as a Strategy for Success
Some of us still remember a time before technologies like the Internet and global communication changed the business landscape forever. In the not too distant past, collaborative efforts were usually conducted via face-to-face encounters where participants exchanged ideas or obtained new knowledge in-person. Meeting notes and minutes would be distributed to attendees afterward and further clarification of ideas or directives would entail follow-up phone calls or additional contact with fellow team members. These collaborative ventures proved to be valuable for an organization, as the unfettered exchange of ideas and knowledge led to innovative ways to address business problems.
This model began to become unwieldy as businesses grew in size with personnel scattered in diverse locations. The globalization of modern businesses has only exacerbated these problems. Where it was once easy to get everyone together in the conference room, a similar meeting might now require extensive travel plans and complicated scheduling concerns. As the size of working teams grows, it becomes increasingly challenging or impossible to conduct traditional meetings for all but the most important issues. Businesses need methods with which to maintain the flow of ideas and knowledge more efficiently.
Collaborative Tools are Key
Collaborative software tools can help address the problems of distance and time that limit the ability of team members to meet physically. They offer many advantages that can be the difference between a successful business and one that is struggling to survive.
Cost savings
Through the use of collaborative tools, cost savings manifest themselves in several ways. The most obvious is in reducing travel costs to the organization. Besides the money spent on travel accommodations and flights, there is the associated loss of productivity as employees must neglect some of their regular duties to attend meetings. Communication costs are also cut with the centralized information repositories that are part of many collaborative solutions. They eliminate the need to reach out for data that is accessible through the tool.
Access to knowledge and experts
The accumulated knowledge of experts within an enterprise can be made available to the wider employee population through collaborative tools. This enables everyone to make informed decisions with an enhanced level of confidence that they are using the correct company data. With all teams reading from the same playbook, there is less chance of miscommunication that can cripple a project and eat away at corporate profits.
Increased employee satisfaction
Overall employee satisfaction is a by-product of collaborative organizational efforts. While some individuals may enjoy business travel, the majority of people would rather not be forced to spend time away from their families if at all possible. Combined with the availability of expert knowledge to assist in their daily tasks, collaboration through the use of technology can result in happier and more productive employees.
Collaboration Around Organizational Data Resources
In today’s business world, data is one of an organization’s most valuable resources. Methods such as data governance are becoming crucial to the ability of a business to successfully compete with their rivals. Governance can also be instrumental in helping businesses avoid the financial and public relation damage caused by data breaches and compliance lapses.
Data governance requires collaboration throughout an enterprise as it strives to fully understand its data assets and use them effectively to grow the business. IDERA’s ER/Studio Enterprise Team Edition is a collaborative tool that can be used in the creation of the shared language and data models that are required to implement an effective governance policy. It enables collaborative data modeling approach and supports teams interacting with a wide variety of database platforms, including those hosted by public cloud providers.
Using ER/Studio enables teams to collaborate efficiently regarding enterprise data resources. It streamlines the process of implementing naming standards and communicating data models and metadata to all concerned stakeholders. Real-time collaboration is fostered through the shared model repository with controls built-in to maintain data consistency across the organization. ER/Studio is an example of a tool that enables remote collaboration that is more beneficial to your enterprise than a host of in-person meetings.