Evaluate team collaboration tools to increase productivity

Editor's note

Cloud computing has leveled the playing field, empowering small organizations to use similar team collaboration tools as large businesses. Cloud messaging services, which are part of an enterprise collaboration strategy, can help geographically dispersed organizations improve their productivity and project workflows.

Team collaboration tools offer a wide range of features, including group messaging, file sharing, message encryption, and voice and video conferencing support. These tools can help organizations manage multiple short- or long-term projects, as several contributors can share ideas and content with each other. Additionally, in-house employees and remote and mobile users can interact and exchange information with colleagues, customers and partners, despite their location or time zone. 

Before investing in a team collaboration tool, you must determine what features you need and how your workforce would use the service. For example, do your users only need a messaging-centric collaboration service, or do you intend to replace your entire voice and video architecture? Do you need a tool that integrates with your existing third-party or cloud-based apps? Do you have specific compliance or security requirements?

This guide will help you answer these questions and navigate the team messaging apps evaluation process. While researching team collaboration tools, TechTarget editors focused on 10 leading cloud-based services that have strong messaging components. Our research included data from TechTarget surveys and reports from research firms, including Gartner.

A roundup of these leading cloud collaboration tools provides an in-depth look at their features, functionality, technical support and pricing. An accompanying chart summarizes these items for a quick overall assessment.