Preview

Office Automation and Group Collaboration Software

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
277 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Office Automation and Group Collaboration Software
Office Automation and Group Collaboration Software Office automation is the use of automated or electronic equipment for office operations, such as computers. Office automation includes the hardware, software, and network applications used to enhance office work.
My company uses office automation for word processing, spreadsheets, databases, desktop publisher, presentations, email, internet browser, and financial systems. My company will purchase off-the-shelf software then upgrade to new version within 3-4 years. There are times when the cost analysis will illustrate that the upgrade is not cost effective and produce greater results within our business. When our current software is performing at a satisfactory level, there is no reason to upgrade to the new version.
There are basically two options for acquiring office automation software: off-the-shelf, pre-packaged, install it, and customize it to fit our needs or create an application from the ground up. Advantages Disadvantages
Pre-packaged - Lower costs - Quicker delivery time - Limited/No customization
Custom Built - Designed specifically for organization - Grows with company - Higher costs - Longer implementation

Group collaboration software is also known as ‘groupware.’ This allows teams to work on the same problem, sharing ideas and work through computers that are connected. My company uses this software for communication, conferencing, and administrative functions. For example, instant messaging, email, voice mail, faxing, web publishing, teleconferencing, videoconferencing, and project management tools.
Advantages Disadvantages - Greater access to information - Enable teams to work together - System failures = no productivity

Both automation and group collaboration are used throughout my company and have advantages and disadvantages. No matter what, we conduct a decision analysis for whether to develop our own software or purchase a

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Wk1 Dq 1

    • 729 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Our company benefits from information because our company have to pay for video conferencing equipment or travel expenses, when everyone on the team can be on the phone and review the documents at the same time. Using the collaboration software to save documents allows the company to save money on shipping and faxing expenses. Copies requiring approval by multiple individuals no longer have to be faxed or emailed; instead, each authorizing individual can review the document in the collaboration software and sign off on it using the software.…

    • 729 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The office automation function consists of 35 Dell Vostrro computers configured with Microsoft Windows 7, Office, and links to appropriate corporate databases and systems running on one of the servers. The computers utilize a 100BaseT wired Ethernet backbone for connectivity to the servers and local printers. The size of the computer hard disks is kept small to make sure that company data is stored on one of the NAS…

    • 1596 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nt1330 Unit 7 Essay

    • 301 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Another reason for keeping a computer operating system updated is to provide increased productivity. When a software program evolves from one version to another, it becomes more streamlined, user-friendly, and increases intuitive to put to work. A major part of a business expenses are the employees and having upgraded software are synonymous with investing in employee productivity. As companies grow, hardware and software must grow with them to face increasing demands of productivity (Garger & Kosur, 2010). Outdated software is also much more expensive to maintain than the newer versions, by overloading help desk personnel with software related…

    • 301 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Itm 301

    • 909 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Groupware in general in strongly related to the research domain of Computer Support Cooperative Work. For…

    • 909 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    E-collaboration encompasses technology that has been built on the infrastructure provided by the internet, which has undoubtedly revolutionized the business world (DeRosa, 2011; Riemer, Steinfield, & Vogel, 2009)…

    • 5957 Words
    • 24 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Best Essays

    MIS 567: Medical Database

    • 3274 Words
    • 14 Pages

    A computer-based patient record is a computerized way of storing patient information within a database. This method of storage allows the medical records of all patients in the database to be shared through a controlled network of medical institutions. The records, which are in digital format, require to be embedded to protect the patient’s information. It is thus inferred that, technology has facilitated many changes in the globe. The changes have affected many industries, including the health sector. Technology facilitates the quality of healthcare and enables reduction in errors affecting the institutions revenue. This paper is going to evaluate this system in terms of…

    • 3274 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    According to Howard Rheingold in his essay Collaboration and Collective intelligence, collaboration and collective intelligence are applied to many fields of life and play a more and more important role in modern society. Howard Rheingold first paraphrases the differences between networking, coordination, cooperation and collaboration in the article written by Arthur Himmelman who made a particular distinction among these four terms in his article. Following this, the author presents several cases of application of collective intelligence to illustrate that collective intelligence has various types. Although sometimes it cannot solve the problem existing in realistic world, the author considers collaboration an important and efficient way to work out many difficulties. Research shows that under certain conditions, groups using collaboration technologies such as group support systems (GSS) can gain substantial improvements in the effectiveness and efficiency of their work processes. GSS, however, have been slow to develop self-sustaining communities of users in the workplace.( Kolfschoten, et al., 2012)Moreover, he acknowledges the great power of crowdsourcing which was given by Jeff Howe wrote in Wired magazine. In the end, Howard Rheingold says that the business world also began to attach great importance to crowdsourcing, giving examples of successfully applying the collective intelligence to solve companies’ difficulties .…

    • 253 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Is Proposal

    • 380 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The office automation system will be used to develop documents and spreadsheet. The use of an electronic mail system will enhance communication.…

    • 380 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Collaborative Technology

    • 4398 Words
    • 18 Pages

    Collaborative technologies exemplify information technology that has evolved in response to the need to increase efficiency and effectiveness of group meetings and cooperative work. As groups play a more important role in organizations, the use of collaborative technologies becomes more endemic. However, students training for organizational positions generally do not receive a high level of training in group work or working with collaborative technologies. To address this challenge we introduced three collaborative technologies, Group systems, SAMM, and Option Finder, in two graduate business courses. Our main objective was to better understand how these technologies might be introduced and integrated into the classroom environment to support the learning process. The students’ provided feedback on the use of the technologies regarding positive and negative aspects and methods of improving the process. The positive aspects of using these technologies were they provided a more efficient decision making process, anonymity, faster feedback and a more structured and focused process. The negative aspects included a lack of interaction among the students, a difficulty in learning the technology and not enough time. It is believed that the negative aspects were more an artifact of constrained classroom time than a response to the technology. Methods of improvement included more discussion and more training on the technology.…

    • 4398 Words
    • 18 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Dear collegue as we embark on this adventure of starting our own Records Company, there are some things that we need to become familiar with in order to be successful. We need to get acquainted and become knowleageable with some of the different Information Systems that will help our compny be a successful one. See below for some of the necessary systems that we will be needing.…

    • 757 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    As in many other industries, the IT has changed the way of performing management process. For example, the cost management process went from hand-written and mainframe computers to sophisticated software applications that help reducing the workload, headcount, and expedite the job completion. Also, this helps improving the outcome quality and increase productivity.…

    • 385 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Because of the ever-increasing use of technology in the workplace, it is imperative that managers understand group dynamics to aid in solving industrially relevant issues and how to apply the right technology to the situation. The group of individuals conducting this research declares that electronic brainstorming has been proposed to reduce the negative effects of group brainstorming and help control costs. Electronic brainstorming should allow for shorter meetings, an increase in participation regardless of the participant’s location, a reduction in costs, and provide for better documentation. The experimental goals of this paper were as…

    • 2247 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    MS Office integration

    • 1222 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The design of the applications store provides add-ons and utilities that make office work easier. The applications focus on data visualization, content management, project management, financial management, travel, education, social activities, human resource management, sales, and marketing, among many other areas. With MS Office’s popularity, the concept of applications store helps make the suite of applications a corporate platform. Today, many users rely on MS Office suite of applications to carry out their daily activities and chores because it is highly compatible with other software.…

    • 1222 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    What are the main differences between GDSS and Groupware?Definition questions like this one are common in my email and on the DSSResources.COM Bulletin Board. Emma Gilmartin posted the above question on May 01, 2002 and my response was posted a few days later. I answered a related question in the Ask Dan! column of March 24, 2001 titled "What is a Group Decision Support System?" In this Ask Dan!, I'll try to expand on my previous column.In general, group decision support systems (GDSS) are interactive, computer-based systems that facilitate solution of semi-structured and unstructured problems by a designated set of decision-makers working together as a group. A GDSS can assist groups, especially groups of managers, in analyzing problem situations and in performing group decision making tasks. GDSS include structured decision tools for tasks like brainstorming, commenting on ideas, and rating and ranking of alternatives (cf., DeSanctis and Gallupe, 1987).Groupware is any software package designed to support more than one person working on a shared task. Groupware is multiuser software that allows users to access the same data. Also, groupware usually provides a mechanism that helps users coordinate and keep track of on-going projects or decision processes. It helps people work together through computer-supported communication, collaboration, and coordination. The best known "general purpose" groupware products include Lotus Notes, Microsoft Exchange 2000, Novell GroupWise 6, and Microsoft NetMeeting.Groupware is a much broader category of group support software and tools than the term GDSS. In general, GDSS products are groupware. Not all groupware products are used however for decision support and not all groupware products are equally useful in developing decision support capabilities.For the past few years, I have encouraged and…

    • 647 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Knowledge Work System

    • 337 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Knowledge workers, who create, produce and share knowledge, have traditionally utilized office automation technology as well. Now, however, they also have new technologies available to support their role in the firm.…

    • 337 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays