Page 98 - Using MIS

66 Chapter 2 Collaboration Information Systems

The Minimal product set gives you some power at time zero because you already know how
to use it. However, as you use it over time, your project will gain complexity and the problems
of controlling concurrent access will actually cause power to decrease. The Good set has a short
flat spot as you get to know it. However, your power then increases over time until you reach the
most capability your team can do with it. The Comprehensive set has a longer flat spot in the
beginning because it will take longer to learn. However, because it has such a rich collaboration
feature set, you will be able to gain considerable collaborative power, much more so than the
Good set, and the maximum capability is much greater than the Good set.
Finally, consider the next-to-last row in Figure 2-25. The Minimal set has no value to you as
a future professional and contributes nothing to your professional competitive advantage. The
Good set has some limited value; as you know, there are organizations that use Google Drive
and Hangouts. The Comprehensive set has the potential to give you a considerable competi-
tive advantage, particularly because SharePoint skills are highly valued in industry. You can use
knowledge of it to demonstrate the currency of your knowledge in job interviews.
So, which is the right set for your team? It’s up to you. See Collaboration Exercise 2 on page 74.

Don’t Forget Procedures and People!

One last and very important point: Most of this chapter focuses on collaboration tools, the software
component of an information system. Regarding the other four components, you need not worry
about hardware, at least not for the Good or Comprehensive sets, because those tools are hosted on
hardware in the cloud. The data component is up to you; it will be your content as well as your meta-
data for project management and for demonstrating that your team practiced iteration and feedback.
As you evaluate alternatives, however, you need to think seriously about the procedure and
people components. How are team members going to use these tools? Your team needs to have
agreement on tools usage, even if you do not formally document procedures. As noted, such
procedures are especially necessary for controlling concurrent access in the minimal system.
You need to have agreement not only on how to use these tools but also on what happens when
teammates don’t use these tools. What will you do, for example, if teammates persist in emailing
documents instead of using Google Drive or SharePoint?
Additionally, how will your team train its members in the use of these tools? Will you divvy up
responsibility for learning features and then teach the skills to one another? You will find a plethora
7
of training materials on the Web. But who will find them, learn them, and then teach the others?
Finally, does your team need to create any special jobs or roles? Do you want to identify,
for example, someone to monitor your shared documents to ensure that deliverables are stored

Product Power Curve

Comprehensive

Power/Capability

Good

Minimal

Figure 2-27 0
Product Power Curve Time

7 See also David Kroenke and Donald Nilson, Office 365 in Business (Indianapolis, IN: John Wiley & Sons, 2011).