Is Email Dead? A look at Enterprise Collaboration for 2011 and beyond

As any of their parents would attest, email is not the tool for communication for the new generation coming into the workforce, (those born 1990+).  Mobile phones, SMS, Twitter, Foursquare and Facebook are the tools of these digital natives.   So, does this mean that email is dead?

Email is certainly not dead
In fact, a recent survey conducted by Avanade in March 2010, profiling enterprise IT and business leaders, confirms that email is more popular than ever, standing as the most used applications in the workplace. Ninety per cent of those enterprises surveyed, view email as the most essential tool for communications and collaboration.

To note, the survey did not include Facebook and other similar social networking sites, as these are not deemed as ‘collaboration’ sites as they lack the ‘labour’ required to collaborate. This is something that the new generation will discover as they enter work life in a post-recession world, and a factor that CIOs must address when reviewing the kind of technologies to adopt in-hand with email.

It is a given, that social networking has seen an influx of take-up, however, it is not a replacement for existing collaboration practices; email included. Instead, it is a complementary methodology, which drives the benefits of the likes of email.  In the same way that voice and telephone never replaced contracts and legal documents; social networking practices will not replace structured collaboration and enterprise document management.  However, there is no denying that a new generation of digital natives are entering the workforce, and viewing some existing platforms as obsolete.

Avanade’s recent research demonstrates a mixed response in the field. Findings showed that 33 per cent of executives agree people now address problems in teams not individually, yet 25 per cent fear that new collaboration tools distract and waste time.  Clearly we have a culture clash on the way. The good news however, is that CIOs and enterprise leaders understand this, and are embracing collaboration, with 85 per cent believing it is more important than individual specialisation. Further, 75 per cent plan to increase the use of communications and collaboration technologies in 2011, demonstrating future positive take-up.

Working ‘on the go’

As any CIO who has introduced mobile mail or Smartphones to the enterprise can attest, embracing these new kinds of technologies allows workers to achieve a lot more each and every week, be that on the train, at home, or sat at an airport. Devices like the recently launched iPad are the type of technology that organisations should be looking to embrace and channel appropriately in the IT infrastructure. These devices can maximise the worker ‘on the go’ as best as possible, but also permit the work / life equilibrium to be restored.

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