In today’s working environment, companies are geographically dispersed in multiple locations, often separated from customers, colleagues and partners. To avoid the need to travel hundreds or even thousands of miles to meet in person, collaborative tools could be the answer. Companies are increasingly seeing the benefit of these technologies and with the introduction of methods such as VoIP, instant messaging and web conferencing, individuals can communicate in a virtual environment, creating increased productivity and improved business process workflow.

IntraLinks is well ahead of the game and has provided collaborative technology in the form of IntraLinks Exchanges for over a decade, enabling the secure exchange of critical information. We recently exhibited at Solutions Intranet et Travail Collaboratif, a conference focused on collaborative work solutions in Paris, to showcase our solutions and to meet with customers. To understand more about the impact collaboration tools have on the market, I attended a workshop called ‘Collaboration in business, real cure for the crisis’ presented by Patrick Schambel, Managing Director from Silverpeas.

I’ve always enjoyed visiting Philadelphia. I lived there at one time and while it is quite awhile ago, I still get a rush when I disembark at 30th Street Station. This time I was visiting Philadelphia for AIIM’s Info 360 Conference. So aside from a nostalgic trip, what did I think of the conference?

An advantage of not always being the first to do things is the learning opportunity afforded by watching how other people's decisions and investments work out. Recent examples include the trend for biofuels which has sent food prices soaring and has caused forests to be cleared to make space to grow biofuel crops. However, it appears that processing these crops into biofuels may generate more carbon dioxide than burning fossil fuels would have done anyway. Even “green” hybrid vehicles are being questioned because of the size of the carbon footprint associated with the production and transportation of the nickel metal hydride and lithium-ion batteries they use.

I was recently invited by Sasa Zorovic, Managing Director and Senior Software Analyst at Janney Montgomery Scott to attend their "Software and Service" conference in New York and participated on a panel titled "Best Practices in SaaS." Other panel participants included the CEOs of other SaaS or SaaS investment companies including Advent Software, Internet Capital Group and Management Dynamics. It was really energizing to be in the company of CEOs that share the same passion, energy and commitment to bring real and immediate value to customers through a SaaS-based software and delivery model!

I just returned from speaking at the Akamai Customer Conference as a member of a panel called “Accelerating Global Collaboration across the Enterprise.” It fell into the first of three tracks at the conference: 1) Enterprise / High Tech, 2) Media & Entertainment, and 3) Commerce. (Incidentally, I noticed the panel had a much higher number of attendees this year than in the past. Is this a direct correlation to my participation?)