Requirements for Software for the Virtual Office
by Anita Campbell
George Langan, the CEO of eXpresso, writes that virtual office software should help us mimic the set up of physical offices.
Over at my main online home, I had a guest post on the topic of the cloud computing, SaaS apps for the virtual office. He writes:
“More and more vendors are introducing Cloud platforms and software-as-a-service (SaaS) offerings to bring people together online. * * *
The purpose of these collaborative software systems is to mimic the work environment that we had since the first organized office.
Think about the work environment people have been using since the organized office became commonplace. We see it best in old movies now (or in episodes of Mad Men) — each department on a different floor, rows of secretaries sitting at IBM Selectric typewriters, junior executives in cubicles, seniors in offices.”
He then goes on to outline the requirements for good collaborative software apps for virtual office workers:
- Simplicity and Familiarity
- Presence / Chat
- File Control/ Sharing and Real-time Collaboration
- Conferencing
I see the combo of physical and virtual office blending into one integrated office space.
