Information and Knowledge Management
Secure Collaborative Working
Secure collaborative working uses information systems to enable individuals or groups of individuals to work on information at the same time, whether they are remotely situated or in the same place.
Collaborative working and data sharing are essential working practices for many major projects where multiple organisations contribute to the success of the programme. At the same time, those organisations need to:
- Isolate their own proprietary information from their collaborators, whilst leaving the collaborative data accessible to others.
- Keep collaborative data secure from access by anyone outside the programme.
- Ensure the security of collaborative data from inadvertent loss or corruption.
- Keep configuration control over commonly owned (or held) items of information.
The tools and services necessary for successful collaborative working include:
- Document management — technology that manages the creation, processing and storage of business documents according to business rules.
- Knowledge management — makes company information available to all wherever it is based.
- Instant messaging — real-time, text-based ‘peer-to-peer’ Internet-based communications .
- e-mail — text-based communication across a local area network or the Internet.
- Calendaring/scheduling — shared diary services for scheduling events.
- Team workspace — a secure area in which a user community (such as a project team or a “community of interest”) can share information; it can contain documents of interest to members, announcements, a community calendar, bulletin board, etc.
- Presence — the ability to see if other users, generally on a pre-selected list, are online at the same time .
- IP telephony — an emerging function that links IP telephony with other collaborative functions so that, for example, users can ‘phone a colleague’s number and automatically set a calendar event.
- Desktop videoconferencing — face-to-face video-quality communications at the workstation.
- Web conferencing — online shared meeting facilities, either on the desktop or as part of a group conference, with audio and the ability to display documents, graphics and spreadsheets to support the discussion.
- Whiteboarding — software that enables freehand drawing and writing on handheld computers or other mobile devices with the ability to display the images produced on remote workstations in real time.
- e-Learning/e-Training — an online education or training program available on demand or set to a pre-determined date and time.
- Digital asset management — supports the storage, retrieval and reuse of digital objects such as images, video and audio. The technology also provides rights management capabilities.
Secure collaborative working, means that the hardware and software environment will ensure, to an agreed level of risk, that the information shared will only be accessible to the intended audience. The extent of the security will be an acceptable compromise between the probability of a breach and the cost of protection, measured both financially and in terms of the inconvenience, or lost productivity, for the user.
Cornwell provides five categories of consultancy for secure collaborative working:
- Policy – our consultants help clients identify whether collaborative working can benefit the organisation, what the “concept of use” should be, what this implies in terms of governance, and the impact on business processes and working practices.
- Strategy – Cornwell consultants advise on the most effective way of implementing collaborative working, assesing what is already in place, what the policy vision will require, and planning how to achieve the objectives. The strategy will usually include an outline business case.
- Requirements analysis – we prepare detailed specifications of the new technology required, analysing factors such as migration, training and through-life maintenance. A detailed business case will also usually be formulated.
- Procurement – our experienced consultants will select the best collaborative working toolset for the organisation, taking account of the existing infrastructure, legacy applications and overall value. This is likely to include software testing, and in the public sector will probably involve running a competitive procurement according to EC procurement law.
- Implementation and change management – normally the software and hardware implementation will be undertaken by the vendor and/or systems integrator. Cornwell consultants support the programme by working with clients and the “Intelligent Customer Function”. We add specific expertise in the areas of user communication strategy, data cleansing/migration, document reduction, and benefits realisation.
For further information please click here to complete an Information Request Form.
Top
Home