Collaboration

The personal computer has revolutionized every aspect of our lives Communication, shopping, production, collaboration and automation are all made quicker and easier because of the personal computer. PC Magazine (2008) defines office automation as integrating office functions such as word processing, data processing, graphic design, desktop publishing and e-mail. Furthermore, PC Magazine (2008) defines collaborative software as software that allows projects and documents to be accessed and worked on by a group of people over local or remote networks. I work for a company that takes advantage of software that allows us to automate many tasks and helps us collaborate to effectively accomplish a number of projects. More precisely, there are three software packages used on a regular basis. Microsoft Office is used to generate documents, compose emails, and generate simple brochures. Filemaker Pro is used to maintain client information and generate standard letters, and Skype is used to communicate with our international staff.

Microsoft Office is a very powerful, productive tool that offers a wide variety of programs to help an organization in a number of ways. MS Office is pretty expensive but provides a streamlined powerful approach to document production. The Ultimate edition retails for almost $700 and includes every Office program. Microsoft also offers other editions for those who may not need every Office application. Another advantage to Office is there are tools available to open and access documents created in Office for free. OpenOffice is a free, open-source program that can read and manipulate Office documents. Also, the website www.zoho.com can offers tools to create and alter Office documents as well.

FileMaker Pro is a powerful database program. It offers a great deal of functionality above and beyond simply housing data. Peachpit (2008) shows how, through the use of layouts, letters can be designed in FileMaker. This is especially useful when a standard form is to be sent to a multitude of people. It is simple to create a usable database in FileMaker and has the power to be customized to almost any organizations needs. Furthermore, it provides instant web publishing which allows the data to be accessed by anyone with an internet connection. Plus, it works with Windows Active Directory to provide functionality with a VPN. Access privileges and encryption makes a very secure solution for any organization. The use of