P2P collaboration stands for peer-to-peer collaboration. This term refers to a wide range of technological solutions used to help people separated by distance work closely together. Easy to learn and use, these tools have removed the barriers from working remotely.

P2P collaboration tools have the largest impact on firms or projects with independent contractors or consultants. The savings on flights, accommodation and loss of productivity is well worth the initial investment in P2P collaboration software. Before you incorporate P2P collaboration into your business process:

1. Understand P2P collaboration.

2. Find P2P collaboration tools.

3. Utilize your P2P collaboration provider effectively.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Get to know your P2P collaboration network

Investigate how a P2P collaboration network can help your business. Make a list of all the business related travel to work with customers or service providers for the last year, the reason for the trip and the total cost. Provide your target audience with P2P collaboration information by preparing a synopsis of the different options, benefits and risks. Discuss the costs savings and improve productivity.

I recommend: Download P2P collaboration software from JXTA or Microsoft Office Grove to test the concept in your business. JXTA is an open source solution programmed in Java. Programmers around the world contribute code to this free program. Grove was a small company purchased by Microsoft for the P2P collaboration software package.

Create an approved P2P collaboration list

Create a list of your firm's requirements from the P2P collaboration software product. Features such as instant messaging, shared whiteboard, file exchange, version tracking and communication archive are very useful features. P2P collaboration software products intended for business use have a more professional look and feel than personal tools.

I recommend: Hot Comm provides a wide range of P2P software products, complete with a review and synopsis of options and functionality provided. EZMeeting is a leading supplier in P2P collaboration software solution, including enterprise and web based collaboration options.

Provide the tools to support P2P collaboration

Review the options for P2P collaboration software with your IT staff, as security access may need to be adjusted to allow instant messaging, virtual desktop and access to shared files on your network. P2P collaboration is based on the latest communication technologies. Investigate tracking and audit tools to allow management oversight into the use of these tools.

I recommend: Kazaa is a free software that allows staff to share a whiteboard, arrange conference calls and exchange files in real time. Collanos Software AG provides a professional toolkit to manage all communications, files and discussions electronically.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  When selecting a P2P collaboration provider, check where the files will be stored. Files stored on an outside parties server can be difficult to retrieve should the business close down.