Group support systems: technologies and products selection

Group support systems (GSS) are becoming increasingly popular in corporations that are looking to reduce travel expenses, increase the effectiveness of group decision-making and foster an environment that brings out ideas or creativity that may be stifled in standard settings. Companies are looking for solutions and technologies to provide GSS that are affordable, flexible, and integrate with their existing information technology (IT) environment. Deciding what solutions to implement can be difficult, however, the decision process should first involve a self-analysis of the organization's current IT environment and architecture, as well as its culture. An analysis of currently available solutions can then follow. This article is intended to aid the IT managers in their selection process of GSS technologies and products for their organizations. In particular, the article focuses on Microsoft's collaboration technologies an products since its current product line offers the IT managers a wide array of choices for implementing a unified GSS environment.