Collaboration software: Productivity enhancer or not?

In this week's readings there, two authors had very different opinions on the use of collaboration software in virtual teams. A Business Week Author wrote about the use of an online collaboration software known as Basecamp, which helped a market research company improve productivity 300% over the old way of using e-mail and telephone in virtual teams, so the article was very positive towards the use of online collaboration software/tools. In contrast, Bernie DeKoven wrote about web conferencing and how it is primarily used for meetings that are informational and political in nature, and very little real work gets done in virtual meetings, as most work takes place outside of the meeting. He did not see coworking technology tools improving productivity, as he said that most work gets done "informally, spontaneously, and most often between a few people who share a similar interest in getting something done."

While the authors have different positions, I think the reality is in the middle somewhere and will gradually move towards improved productivity through using online tools as virtual teams become more familiar with them and they become more engrained in a firm's processes. I do agree that collaborative websites like Basecamp (or Microsoft Sharepoint - that I am more familiar with) do boost the productivity of virtual teams, but 300 percent is an exaggeration and there are still times when getting things done the old way as noted by DeKoven is more appropriate. DeKoven's view on web conferencing is too narrow, in certain situations, suchas reviewing a document or strategy, these tools can be quite effective. Web conferencing tools are not as effective at boosting productivity as online colboration websites (like Sharepoint) but can boost productivity if used appropriately in my experience.