<p>Collaboration tools help business achieve better communication internally, tighter integration with other enterprises and closer relationships with customers.</p><p>It's no secret that digital technology has revolutionized the enterprise. Yet behind today's mind-bending array of technologiesfrom servers and massive databases in the data center to mobile devices and apps on the front lines of businessthere's a basic truth: All these sophisticated systems are worthless without the human ability to connect the dots and transform bits and bytes of data into information and knowledge.</p><p>Collaboration is at the center of this digital universe. As devices and software have evolved, and mobility has gone mainstream, the ability to communicate point-to-point in real time has become critical.</p><p>"Collaboration has always been part of the picture, but on a much less formal basis," observes Seth Kahn, author of Getting Innovation Right: How to Turn Ideas into Outcomes. "It's only since the rise of the knowledge worker that it has emerged as a critical component for the enterprise."</p><p><a href="http://www.baselinemag.com/messaging-and-collaboration/collaboration-at-the-center-of-effective-business.html/">Keep reading...</a></p>