Today, I accidently stumbled upon Google Spreadsheets. I have not been able to try it out yet but this particular link really impressed me. Basically, multiple people can collaborate and see each other’s changes in real time. Tools like these and others like Microsoft’s next version of Office can change the way people collaborate.
Apart from the standard benefits of using collaboration tools, these can be used by System Integrators to increase their bottom lines which in turn means more value for their customers. SIs in India typically use an onsite-offshore resource model to implement projects. One of the important financial indicators is the Onsite-Offshore resource mix and its impact on SI’s operating margins. This ratio of onsite to offshore resources is obviously dependent on the activities that can be done onsite and that can be done offshore.
By using tools such as these, the SIs can reduce dependence on onsite resources and change their onsite offshore mix. This can result in an end result of the same or even better quality at lower costs. Profits margins are genarally higher at offshore as compared to insite and a 1% shift in the onsite offshore mix can result in the same amount of shift in profit margin. This is real ROI!