<s>
Cloud	B-General_Concept
collaboration	I-General_Concept
is	O
a	O
method	O
of	O
sharing	O
and	O
co-authoring	O
computer	B-Operating_System
files	I-Operating_System
via	O
cloud	B-Architecture
computing	I-Architecture
,	O
whereby	O
documents	O
are	O
uploaded	B-Application
to	O
a	O
central	O
"	O
cloud	O
"	O
for	O
storage	B-General_Concept
,	O
where	O
they	O
can	O
then	O
be	O
accessed	O
by	O
other	O
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cloud	B-General_Concept
collaboration	I-General_Concept
technologies	O
allow	O
users	O
to	O
upload	B-Application
,	O
comment	O
and	O
collaborate	O
on	O
documents	O
and	O
even	O
amend	O
the	O
document	O
itself	O
,	O
evolving	O
the	O
document	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Businesses	O
in	O
the	O
last	O
few	O
years	O
have	O
increasingly	O
been	O
switching	O
to	O
use	O
of	O
cloud	B-General_Concept
collaboration	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cloud	B-Architecture
computing	I-Architecture
is	O
a	O
marketing	O
term	O
for	O
technologies	O
that	O
provide	O
software	O
,	O
data	B-General_Concept
access	I-General_Concept
,	O
and	O
storage	B-General_Concept
services	O
that	O
do	O
not	O
require	O
end-user	O
knowledge	O
of	O
the	O
physical	O
location	O
and	O
configuration	O
of	O
the	O
system	O
that	O
delivers	O
the	O
services	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Users	O
are	O
most	O
comfortable	O
using	O
e-mail	O
as	O
their	O
primary	O
electronic	O
collaboration	B-Protocol
tool	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
a	O
result	O
,	O
many	O
providers	O
created	O
cloud	B-General_Concept
collaboration	I-General_Concept
tools	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
include	O
the	O
integration	O
of	O
email	O
alerts	O
into	O
collaboration	B-Application
software	I-Application
and	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
see	O
who	O
is	O
viewing	O
the	O
document	O
at	O
any	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Before	O
cloud	O
file	O
sharing	O
and	O
collaboration	B-Application
software	I-Application
,	O
most	O
collaboration	O
was	O
limited	O
to	O
more	O
primitive	O
and	O
less	O
effective	O
methods	O
such	O
as	O
email	O
and	O
FTP	B-Protocol
among	O
others	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Very	O
early	O
moves	O
into	O
cloud	B-Architecture
computing	I-Architecture
were	O
made	O
by	O
Amazon	B-Application
Web	I-Application
Services	I-Application
who	O
,	O
in	O
2006	O
,	O
began	O
offering	O
IT	B-Application
infrastructure	I-Application
services	O
to	O
businesses	O
in	O
the	O
form	O
of	O
web	O
services	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cloud	B-Architecture
computing	I-Architecture
only	O
began	O
to	O
come	O
to	O
prominence	O
in	O
2007	O
when	O
Google	B-Application
decided	O
to	O
move	O
parts	O
of	O
its	O
email	O
service	O
to	O
a	O
public	O
cloud	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
an	O
increase	O
in	O
cloud	B-Architecture
computing	I-Architecture
services	O
,	O
cloud	B-General_Concept
collaboration	I-General_Concept
was	O
able	O
to	O
evolve	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
analysts	O
explain	O
the	O
rise	O
of	O
cloud	B-General_Concept
collaboration	I-General_Concept
by	O
pointing	O
to	O
the	O
increasing	O
use	O
by	O
workers	O
of	O
non-authorised	O
websites	O
and	O
online	O
tools	O
to	O
do	O
their	O
jobs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
includes	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
instant	B-Application
messaging	I-Application
and	O
social	O
networks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cloud	B-General_Concept
collaboration	I-General_Concept
packages	O
provide	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
collaborate	O
on	O
documents	O
together	O
in	O
real	O
time	O
,	O
making	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
non-authorised	O
instant	B-Application
messaging	I-Application
redundant	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
has	O
also	O
been	O
noted	O
that	O
cloud	B-General_Concept
collaboration	I-General_Concept
has	O
become	O
more	O
and	O
more	O
necessary	O
for	O
IT	O
departments	O
as	O
workforces	O
have	O
become	O
more	O
mobile	O
and	O
now	O
need	O
access	O
to	O
important	O
documents	O
wherever	O
they	O
are	O
,	O
whether	O
this	O
is	O
through	O
an	O
internet	B-Application
browser	I-Application
,	O
or	O
through	O
newer	O
technologies	O
such	O
as	O
smartphones	B-Application
and	O
tablet	B-Device
devices	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
mainframe	B-Architecture
computing	I-Architecture
era	O
enabled	O
business	O
growth	O
to	O
be	O
untethered	O
from	O
the	O
number	O
of	O
employees	O
needed	O
to	O
process	O
transactions	O
manually	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
personal	B-Device
computing	I-Device
era	O
empowered	O
business	O
users	O
to	O
run	O
their	O
businesses	O
based	O
on	O
individual	O
data	O
and	O
applications	O
on	O
their	O
PCs	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
decade	O
of	O
network	B-Architecture
computing	O
established	O
an	O
unprecedented	O
level	O
of	O
transparency	O
of	O
information	O
across	O
multiple	O
groups	O
inside	O
a	O
company	O
and	O
an	O
amazing	O
rate	O
of	O
data	O
exchange	O
between	O
enterprises	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
cost-per-transaction	O
,	O
the	O
cost	O
of	O
automating	O
office	O
and	O
desktop	O
processes	O
,	O
and	O
finally	O
the	O
cost	O
of	O
network	B-Architecture
bandwidth	O
fell	O
quickly	O
and	O
enabled	O
business	O
users	O
to	O
apply	O
ICT	O
solutions	O
more	O
broadly	O
to	O
create	O
business	O
value	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
believe	O
that	O
cloud	B-Architecture
computing	I-Architecture
will	O
help	O
unleash	O
the	O
next	O
wave	O
of	O
tech-enabled	O
business	O
innovation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
the	O
mainframe	B-Architecture
era	O
,	O
client/server	O
was	O
initially	O
viewed	O
as	O
a	O
"	O
toy	O
"	O
technology	O
,	O
not	O
viable	O
as	O
a	O
mainframe	B-Architecture
replacement	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Similarly	O
,	O
when	O
virtualization	B-General_Concept
technology	O
was	O
first	O
proposed	O
,	O
application	O
compatibility	O
concerns	O
and	O
potential	O
vendor	O
lock-in	O
were	O
cited	O
as	O
barriers	O
to	O
adoption	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Early	O
cloud	B-General_Concept
collaboration	I-General_Concept
tools	O
were	O
quite	O
basic	O
with	O
limited	O
features	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
some	O
cases	O
,	O
the	O
collaboration	B-Application
software	I-Application
can	O
even	O
be	O
integrated	O
into	O
Microsoft	O
Office	O
,	O
or	O
allow	O
users	O
to	O
set	O
up	O
video	O
conferences	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Single	O
cloud	B-General_Concept
collaboration	I-General_Concept
providers	O
are	O
now	O
replacing	O
a	O
complicated	O
tangle	O
of	O
instant	B-Application
messengers	I-Application
,	O
email	O
and	O
FTP	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cloud	B-General_Concept
collaboration	I-General_Concept
today	O
is	O
promoted	O
as	O
a	O
tool	O
for	O
collaboration	O
internally	O
between	O
different	O
departments	O
within	O
a	O
firm	O
,	O
but	O
also	O
externally	O
as	O
a	O
means	O
for	O
sharing	O
documents	O
with	O
end-clients	O
as	O
receiving	O
feedback	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
makes	O
cloud	B-Architecture
computing	I-Architecture
a	O
very	O
versatile	O
tool	O
for	O
firms	O
with	O
many	O
different	O
applications	O
in	O
a	O
business	O
environment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
best	O
cloud	B-General_Concept
collaboration	I-General_Concept
tools	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
2011	O
report	O
by	O
Gartner	O
outlines	O
a	O
five-stage	O
model	O
on	O
the	O
maturity	O
of	O
firms	O
when	O
it	O
comes	O
to	O
the	O
uptake	O
of	O
cloud	B-General_Concept
collaboration	I-General_Concept
tools	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
firm	O
in	O
the	O
first	O
stage	O
is	O
said	O
to	O
be	O
"	O
reactive	O
"	O
,	O
with	O
only	O
email	O
as	O
a	O
collaboration	B-Application
platform	I-Application
and	O
a	O
culture	O
which	O
resists	O
information	O
sharing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
article	O
argues	O
that	O
most	O
firms	O
are	O
in	O
the	O
second	O
stage	O
,	O
but	O
as	O
cloud	B-General_Concept
collaboration	I-General_Concept
becomes	O
more	O
important	O
,	O
most	O
analysts	O
expect	O
to	O
see	O
the	O
majority	O
of	O
firms	O
moving	O
up	O
in	O
the	O
model	O
.	O
</s>
