Old Belief:

• Innovation means developing new products and services;
• Innovation is too critical and proprietory to involve outsiders and can be driven only from the top;

New Reality:

• Innovation means developing better ideas and offerings faster;
• External collaboration is indispensable, and Collaboration happens at all levels of the organization;

"Inside the mid-market: A 2007 perspective" - an IBM Study:

• Operational efficiency & employee productivity, with more affordable collaboration tools is a driving force;
• Employee productivity is a top challenge, for nearly 70 percent of mid-sized companies, to growth & profitability;
• Over 60 percent of mid-size firms say that collaboration tools are imperative to their success and growth;
• About 3 in 4 mid-size firms are either implementing or planning to implement new collaboration tools;