Collaboration Software Market

William Elcock

Updated · Jul 03, 2021

In a world where remote work is becoming more prevalent, collaboration software is one of the tools that helps to keep teams on the same page.

It is also useful for in-person teams and can cut down on the time spent on meetings, email, direct messages and other communication, with files related to common projects can be made viewable and editable by all relevant team members.

With the heavy reliance on collaboration software these days, it’s no surprise that the global team collaboration market was valued at $10.48 billion in 2020.

See below to learn about collaboration software and the state of the market:

Collaboration software

Collaboration software allows teams to share files, allowing for their editing and managing by all relevant team members. These files can include documents, photos, or any other file type that is necessary for a business. Due to the ease of collaboration, this type of software tends to increase the productivity of organizations. For this reason, collaboration software goes hand in hand with productivity software. Productivity software is useful on its own since it helps to organize tasks, but it typically does not allow for the sharing of files. For this reason, organizations commonly employ both types of software.

Types of collaboration software

There are three main types of collaboration software. However, there are two broader categories that each of the three main types fall into. These are:

  • Asynchronous/non-real time collaboration software: Asynchronous collaboration software does not allow for changes made or actions taken by one user to be immediately visible to other users. One of the most common examples of asynchronous software is email.

  • Synchronous/real-time collaboration software: Synchronous collaboration software allows multiple users to collaborate on a file at a time.For example, multiple users can edit a Google Docs document at the same time and everyone will see change as they happen. 

Here are the three main types of collaboration software:

  • Communication: Communication collaboration software is centered around communication for teams. A common example of this is Slack and other similar applications. With these applications, team members can communicate with each other in a group setting or private messages can be sent. 

  • Conferencing: This software allows team members to video chat with each other. Usually, screens can be shared. Conferencing software provides an efficient way for teams to meet without doing so in-person. An example of a well-known conferencing application is Zoom

  • Coordination: This type of software allows for projects to be managed. Project documents can be shared and projects can be organized in a convenient way for the organization. Features such as setting deadlines and assigning tasks are common. A popular coordination application is Asana. 

Two employees meet in conference room.

Features and benefits of collaboration software

Here are some of the general features that one should expect from collaboration software: 

  • Visual display of progress

  • Integration with other software tools

  • Facilitates efficiency by cutting down on meetings

  • File sharing between all relevant team members

  • Powerful search abilities which allow teams to find files quickly 

With these features come a number of benefits. These include:

  • Saved time

  • Better project management

  • Stronger teams due to increased communication though digital

  • Better organization

Collaboration software use cases

The benefits of collaboration software can be more clearly seen when use cases are considered. Here are some of the possibilities for collaboration software.

Coordination with business partners

Businesses these days work with several different business partners and collaboration software is necessary for teams to access this information quickly to facilitate ease of business. Enterprise level collaboration software such as Beekeeper that has encryption built-in to keep confidential information secure is essential for facilitating this.

Facilitating efficient communication

AGCO Corp found themselves in a position where they had to build a new communications system after years of growth. They have a workforce that is spread out over a large geographical area and needed an efficient way to communicate. They used Cisco Jabber to facilitate this. With Cisco Jabber. They were able to increase responsiveness and simplify operations. They saw a cost reduction of $45,000 per month.

Keeping employees updated

The Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group was tasked with keeping their employees up to date with COVID-19 protocols during the pandemic. They used their employee app to keep in constant communication, including with furloughed employees who were no longer able to access their work email addresses.

Collaboration software market

In 2020, the size of the global team collaboration market was at $10.48 billion.

The market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 13% from 2021 to 2028.

This growth is being spurred on by changing work cultures. Employees are increasingly working from home, and businesses recognize the need to be flexible and to accommodate customer needs efficiently. Collaboration software helps businesses to meet these goals. 

Collaboration software makers

Several top software companies are competing in the collaboration market. These include:

  • Asana

  • Cisco Systems

  • Avaya

  • Google
  • Citric Systems

  • Microsoft

  • Slack Technologies

  • IBM 

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