New research commissioned by Fujitsu UK and Ireland has found that only 40% of IT managers think that collaboration applications drive cost savings and 2 in 5 SharePoint sites are inactive.

Whilst there is widespread adoption of collaboration technology there is significant doubt around its ability to enable cost savings and a lack of understanding around how to deploy and measure the use of collaboration tools.

The research shows that of all collaboration technologies, SharePoint is by far the most common. 92% of enterprise organisations using collaboration software use SharePoint and for over three-quarters of organisations (78%) SharePoint is the only collaboration technology that they use. But on average only 60% (3 in 5) of SharePoint sites are active; many organisations are clearly failing to maximise their SharePoint investment.

Furthermore, when looking more broadly at collaboration technology, IT managers are not confident about the benefits it brings. 59% believe that collaborative and content sharing applications will drive efficiency improvements within their enterprise but only 40% believe it will drive cost savings within their enterprise.

George Nagle, director Information Applications, Fujitsu UK and Ireland, commented: “Too often the success of collaboration technology is a leap of faith for IT managers. Organisations need to take a long-term, planned approach to any collaborative project – but in particular to SharePoint. We know there are benefits to be gained but without measurement and structure, collaboration can never be proven to be a success. Subsequently, too many enterprise organisations rely on ‘gut feel’.”