Email attachments, specifically the (ab)use of email as a document sharing system is a common concern amongst many companies coping with the constant increase in network traffic and storage demand. Stuart McIntyre on the Quickr blog highlights an interesting approach on how to lighten the email load by providing an intuitive integration point between email client and collaboration solution.

As Stuart points out:

“Of course there have been many attempted solutions to this, from formal document management or content management products at the high-end through to document libraries or fileshares at the low end, companies have tried really hard to deal with this issue. However, for many, the stumbing block has always been how to make the solution intuitive and easy to use for users in the context of their daily tasks.”

The Quickr / Notes connector will automatically prompt users to post the email attachment to a Quickr place while simply sending a link in the actual email. It is worth mentioning that Microsoft Outlook offers a similar feature for posting email attachments to SharePoint document workspace sites. This seemingly simple integration is the key to user adoption of these collaborative solutions.

Both IT and users win as storage demands for email will slow and users gain access to the features of a real document sharing system.

However, don’t forget that Quickr and SharePoint will require pro-active monitoring and management as well, as users can more easily create ad-hoc document sharing places. Usage monitoring combined with a sound document retention and archiving policy should be put in place right away to avoid the cost and headaches of a “clean-up” project later on.

Technorati Tags: quickr, quickplace, outlook, sharepoint, lotus, notes, email attachments

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