If it isn't neutral, it's not collaboration

What does multi-party collaboration and Switzerland have in common? Neutrality. The year after high school I had the very fortunate experience of living in Switzerland as an exchange student. One aspect of the country that intrigued me was its political neutrality.

Switzerland shuns military alliances and hasn't been in a state of war since it established its neutrality with the Treaty of Paris in 1815. It's this neutrality that has afforded the country a number of economic benefits. For example dozens of major international organizations are headquartered in Switzerland, such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Olympic Committee (IOC) , and the World Health Organization (WHO),. Also, as a "neutral third party," Switzerland is a trusted and much relied on host for events focused on issues of international cooperation, including peace and security, human rights, health, science, economics, and environmental protection.

Neutrality also plays an important role in our society. For example, judges and juries in our legal system, arbitrators for business disputes, title companies and escrow accounts in home buying, and even referees in sporting events - We regularly rely on neutral third parties to ensure fairness and protection for both sides in a dispute or negotiation.

©iStockphoto.com/
duncan1890

Neutrality must also play a fundamental role in multi-party collaboration. When we are trying to work with other companies to share information and optimize processes, we need a neutral, independent framework that levels the playing field for all participants. Let's face reality:  Businesses establish their partnerships for a variety of reasons, and while they may start as mutually beneficial, they may not stay that way. There may be conflicts between one company's short-term goals and a partner's long-term goals. Operational, organizational and cultural differences may emerge over time. Legal disputes may arise over scope or performance. One party may even simply decide that another company can offer it a better deal.

If the collaboration platform is not neutral -- that is, if it's internally hosted or controlled by one company--why should any other company risk openly sharing its information and exposing its business processes? What if a dispute or conflict leads the controlling party to simply lock out all the other parties?

A neutral collaboration platform can ensure that:

• Each participating company retains ownership and control of its own information-and is never locked out of the system no matter what form of dispute arises.
• Information can be accessed only by those that the owner has explicitly allowed to see it -- via sophisticated permissions and security controls.
• All documents and activities are audited and searchable, ensuring that each participant always knows who did what and when, and providing all parties with the transparency and accountability they need to satisfy regulatory, compliance and legal requirements.
• Participating companies will never lose correspondence or have an attachment blocked. If it's sent via the neutral platform, then it's received, providing all parties with the confidence that they are acting based on complete and up-to-date information

These are just some of the issues that I've noticed -- Have you had issues trying to collaborate in a non-neutral environment? 

Leigh is the Co-Founder & CEO of Aconex, the world's most widely-used online collaboration platform for the Construction and Engineering industry.