Big data brings new meaning to the idea that “knowledge is power." But how does an organization turn information into knowledge and knowledge into power? The answer is clear: through information sharing, through collaboration.

In a previous post – “Big data deluge: new challenges for collaboration" – I discussed the vital importance of managing explosive volumes of data to ensure effective collaboration. In reality, that’s only half the story. The other side of big data is the opportunity to leverage a large body of intelligence from multiple sources for effective collaboration.

In my predictions of major collaboration trends for 2012 (part one and part two), I highlighted big data, social and mobile, and cloud and mobile. Clearly, these trends will continue to evolve through 2013 and beyond. In my outlook for the coming year, I’d like to offer a perspective on five new directions that these trends are likely to take.

With increasing reliance on collaboration tools to improve information management in regulated industries – such as financial services, healthcare and construction – organizations must demand the highest levels of security from their external service providers in order to avoid data breaches and other incidents. Focusing on the physical data center that hosts the online collaboration service provider’s application isn’t enough.

When we talk about big data, we often focus on the stress of storage costs on IT budgets, or on the need for faster and more powerful analytics. But big data also has implications for collaboration. Insider (registration required).

Why collaborate? It’s a fair question. Although nearly every business that I encounter is talking about implementing or improving collaboration, they often don’t have a clear sense of what they are trying to achieve. The conversation goes something like this:

When we discuss collaboration systems, we typically focus on the flow of the right data to the right people, and how they access and share the information...but it’s just as important to consider how the data is actually handled on the back end.

Records management as we’ve thought of it for generations is obsolete. 

In the same way that mobile technology has enabled countries to skip the costly and complex deployment of copper, easy-to-deploy-and-use SaaS-based tools are enabling companies to benefit from the latest collaboration technology without all the pain of an old-style on-premise software deployment.

“The consumerization of IT” is a big buzz-phrase these days and, while it might seem over-hyped, I believe this trend has legs and it directly impacts collaboration in the workplace.