Using Persistent Chat to Build Cross-Team Collaboration Best Practices Forum 2017 Julian Y. Koh Scott A. Pitts
Using Persistent Chat to Build
Cross-Team Collaboration
Best Practices Forum 2017
Julian Y. Koh
Scott A. Pitts
Outline
• Persistent chat basics
• Evolution of chat application usage in
Northwestern IT
• Futures
• Demo/walkthrough
• Questions welcome throughout!
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Persistent Chat Basics
• Persistence refers to preservation of
content across clients and over time
• Distinct from traditional one on one or
group chat (AIM, Skype, Yahoo
Messenger, iChat/iMessage, IRC)
• Newer offerings characterized external
application integrations and bundled
collaboration features
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Northwestern IT Chat, pre-2014
3
https://xkcd.com/1810/
Northwestern IT Chat Evolution
• Initial Cyberinfrastructure core requirements
– Single platform for all groups
– One on one, group, and private group conversations
– Mobile, desktop, and web clients
– Notifications
– Common usage expectations
• Not as important
– Audio/video
– Integrations/bots
4
Northwestern IT Chat Evolution
• Slack chosen as CI chat platform in early
2014
• 151 total members, 76 “active”
– Standard Paid Plan with EDU discount
• https://northwestern-it.slack.com
• Usage guidelines available at
https://northwestern.box.com/s/zbtvoi5qx6
ehpq6m9ge3g4fpc2d1fuev
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Key Usage Guidelines
• Chat is not a replacement for formal
incident reporting and response
• All operational users are expected to
monitor notifications in the #incidents
channel
• Individual group dynamics should inform
usage patterns/requirements
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Realized Benefits
• Faster and coordinated incident
recognition, analysis, and response
• Increased volume, speed, and efficiency of
communication between groups
• Reduction in email
• Increased camaraderie and casual
communication, especially among
geographically separated groups
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Persistent Chat Futures
• Other Northwestern groups have
established Slack teams
– Slack Enterprise?
• Northwestern IT investigating:
– Cisco WebEx and Spark
– Microsoft Teams
• Potential for rich integrations with local
applications and environments
8
Demo!
Questions?
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References and Useful Info
• http://www.networkworld.com/article/31777
07/collaboration/how-to-manage-group-
chat-in-the-enterprise-hint-lightly.html
• https://xkcd.com/1810/
• https://slack.com/
• https://www.ciscospark.com/
• https://products.office.com/en-
us/microsoft-teams/group-chat-software
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