We do a lot of talking about how collaboration tools, business management tools, and so on can help a business. However, talking about what they can do and actually seeing results are two different things. As the tools become better known, and their benefits more clear, more companies begin buying them and integrating them into their product suites, resulting in clear changes in how people and businesses work.

Business tools such as social networking software and messaging software have proven themselves very beneficial for business communications, allowing co-workers to reach each other and clients quickly and conveniently. They’ve been bought up by larger companies, and integrated into their regular offerings. For example, Microsoft (News - Alert) has acquired the social networking tool Yammer, as well as Skype, and integrated it with its own solutions, such as SharePoint, Office 365, and Dynamics.

It’s clear that the need for these tools is recognized on a mainstream level, as they become more prominent and desirable for businesses of all sizes. Other markets, such as healthcare and government, have also been investing in collaboration and communication solutions, as they prove beneficial for all sorts of industries.

This will certainly have an impact on the industry that reaches out farther down the road. "It's going to have a much bigger impact than just making a few project management or collaboration tools available to the enterprise," says Lexy Martin of CedarCrestone Inc. "This is a complex part of the market, and HR should be paying attention to what will happen next."

It will be interesting to see what the future for collaboration and work management tools holds. Some software will become more useful than others, while companies will aim to snatch up those and add them to their portfolios, competing to offer the most complete collaboration solutions. Whatever the end result may be, it will be a challenging but intriguing road to get there.

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