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

2

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

5

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

6

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?

• kohster@northwestern.edu

• scott.pitts@northwestern.edu

10

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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