But collaboration tools cannot work alone. Many times, the problem is motivational. You have silos and incentives not to collaborate, so people are unwilling to open up to people in another unit.

If IT has great collaboration tools, it won't help a bit if the . I have often seen companies launch these online tools without solving the underlying management problems.

But if you change incentives so that if you don't collaborate, you don't get promoted, you don't get your bonus, and then you say, "We're also going to give you these great tools that allow you to collaborate better," then you have a winning combination.