Today, we are seeing two important shifts taking place that are changing the way business activities are performed: teams and virtual office environments. An increasing number of companies are enabling their employees to either work from home or telecommute one or more days throughout the work week. While this provides for more flexibility to employees, it also can present challenges in working on projects in a team environment.

• How does the ability to work virtually and/or telecommute impact one's ability to collaborate on business documents, such as Excel?
• What technology exists which can be utilized for these collaborations? What are the risks associated with using such technology? What are the benefits?

Using the Internet, perform some searches on how business professionals can collaborate utilizing the Microsoft Office Suite and other forms of technology. While you are searching, keep the following questions in mind and be sure to include in your responses.

• What technologies are built right into Microsoft Excel for collaboration?
• What are some technologies available today that allow for collaboration where individuals work in an array of locations?
• When you use this collaborative opportunity, specifically with Excel, what are some features (protections) you may want to consider to ensure that your data remains valid and reliable?