As an organisation grows, it has to deal with a pretty big challenge. Collaboration between different people and teams within the organisation becomes more important than ever, but also more difficult to facilitate.

Once the organisation gets beyond a certain size, the free and basic tools it relied on in the startup phase just aren’t going to cut it anymore.

While some of these tools have paid options that include additional features beneficial to growing organisations, there are others designed specifically for entities operating at enterprise scale.

Here are a few of them:

Office 365

While Office 365 does have options aimed at individuals and small businesses, its enterprise packages are where it really comes into its own.

Available at a range of prices, all the options include web-based versions of Microsoft’s Office tools (with multiple people able to collaborate on docs, spreadsheets, and presentations at once) and cloud storage.

More advanced versions include powerful collaboration tools such as Yammer, Skype for Business, and Microsoft Teams, as well as the ability to manage daily staff schedules and work tasks with Microsoft StaffHub.

Quip Enterprise

Founded by ex-Facebook CTO Brett Taylor and Google App Engine founder Kevin Gibbs, Quip was originally launched as a mobile-centric tool for creating shared notes, lists, and documents.

In the intervening years, it was acquired by Salesforce (in 2015) and added a host of additional features.

Its enterprise offering includes access to all of Quip’s features, such as docs, spreadsheets, messaging, and mobile as well as access to all Live Apps, including Salesforce Live Apps. Additionally, you get unlimited storage, the ability to fully customise Quip’s Live Apps and Automation APIs for use by the entire organization to work directly with internal tools and processes, and enhanced security.

Facebook Workplace

When Facebook launched Workplace in late 2016, no one was really surprised. For years, rumours abounded that the social networking giant was working on a business offering.

The collaborative platform allows people within an organisation to communicate via groups, to chat with colleagues and offers the social network’s features in a corporate environment.

Features that are particularly useful in the business space include unlimited file, photo and video storage; unlimited team and project groups; integration with file storage providers; Desktop Notifier for Windows; and secure collaboration between companies.

Among the companies currently using Workplace are the likes of Walmart, Spotify, Domino’s Pizza, and Starbucks.

Huddle

Used by the likes of DHL and Britain’s National Health Service, Huddle aims to simplify document collaboration with colleagues and customers.

In Huddle, teams can work together to share, discuss and work on their content. The idea, the company says, is that Huddle becomes your hub of activity – so you spend less time organizing documents and tasks, chasing approvals, and searching through email – “and more time delivering exceptional results”.

Huddle also integrates with existing productivity tools, such as Microsoft Office and Google for Work, meaning that your organisation doesn’t have to abandon tools its employees are used to using.

Stride

A comparatively new player on the block, Stride was launched by collaboration and productivity giant Atlassian in 2017 to replace the cloud-based version of HipChat.

Among Stride’s most notable features are chat rooms, one-on-one messaging, file sharing, 5 GB of file storage, group voice and video calling, and built-in collaboration tools.

Premium users meanwhile can access advanced meeting functionality like group screen sharing, remote desktop control, and dial-in/dial-out capabilities.

Stride additionally offers integrations with Atlassian’s other products as well as other third-party applications listed in the Atlassian Marketplace, such as GitHub, Giphy, and Google Calendar.

Have you used any of the above tools in your organisation? How did they work out for you? Let us know in the comments section below.