Enterprise Social Networking and Collaboration by Martin Butler, Deborah Butler and Jason Chester

8/2/2019 Enterprise Social Networking and Collaboration by Martin Butler, Deborah Butler and Jason Chester

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Enterprise Social Networking

and Collaboration

by Martin Butler, Deborah Butler, Jason Chester

Published by Martin Butler Research

Covers, Table of Contents and Sample Pages

Buy the book at:

www.enterprisesocialnetworkingbook.com
http://www.enterprisesocialnetworkingbook.com/http://www.enterprisesocialnetworkingbook.com/http://www.enterprisesocialnetworkingbook.com/


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Enterprise Social Networkingand Collaboration

written by

Martin ButlerDeborah ButlerJason Chester

Published by Martin Butler Research Ltd


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Enterprise Social Networking and Collaboration

2010 by Martin Butler Research Limited, Melton Court, Gibson Lane,Melton, East Yorkshire, HU14 3HH, United Kingdom.

All rights reserved.

First PDF Edition 2010

Te opinions expressed in this book are our own. We cannot be held re-

sponsible for factual inaccuracies caused by errors in the information givento us by suppliers and others.

for further informationwww.martinbutlerresearch.com

ISBN: 978-0-9567032-1-7


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About this Book

This book is completely independent of all vendor inuence, which

means our analysis is impartial, and we can be totally honest about

the technology, its implications and uses.

Secondly this book contains material normally published in

analyst reports which cost considerably more. Our decision to

publish analyst quality material in a book means that distribution is

much larger and is accessible to organisations which would normally

be unwilling to pay exaggerated prices.

About Martin Butler Research

Martin Butler is best known as founder and former Chairman of

Butler Group, Europes largest indigenous analyst company beforeits acquisition by Datamonitor in 2005. Martin Butler Research

provides the same level of analysis as other analyst companies, but at

a fraction of the cost and to a much broader audience.

Research is targeted at business management and focuses on

costs, benets and risks. Technical issues are addressed only insofar

as they affect business performance.

Much market research has shown that business and technology

managers want concise, to-the-point analysis at an affordable price.

The Business Technology Review series of books fulls this need.


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Contents

Introduction 7

Hard Look at Social NetworkingCost and Value 17Behavioural Issues 25Governance 30Compliance 37

Te Unsocial Enterprise 42

FunctionalityProfles 48Forums 50Blogs 53Microblogs 55Wikis 59Groups and Communities 61Social Bookmarks 64Activity Streams 66Messaging 71Content Management 73Desktop and Mobile Integration 76Search 79

ags 80

Consumer Social MediaBusiness to Consumer 83Uses and Purpose or Social Media 89Use o Social Networking 92New Markets 99Issues 103

ools 121Methods or Engagement 127


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Use CasesGruppo Coin 132Mota-Engil 132IEEE 135National Breast Cancer Foundation 136Digital Opportunity Trust 137

Water or People 139

Technology PlatormsVendors

Awareness, 146Blogtronix 148Chatter rom Salesorce 150Quad rom Cisco 152

IGLOO 154INgage Networks 156IntelliEnterprise rom Adenin 158Jive Sofware 160Leverage Sofware 162Lotus Connections rom IBM 164Pringo 166Sharepoint 2010 rom Microsof 168

Ramius 170Socialtext 172Telligent 174

Analytics 176SAS 177Autonomy 177IBM 178Telligent 178

UberVU 180


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9

1Introduction

The only thing we learn from history is that

we learn nothing from history -Hegel

Social networking embodies one all-embracing notion - the idea

that communication can be two way and not just one way. The

monopoly on communication has traditionally been held by those

with the resources to exploit it - large corporations, governments

and academic institutions. Traditionally these organisations have

used industrial media to achieve their aims. Television, billboards,

magazines, newspapers, radio and more recently web sites have

provided a one way information ow - from the provider to us, the

more or less willing consumers.

Since the focus of this book is Enterprise Social Networking

(ESN) it is worth pointing out that communication within the

enterprise has also been one way - from senior management down

to operations and requests for information from operations back up

to management. This has all taken place within the context of highly

formal information structures - reports, plans, budgets, spreadsheets,structured databases and the like. This is somewhat ironical since

it has been known for decades that most communication within an


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22 Enterprise Social Networking and Collaboration

Social Networking Value

There are two schools of thought when it comes to the value that might

be derived from social networking activities. Some organisations

and technology suppliers see social networking as a predominantly

bottom-up activity. A give them tools and value will be created sort

of approach. The other school of thought sees social networking as a

messaging system that can be plugged into the operational environ-

ment in well dened ways - this is primarily a top-down approach.

Some Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) technology suppliers are

incorporating social networking into their products (e.g. Epicor).

When a delivery is late, or a production run is interrupted, messages

can be automatically generated on the social network for relevant

parties to see.

As always with information and information technology, it is

very difcult to put a gure on the value that systems deliver. Simply

installing a social network, or making extensive use of public socialnetworks such as Facebook and Twitter without any notion of how

value will be created is just plain irresponsible. The key to realising

value from social networks will be well designed organisational

goals with metrics to determine success.

Many organisations will have become aware of social network-

ing as a mechanism to promote brand and recruit customers. This has

typically happened through public networks such as Facebook and

particularly their fan pages. Other organisations have used Facebook

games and applications to promote brand and garner customer

interest. 7-Eleven, the international store chain is offering exclusive

virtual gift products for players of Zyngas FarmVille - the most

widely played Facebook game. More often however, organisations

are using social networks to measure sentiment and establish brand

following. Its all a bit hit and miss, but like the lottery, the opportu-

nity always exits to hit the jackpot by doing something that captures


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2 A Hard Look at Social Networking 27

Behavioural Issues

Various studies show that the majority of employees in organisations

of all types do not feel engaged. This research shows that around

a quarter of employees will go the extra mile if needed, but most

feel sufciently alienated from their employer that they would avoid

such efforts if possible. Enterprise social networking is frequently

touted as a mechanism to engage employees and make them feel

part of a contributing workforce. Used judiciously this will certainly

be the case, but new types of behaviour will emerge to replace the

old ones. We have certainly seen a level of paranoia on some social

networks with people feeling as if they have to be constantly com-

municating their activities. Employees are really not so dumb that a

new messaging system will breed loyalty and commitment. Honesty,

integrity and a strong purpose will engage people. An enterprise social

network will reinforce these dynamics. Where there is cynicism and

distrust, a social network will simply amplify cynical and dishonestbehaviour. Managers had better make sure their corporate culture is

healthy before implementing a social network.

Attention Management

Information workers use an average of fteen applications a day.

The typical cocktail might be comprised of word processing, spread-

sheets, presentation software, email, the company portal, instant

messaging, operational applications such as ERP and CRM and

others that might be specic to the business. It is fairly common

to see employees jumping out of their current task and switching

to email when a message is received. Meetings in many organisa-

tions are blighted with people sending or reading messages on their

iPhones or Blackberries. It seems that prolonged concentrated effort

may become a thing of the past and a term has been introducedin the community of psychologists to describe the new behaviour

Acquired Attention Decit Disorder (AADD). It might just be a


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2 A Hard Look at Social Networking 43

certainly be the case that the most signicant benets will emerge

over a longer time period. Wait and see is usually the best strategy

to adopt.

There are of course exceptions to this strategy and most notably

when there is signicant advantage to be gained from early adoption.

These exceptions are fairly rare however, and if management can

resist the urge and pressures to adopt the latest and greatest offerings

from the IT industry the route to IT nirvana will be much smoother.

Business to Consumer Social Networks

Despite the relative maturity of platforms such as Facebook and

Twitter, the use of social networks for sales and marketing activi-

ties is still in its infancy. There is as yet no compelling evidence

that social networks provide a signicant positive return on associ-

ated sales and marketing investment - although this will undoubtedly

happen. The availability of these platforms is actually just a small

part of the equation. Methods, management and measurement are themost important factors and suppliers such as Awareness are respond-

ing to this with the tools to manage campaigns and measure results.

We can expect more of these tools to become available and it would

be folly to launch into social media marketing without them. It is also

worth bearing in mind that resources used on social marketing and

sales are resources denied to other more proven channels. The best

place to start is obviously with a pilot project or two once the tools to

manage and measure have been acquired.

Enterprise social media is a different game altogether - its all or

nothing here. Any half-baked attempts to interface with customers

is likely to be met with derision, and so care is needed. There really

isnt much in the way of collective wisdom here (or best practice

as the consultants would call it), and any organisation launching a

customer facing social network is denitely at the bleeding edge of

things. Wait and see is probably a good tactic since there will be


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a community or group where the user receives microblog messages

from other users within that community or group. Messages from all

subscribed microblogs are aggregated into a single news feed thatdisplays a list of messages in chronological order that is continuously

updated. Users may also add comments in response to microblog

messages that can also be viewed by the original sender and other

users receiving that microblog. This news feed may be viewed

through a users personalised social network home page or, as some

suppliers enable, through SMS, instant messaging and email or

through desktop, application or mobile integration.

Microblog screenshot courtesy of Socialtext

Using a microblog, a user can quickly broadcast a short message

either to inform others of information that may be interesting or useful

to them, such as a link to a news story, or to inform others of their

own thoughts, ideas and activities. These latter type of messages are

commonly referred to as status updates. Users may also broadcast


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from an ERP system. Activity streams may also be used as part of

the interface to business processes, workow or approval systems

where specic user intervention or authorisation is required. Secureintegration with a suppliers system may also provide a user with

external notications such as shipment tracking information from

a parcel carrier for example. The range of resources that can be

integrated within an activity stream is probably only limited by

creativity and interoperability standards. Many social networking

platform suppliers see this openness as a key deliverable (as do many

business application suppliers) and are actively supporting industryinitiatives to support this level of integration.

The updates in an activity stream are displayed as a chronological

list and are most commonly the main feature on a users social

network home page. Some updates are automatically included in a

users activity stream without the need for a specic request such as

when adding a user to their network or joining a group or community.

Other updates however need to be specically requested such as

by subscribing to a blog or monitoring a wiki page for example.

Even with this selective process, the number of updates appearing

in a users activity stream can be signicant. Therefore most social

networking platforms provide comprehensive ltering options based

on user dened parameters to keep the volume to a practical and

usable level. Privacy and security settings enable individual users

to control who or what groups of people can receive notications

and updates of their activities. Group policies also enable these rules

to be dened at a resource level such as for a particular group or

community or collection of wiki pages for example. This security

and privacy framework is essential when integrating information

from potentially sensitive business applications.

Interactivity is an important element in the potential successand widespread use of activity streams. Each notication includes

links that enable the user to navigate directly to the source of the


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dictable audience. Well-planned strategies will not work if they are

perceived to be stale or lame by the public, no matter how brilliant

the concept.

Why should the enterprise be doing B2C social networking?

Firstly, social networking is a marketing opportunity, using technol-

ogy to distribute the message to a wider audience, faster, cheaper and

easier than before. The Internet has static pages the enterprise draws

people to. Social networking turns the Internet on its head, because

the enterprise has to go out to the people to deliver the messages

about the organisation and its offerings using personal engagement,

rather than to pull consumers to the organisation through an advertis-

ing click-through.

Unfortunately, marketing in social spaces is so easy to mess up.

Many people are already aware of marketing ploys and techniques

and are jaded by them. The public resents having old marketing

materials recycled and introduced as social media. Many campaignshave backred and others have shown little or no return.

For example, in Skittles Twitter campaign, the product was

attacked and the promotion was used against them. Other examples

of campaigns gone wrong are Wal Marts Facebook campaign, Kiva.

orgs Twitter campaign, and General Motors SUV create your own

advert viral marketing campaign, which was hijacked by environ-

mentalists and backred badly. - So the enterprise has to get clever.

Within the marketing scope, there are opportunities to expose

brand and products using the tools provided. Yet, this is one area in

which the discipline of the IT department can assist marketing to

achieve a sound strategy. Technical know how is needed to support a

successful campaign in this market space. The IT department should

also have the freedom to deliver tools to implement damage controllimitation should things not go according to plan.


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4 Consumer Social Networking 115

policy? What is its policy on developing nations? What charity

sectors it will support. All these are important in social networking.

People need to understand what the organisation belief system is.Lack of ethical stance risks an organisations reputation in online

consumer networking activity.

Respect the privacy of people online. Spam and junk content are

not appreciated in communities. However, if your organisation has

a genuinely excellent offer, let people know about it, but always be

professional and honest with the online community because news

spreads fast and integrity is its cornerstone.

One faux pas is to directly post an advertisement with links to

the corporate web site without being asked to. Social networking is

a pull, rather than a push society. Publish quality content on the

social networking website and people will come to the organisation

because of the strength and quality of the information.

Self Regulation

Social networking has created a new digital divide, or rather a digital

narrowing. As the cost of entry is negligible, low cost offerings abound

and increase the proliferation of isolated and poorly connected, mi-

cro-social groups controlled by individuals with little or no corporate

acumen. These niche groups have interests in common, yet are dis-

associated from other groups of their kind. It can take signicant

resources to inltrate several of these isolated groups if they are your

target market.

Targeting and knowing where to hit is paramount in commu-

nicating with the social sphere. Accessing several of these groups

through one signicant individual is ideal. However, nding that in-

dividual is not as easy. Many tools are available to assess quality

of inuencers, some by breadth, as with famous personalities, andothers by quality of their reach.


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133

5Use Cases

Weve tended to forget that no computer will ever ask a new question.

Grace Hopper

Use Cases

This chapter contains a number of commercial and NPO use cases

provided by some of the suppliers analysed in this report. All suppliers

were asked but only four responded. We are not sure whether this

is because some do not have meaningful use cases or whether the

marketing and PR people are not up to scratch. In any case these

examples give useful insights into the way social technologies are

being used and the benets that a diverse collection of organisations

are realising.

We had many more non-prot organisation (NPO) examples

and did not include all of them. For obvious reasons commercial

organisations like to hold the cards closer to their chest, but the

examples we have published are quite insightful.

The entries have been edited to some degree to censor the

superlatives and marketing speak, but this has not detracted from the

essential messages.


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Lotus Connections from IBM

Overall: Inadequate Adequate Capable Excellent Superior

Advisory:

Lotus Connections provides a fairly extensive set of capabilities

for social networking within the enterprise. IBM shops will use

it in conjunction with other products to meet the needs of large

organisations.

Strengths: Integration options are surprisingly good and

IBM offers excellent supporting services.

Weaknesses: Lotus Connections on its own meets basic

requirements. Other products will be needed to

satisfy more advanced requirements.

Why use it?

Medium and large sized organisations will nd that Lotus Connections

addresses most of their Enterprise Social Networking needs.

Organisations using Lotus Notes and Microsoft Outlook will nd it

provides a natural extension to embrace wider functionality. Lotus

Connections is primarily targeted at the need to share knowledge,

create workgroups and communicate in an informal manner.

What it does

Lotus Connections is fairly extensive in its functionality. It does most

of the things you would expect of an Enterprise Social Networking

tool including: supporting the creation of communities, wikis, blogs,

activity management, le sharing and management, user proling,

social networking support and portal type functionality through auser dened home page. Support is also provided for many mobile

devices (e.g. Blackberry).


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Documents

Enterprise Social Networking and Collaboration by Martin Butler, Deborah Butler and Jason Chester