Where Do You Start Your Day? — Social Networks To Take Over the Enterprise
If you are like most business users today you start your day here:
Then you typically head into your inbox and dig through a pile of email from the previous night filtering out the ones which are really important to your projects and tasks at the top of your queue.
IBM is experimenting with new social networking software for enterprises called Connections. Connections makes the assumption that the starting point each day is an activity feed from your trusted contacts and projects letting you know exactly what has been updated or changed. Think friend feed or Facebook newsfeed for the enterprise.
I recently saw a demo of the entire IBM collaboration stack and was impressed that they really do get it. Unfortunately the person demoing the solution started with the inbox, worked their way into instant messaging / communication and then finished with collaboration and connections. I was impressed when one of the younger members of the management team asked quite seriously: “When does the order of the demo change?” The IBM rep though for a minute and then said: “You’re right! Once we see the current Facebook generation enter the enterprise the order will change.” Ah I thought, IBM gets it!
The workforce is changing. Social networking will be the killer application for the enterprise and IBM has already made a significant investment to build out a workflow that starts with a social network, escalates to instant communication and falls back to email if necessary. That folks, is, the game changer.
There has been significant noise lately about Microsoft looking to buy Facebook. In my mind a smart Microsoft executive would see Facebook as the technology to round out their enterprise offering. Unfortunately it is not compatible with the Microsoft software stack and that is a problem. Microsoft is still sticking to their position that desktop productivity applications are the driver for knowledge workers. Anymore, the next generation will shun Outlook and will be far more comfortable interacting in IM clients and web based networking tools. Microsoft has not made significant investment in this space, and Sharepoint (MOSS) feels more like a 90s portal product and less like a game changing social networking tool. Even their experiment with Knowledge Network for MOSS has gone dormant since last summer and not re-emerged.
Today’s enterprises need more then collaboration, they need social experiences. People need to feel more connected to their peers then through document sharing. They want tools like twitter, and Facebook for the enterprise. With Connections, IBM is close.
IBM fell behind significantly with Notes. They lost focus on the user experience, but in some ways that might have helped them. It allowed them to re-focus on what is important to the upcoming workforce and not get stuck in the previous email client driven rut, and that folks changes where you start your day…
