Based on conversations I had at the recent Enterprise 2.0 conference, here are the top 5 reasons you want to get your enterprise to be social.
1. Web content is static and requires people to come to you. Social is dynamic and encourages dialogue with employees, customers and partners. When you get social, your market presence increases
2. While you probably have great data storage mechanisms and file search tools and semantic services (and if not, well keep reading) but there is a ton of valuable information in the heads of your staff. Social encourages sharing that is searchable and shareable. So then when your great folks retire, or move on, your intellectual edge doesn't go with them
3. If you don't get enterprise social going, your users will find alternatives. Alternatives that won't be secure, won't have user integrity and that despite every rule you put in place you won't be able to control. Embrace enterprise social, don't fight it. Happier people, better attitudes.
4. With great respect to IT professionals, the common actions to get social into the business when led by IT take a really long time and have an unfortunate history of failure. Organizations that have made enterprise social an assignment to an executive sponsored team to implement the social solution have very high success rates with rapid implementation and successful viral adoption. And here, viral, means excellent.
5. Structured data is a great thing, when properly managed and secured. But much of what we as organizations know is unstructured, and lives in the minds of many. Enterprise social unlocks those minds to share, to contribute and gather remarkable* ideas that make your company stand out.
*remarkable in this context is as used by Seth Godin – special, unique, differentiated
Are there more reasons. Yes there are. What are yours? Please offer your thoughts, comments and ideas.
Until next time, peace.
Ross
