The document discusses key debates around social software in enterprises. It addresses questions like whether social software can consistently provide ROI, the roles and responsibilities of community managers, whether to invest in social software platforms or socialize existing tools, and whether intranets should have communities or be communities. For each debate, arguments are presented on both sides, with the conclusion that the answers often depend on specific enterprise needs and contexts.

1. Social Software
in the Enterprise:
Key Debates
K D b t
Twitter: @TonyByrne | @cmswatch | #e2conf-23
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2. "The Real Story"
•Impartial product evaluations for
technology buyers rather than software
buyers,
vendors
•Hard-hitting, critical analysis, debunking
marketing h
k ti hype i f in favor of th t th
f the truth
•Detailed insights and education based on
real end-user experiences
Product evaluations,
subscriptions, and online
courses at cmswatch.com
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3. Agenda
1. Can social software consistently bring real ROI?
2. Are community managers responsible for ILM?
3. Tools: Platform vs. Suites vs. Best-of-Breed?
3 T l Pl tf S it B t f B d?
4. Will the social s/w marketplace consolidate?
5. Socialize existing tools or buy social software?
6. Are we overexaggerating risks?
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7. Blogging is passé – vive micro-blogging?
8 Are social rating / ranking systems helpful?
8.
9. Intranet have a community, or be a community?
10. Other?
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4. Answer:
“It Depends”
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5. 1) Can social software consistently bring real ROI?
YES
• Collaboration and discussion save time… and
time is money
• Customer communities can reduce support
costs and improve customer retention and
• You can avoid expensive investments in
heavyweight, enterprisey tools like portals
NO
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• Social Software systems bring
ttp://geekandpoke.typepad
real, ongoing expenses
• Most ROI estimates rely on
“Mythical M M th ”
“M thi l Man Months”
• But….is this a fair question?
ht
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6. 2) Are Community Managers responsible for Info Lifecycle Mgmt?
YES NO
• Over time, deleting is as important than • Let the community vet
creating: usability, findability, liability,
ti bilit fi d bilit li bilit
accuracy • Community managers should
nourish; Records managers
• Someone has to do it and records and
it, can clean up
compliance managers don’t understand
social
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7. Platforms ECM “Suites” Community
Wikis Blogs Niche Public
Source: http://cmswatch.com/Social/Vendors/
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8. 4) Socialize existing applications or invest in Social Software?
Socialize
S i li
• Let people communicate and
collaborate where they already
work and hang out
• Don’t create new silos of
information
Social Software
• SAP et. al. suck at social
t l k t i l
software
• People need clear “spaces” to
spaces
get social
• Serendipity factor
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9. Will the Social Software marketplace “consolidate”
Copyright © 2009 CMS Watch | www.cmswatch.com Rule & Tools – 6 April, 2009 9

10. 5) Blogging is passé – vive Micro-blogging!
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11. Blogging is passé?
YES
• Tweeting is more spontaneous, easier
• Character limits keep people “on point”
• You can f find intra-enterprise services
• Most blogging is gratuitous anyway
• Twitter is cool -- and cool is important…
NO
• Blogging offers narratives….and
narrative matters
• Twitter can be just as gratuitous,
masturbatory,
masturbatory & lame as the worst blogs
• Blog conversations are more organized,
feel more persistent
• RSS is an effective filter
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12. 6) Are social ratings/ranking helpful?
YES
• All filtering is useful; Need to sort out
what’s “best”
• Evidence of real return on e-commerce
e commerce
and support sites
• Options for passive / active inferencing –
p
putting metrics to work
g
• Voting brings democratic processes
NO
• Requires a critical mass for statistical
meaning
• Known to get abused within and beyond
the firewall
• Is best for the crowd also best for you?
• Systems that promoted “most” items
create a self fulfilling prophecy
self-fulfilling
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13. 7) Should your Intranet have a community or be a community?
Have
• Community/social software not
feature-complete for web
publishing
• You need to be clear about
what s formal
what’s “formal” enterprise content
and what isn’t
Be
• All communication i social
i ti is i l
• Don’t create new silos; integrate
enterprise and social content and
trust the community to know the
difference
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14. 8) Does Age Really Matter in Social Computing?
Source: AIIM Enterprise 2.0 Market Intelligence, 2008
Key Issues
• Adoption vs. Enthusiasm
mcafee.org
• Does consumer web
rce: andrewm
automatically cross over to
enterprise?
Sour
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15. THANK YOU
tbyrne@cmswatch.com
www.cmswatch.com
Twitter: @cmswatch
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