Enterprise Social Media Apps and Beyond

Social media applications are plentiful, so which one is the right one for the enterprise? That seems to be the main theme in this latest article from eWeek. Most social media applications being used by the enterprise now originally came from the consumer side, for example Facebook. Even though applications like Facebook can be tailored and adapted to fit specific needs of the enterprise, an application that focuses solely on these needs should be built…

BEA plans to launch a Facebook-like enterprise social solution called AcquaLogic which will focus on these specific enterprise needs, especially around security and governance. AcquaLogic will allow enterprise users to do social networking within their own environment, have profile pages, and collaborate and share information easily on this platform.

Other companies like Salesforce.com seem to get it too. Their recent launch of Ideaforce provides users a platform where they can debate and new features and enhancements they most want included in future product releases. Anshu Sharma, senior director at Salesforce.com puts everything in perspective for us:

"The enterprise wants social media applications that allow them to connect information that can then be extracted and used in a meaningful way"

The enterprise must first decide which Web 2.0 tools are most vital to improving collaboration before launching social media platforms. The application that consolidates these tools and makes it useful for everyone within organizations will ultimately come out on top.