Mediaboss Marketing

The enterprise social networking market is starting to mature and is moving from the introduction phase into the growth phase, so it's not the time to be left behind.

That's one finding in a new report from Ovum, which says businesses need to consider social networking's role within wider enterprise collaboration strategy.

Ovums current assessment of the enterprise social networking market indicates that Jive and Yammer are the two vendors that organizations are most eager to compare and contrast, but other vendors are generating significant business and revenues from their offerings," said Richard Edwards, Ovum analyst and author of the report. Industry figures suggest IBM Connections brought in US$105.4m during 2011, and from this we believe the current value of the enterprise social networking market to be in excess of US$500m, Edwards says.

Ovum says enterprise social networking is in the adopter phase, with approximately 10 percent of organizations in established IT markets deploying solutions or subscribing to services. Mobile devices are increasingly being used to access the networks and this is extending the use-case for such solutions to a broad audience.

As the business case for investment in enterprise social networking solutions has yet to be proven to business skeptics," Edwards noted, "some vendors are encouraging independent user adoption in the hope it will prove business value. Ovum believes that the business potential offered by enterprise social networking will only be unlocked when necessity dictates a business change."

Meanwhile, the enterprise collaborations technology landscape is awash with social software from a variety of different sources. Vendors offering pure-play enterprise social networking solutions are competing against established enterprise collaboration providers. On the other hand, vendors offering business automation social platforms are trying to gain traction in a market that is also assessing the merits of emerging offerings from companies specializing in enterprise applications.

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Enterprise Social Networking Market Tops $500 Million

Networking through social media may be the 21st century method of job hunting, according to several media experts.

Zach Stemerick| THE CHRONICLE

During Social Media Week, a worldwide celebration of online networking from Sept. 2429, several seminars around Chicago were devoted to discussing and exploring various social media outlets. At a Sept. 26 event hosted by DePaul University, a group of employers, entrepreneurs and the public gathered to discuss the importance of social media in the workplace.

The one way that I believe social media can create social good is to facilitate social good, said moderator and DePaul adjunct faculty member Douglas Miller.

Much of the conference focused on the importance of building an online presence through the development of a portfolio.

All [social media] is a scalable way to leverage our relationships to better our lives, said Regan Caruthers, vice president of PathBrite.com, an online portfolio host.

According to an August study by the Pew Research Institute, 20 percent of the U.S. adult population uses LinkedIn, a professional social networking website frequented by both job hunters and employers. The site functions as an online resum and portfolio host for users to make connections with coworkers and other professionals.

One of the biggest benefits of social media is the change in how employees fill positions, according to Jordan Ho, a digital strategist for Chicago-based promotion company Zcalo Group. Ho explained it has transformed the classified advertising system to one in which employers directly contact people to fill positions.

At some level, the social media is there to humanize the resum, Ho said.

Megan Gebhart, who works for the freelancer social website Elance.com, spoke about how networking sometimes gets a negative connotation when users do it simply to obtain contacts or resources, which doesnt facilitate relationships.

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Home » Metro » Social media may lead to jobs

By Denise G. Callahan

What you say on Facebook can be used against you in a court of law.

Whether its a divorce proceeding or criminal trial, posts on social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and Skype are regularly popping up as evidence in courtrooms locally and across the country. Ian Friedman, past president of the Ohio Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys, said social media evidence has become a critical element in an increasing number of court cases.

In many cases, searching peoples social networking, combing though some of what theyve shared with the rest of the world, is almost the first place we look anymore, Friedman said. I personally have been involved in several trials where credibility was completely lost in a matter of seconds when the witness was presented with something inconsistent they had written in the past.

Butler County Prosecutor Mike Gmoser recently used photos and posts from the Facebook page of a Fairfield Twp. teenager accused of murder to show a jury that the boy liked violence. Gmoser showed Facebook pictures of 18-year-old Lance Tiernan wearing a T-shirt with brass knuckles and a notation on his page that he likes the movie Fight Club.

Once you put something out on the Internet, its there forever, said Hamilton Police Lt. Carl Sigmon. You need to be careful about what you actually put on the Internet because you never know where its going to wind up.

Warren County Prosecutor David Fornshell said he has to not only be concerned with the accused persons social media posts, but also with the Internet activity of victims and other witnesses. Failure of investigators to perform due diligence with Facebook and other sites could result in being blindsided at trial, he said.

We need to verify, through whatever access were able to obtain through social media, theres nothing out there that is going to be damaging to our case, Fornshell said. A lot of times we have cases that come down to the credibility of one person versus another person.

Lawyers involved in civil litigation are also scouring through posts on social networking sites, said Fornshell, a former civil attorney. A plaintiff in a slip-and-fall personal injury case seen dancing on an Internet video could torpedo the case, he said.

Tiernans attorney Charlie M. Rittgers said if his client hadnt taken the stand, Gmoser probably couldnt have shown the on-line the posts. But since Tiernan didnt deny the page was his, the postings were fair game. Rittgers said denying ownership would have been a mistake.

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Social media posts admissible in court

KUWAIT CITY, Kuwait, October 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Amine Jabali, Managing Partner, Peppers & Rogers Group

The banking and telecommunication sectors in North Africa have not utilized the power of social media yet, according to Amine Jabali, Managing Partner, Peppers & Rogers Group.

Social networking is becoming more and more relevant in today's world, especially in the North Africa region. As evidenced by the impact that Social Media has had in fueling the Arab Spring, the companies should embrace this new trend and place increasing focus on Social Media activities. In fact, they need to enter the 'Social' era with a structured approach and best practices in their Social Media adoption.

"Telecommunication companies reacted but they have not used the full potential of social media; they have responded only by providing the gadgets, but the telcos are yet to leverage the use of social networking to generate revenues," Jabali argues. The telecom companies, even the banking sector can leverage through building advocacy or affinity. "As an example, the telecom and banking sectors can create clubs for high school or university students using the power of social media. You can talk to this group of people and know their interest/needs and can bring them forward to be more loyal to you in the early stages of their professional lifecycle," Jabali suggests.

Jabali notes that customers nowadays are not only intelligent, but also becoming more and more demanding. "It's not about 'I'll take what you give' anymore. It's about 'provide what I need'. It is a challenge for the firm, but we see that companies are adapting to new challenges," he asserts. "We see more and more customers purchasing smart phones not only because they have cash, but because they know the value of what they are paying for," he adds.

Many companies have already reaped significant benefits from incorporating Social Media as part of their strategy, by being able to effectively and efficiently build new and reinforce ongoing relationships with existing and potential customers. Marketing can use Social Media to drive brand awareness, deliver relevant information and generate new leads; Customer Support can leverage social channels to respond to enquiries and complaints, as well as solicit customer feedback; whereas Sales can utilize Social Media to support customer acquisition strategies.

"Social Media can also be instrumental in managing and protecting corporate reputation," Jabali notes. Unhappy customers can reach out to thousands of online users through Facebook, Tweets and other Social Media channels and the adverse effect to company's reputation through such outbursts can be staggering if the appropriate remediating actions are not taken.

Companies need to have a comprehensive Social Media presence to provide the customers with an 'always on' channel that is able to meet their sales and service needs. "Pioneers in Social Media in North Africa will find that investing in this new channel will create not only brand awareness and social engagement with their targeted segments, but also to generate consistent uplift of revenue year after year," concludes Jabali.

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Power of Social Media not Utilized

CHICAGO, Oct. 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Peoplefluent, a leading human capital management technology company, today announced its updated Social HCM Product Suite. With an enhanced end-to-end Talent Management suite, the Company is delivering a first-of-its-kind Social HCM Platform designed to dramatically accelerate collaboration workflow, increase productivity and inspire expanded employee engagement. Moving away from current social models, which are often siloed or isolated within groups or functions, Peoplefluent's Social HCM Suite delivers a comprehensive and interactive enterprise social networking strategy to organizations that enables new Human Resources solutions that interact with knowledge resources across the organization.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120705/NE35572LOGO )

"The Human Resources team is taking a leadership role in transforming individual knowledge into corporate wisdom to inspire innovation and to accelerate the profitability and success of organizations around the world," said Gerry Murphy, President and CEO of Peoplefluent. "We have listened to our customers, we have studied market dynamics and demographics, and we have taken our time to create a fully differentiated HCM solution for the Social Enterprise. With today's news, we redefine Social HCM by delivering a dynamic enterprise 'brain trust' through a social platform, woven throughout all Talent Management disciplines, that is focused more on people than on process. We are deeply committed to unlocking the intellectual assets and advancing the innovation inherent, yet untapped, in our customer organizations around the world."

With a heritage of innovation, recognized most recently with selection as a top HR product of the year by Human Resource Executive for its mobile applications and selection for the "Awesome New Technologies for HR" session at the HR Technology Conference & Expo for its newest Social HCM Suite, Peoplefluent has, again, built a product from the ground up, which brings to life a social, mobile and visual analytics experience to meet employees when, where and how they want to engage.

"Enterprise Social Networking has become a mainstream priority for the majority of organizations and has completely replaced the stagnant environment delivered by the corporate Intranet. Employers are realizing quickly that connecting people, processes and information into live 'knowledge hubs' fuels and nourishes idea flow and helps workers share, update and collaborate faster and more effectively," said Jim Lundy, Founder and CEO of Aragon Research. "The new Social HCM Product Suite delivered by Peoplefluent is a productivity strategy focused more on what employees know and how they can apply their knowledge and experience to advance the business than on their user ID and departmental silo."

Peoplefluent's Social HCM environment intersects with and enables all elements associated with an employee lifecycle providing engaging, robust and collaborative experiences with onboarding, ongoing performance management, real-time compensation analysis, and continuous learning opportunities. Powerful analytics and data, video and content resource libraries, social networks, collaborative workspaces, corporate news feeds, workflow analysis, and dynamic and ongoing user interaction accelerate knowledge transfer and enable dynamic and deeply informed decision-making. Specific product applications portal features will include:

Portal Applications

Additional Portal Features and Functionality

Peoplefluent's Social HCM Suite extends far beyond embedded social features in traditional Talent Management products, and it is more comprehensive than a simple social envelope. With this new suite, employees have a centralized dashboard and profile that serves as a portal to their individual and uniquely personalized engagement with peer groups, data and the processes associated specifically with their daily professional experiences and workflow.

For a complete demo of Peoplefluent's new Social HCM Platform, please attend the "Awesome New Technologies" session at the HR Technology Conference & Exposition, scheduled for Tuesday, October 9, 2012 from 1:45-3:00 p.m. and open to full conference attendees.

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Peoplefluent Changes Enterprise Collaboration and Engagement Landscape with Launch of Breakthrough Social HCM Product ...