Digital Citizen
Global study reveals increased use of consumer-based social networking tools in the enterprise
The popularity of social networking is unquestionable, but whether social networking is an effective tool to business is still debatable. There are companies who actually block-facebook and/ or twitter for a number of reason like security issues and time wasters. And of course, there are also companies who uses social networking sites for communication and for marketing their services.
Cisco released the result of a third-party global study designed to asses how organization use consumer social networking tools to collaborate externally, revealing the need for stronger governance and IT involvement. The research is the first of a two part series that Cisco has Commission to explore the impact of social networking and collaboration application in the enterprise.
The new study is based on extensive interviews with 105 participants representing 97 organizations in 20 countries around the globe. Conducted between April and September 2009, The research was carried out by leading business schools in the United States and Europe: IESE Business School in Spain, E. Philip Saunders College of Business at the Rochester Institute Technology in the U.S, and Henley Business School in the United Kingdom.
The study findings indicate that the business world is at the early stages of adapting this tools and in the process of identifying key challenges, such as the need for increased governance and IT involvement, which may impact the integration and adoption of these new platforms and technologies.
The Increased Use of Consumer Based Social Networking Tools in the Enterprise
The organization interviewed, 75 percent identified social networking as a consumer-based social media tools they primarily use, while roughly 50 percent of the group also identified extensive use of microblogging. Social Networking tools are spreading into core areas of the value chain, including the marketing and communication, human relation, and customer service departments. Within Marketing and Communication, these tools have already become an integral part of the organizations initiatives, as marcomm staff members have understood and acted on the shift from "broadcast" to "conversational" communications or rich interactions.
The Need for More Governance and IT Involvement in Social Media Efforts
Only one in seven companies that participated in the research noted a formal process associated with adopting consumer-based social networking tools for business purposes, indicating that the potential risks associated with this tools in the enterprise are either overlooked or not well understood. Only one in five participants identified any policies in the place concerning the use of consumer-based social networking governance typically involves more stakeholders than standard corporate initiatives, as these organizations have yet to define who"owns" external social media strategies.
Due to the unstructured nature of social networking, companies continue to struggle with policy creation and adoption, as copying an established governance process from other, More structured areas (for example, Information technology) often doesn't work for social networking, Businesses also find difficulty in striking the right balance between the social and personal nature of these tools while maintaining some degree of corporate oversight.
Only one in 10 respondents noted direct IT involvement in externally facing social networking initiatives. Although the IT department is typically not involved as a primary decision maker, respondents did recognized the need for these tools to scale and properly integrate with existing business processes to reap maximum benefits.
The Future of Social Networking and Collaboration Tools in the Enterprise
Across the board, respondents recognized that consumer-based social networking and collaboration tools will continue to evolve, as will their complexity, and that these tools will continue to influence the way business is conducted. The key for organizations will be the way they adopt and integrate these tools into the enterprise IT environment.
