Achieving Tangible Business Benefits with Social Computing

July 2007
Achieving tangible business
benefits with social computing.Achieving tangible business benefits with social computing.Page 
IntroductionContents In the age of Web 2.0, Internet users are rewriting the rules of social interac-tion by harnessing a range of new technologies to create and sustain virtual 2 Introduction communities forged around common interests. Communications channels 3 Driving innovation through such as blogs and online forums, amplified by collaborative technologies collaboration like social bookmarking, provide powerful tools for sharing information and 4 Social software: taking sustaining relationships across geographic borders and industry silos. Often collaboration to the next level referred to as collective intelligence or the wisdom of the crowd, the reservoir 7 Putting social software to work of knowledge created by these confederations of self-designated experts and 9 Overcoming obstacles to volunteers can often exceed the sum of the parts.adoption12 Getting started with social It is the power inherent in this collective intelligence that is causing the cor-computing porate world to sit up and take notice. In today's global market environment, it 14 Conclusion is increasingly difficult to differentiate products via conventional benchmarks like price or even quality. One key to gaining a competitive advantage is being the first to market. This often requires rethinking the enterprise from the ground up, from technologies to processes to people. As part of this business transformation, business leaders are now focused on the human component in their efforts to foster innovation and growth. To truly stand out from the crowd, they are discovering they must harness the power of corporate knowl-edge. By collecting, maintaining and sharing the discrete bits of knowledge scattered throughout departments and organizational niches, companies can better leverage this collective intelligence within the enterprise.
Social software can be instrumental in achieving this goal. A recent research paper by Gartner concluded, "Enterprise social software will be the biggest new workplace technology success story of this decade. Thirty percent of enterprises will openly sponsor internal.social sharing spaces to help employ-1ees find others with similar interest, skills, backgrounds and experiences."Achieving tangible business benefits with social computing.Page 
Driving innovation through collaborationHighlights In a 2006 study, more than 700 CEOs worldwide told IBM that finding new areas of growth, new products and services, and engineering new in-house processes and business models were ranked as top strategies for staying com-2petitive. When asked where the ideas that could lead to such innovation would come from, CEO identified employees, partners and clients as the top three groups.
CEOs: sources of new ideas and innovation
Business partners Employees(general population)Clients Research and devel-opment (internal)Consultants Sales or service units
Competitors Other
Associations, trade Think tanksgroups, conference boardsAcademia Internet, blogs, bulletin boards45% 35% 25% 15% 5% 5% 15% 25% 35% 45%
Source: IBM Institute for Business Value, The Global CEO Study 2006, March 2006.
The ability to collaborate is a key In the same study, the ability to collaborate was identified as a key competitive competitive factor that separates out- factor that separates out-performers from under-performers in terms of their performers from under-performers in ability to innovate. terms of their ability to innovate. Regardless of the type of innovation undertaken, over 75 percent of CEOs indicated that collaboration is very important to innovation. One CEO described its importance on a scale of one to five as "enormous. I'd give this a six if I could." Achieving tangible business benefits with social computing.Page 
But when it comes to assessing the current situation, CEOs experienced disap-Highlights pointment in fostering a collaborative workplace.
Although collaborative aspirations were high, actual implementation was dramatically lower. Only half of the CEOs we spoke with believed their organizations were collaborating beyond a moderate level.
Business leaders today are looking Business leaders today are looking for ways to create a culture where col-for ways to create a cultu... [download for more]