Socialtext

Organizations that manage partnerships and interface with customers at market leaders including Microstrategy and Epitaph Records have implemented the Business Social Networks solution in partnership with Socialtext. For partner value chains and customer communities, organizations gain more efficient methods of communication, gaining feedback and insight from connecting people on private extranets or the public Internet.

Successful businesses recognize the importance of increasing loyalty through vibrant, active communities for their partners, suppliers and customers. In fact, over half of companies today are using Web 2.0 technologies, like wikis and social software, specifically for building out these communities. To foster communication, social networking, expertise discovery and greater overall engagement around a brand or shared goal, wikis and social software provide the ideal platform for these extranet or public community sites.

In today's dynamic business environment, few companies can "go it alone." Leading companies recognize the importance of surrounding themselves with an ecosystem of customers, suppliers, distributors, resellers, and other types of business partners. These relationships are invaluable, both for the direct value they provide and for the insights and feedback that a thoughtful partner can provide to a company.

The value of these business networks is limited by the fact that most interactions with customers and partners happens 1-1: A manager talks with his channel partners, or exchanges emails with a customer. Far more valuable, however, is a forum where channel partners, customers, and other stakeholders can talk with each other. Wiki-based business social networks can create conversations where all a company's strategic stakeholders--internal and external--can talk directly to each other to share experiences, answer questions, offer feedback to the company, and ideate on product and service improvements. The result is a rich source of insights for the company, as well as a highly energized and committed group of stakeholders.

CIO Magazine Webinar with Don Tapscott

Also see the Wikinomics Wiki, a collaboration between Socialtext and Don Tapscott.

The Business Social Networks practice

Socialtext has a unique understanding of the social, cultural, and organizational challenges of launching a Business Social Netwoks solution, We have built a comprehensive suite of capabilities to help our customers with all aspects of successful implementation, including strategy-setting, business analysis, training, and impact evaluation. Our Professional Services team works hands-on with customers, leading them through our proprietary SPRING methodology (Structure, Populate, Review, Invite, eNcourage, Garden). Developed over the course of hundreds of customer launches, our methodology and tools ensure the establishment of an active, growing community of partners and/or customers within three months of project start.

 

Get Started

Read recent press coverage from CIO Magazine, ZDNet and the Socialtext blog describing the Business Social Networking use-case.

For further information about Socialtext Services, please contact us.

Free Article Download from MIT Sloan Management Review
Enterprise 2.0: The Dawn of Emergent Collaboration

Case study of how German investment bank used Socialtext to fundamentally shift the way knowledge work is done.
by Andrew McAfee, Associate Professor, Harvard

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