Planet Enterprise 2.0

Moving into adjacent markets takes time – more than people might expect – in the news items below, Cisco continues to transition from unified communications into a more traditional collaboration space. What’s next? I imagine a more definitive move in the Web 2.0 and Enterprise 2.0 arena that leverages WebEx Connect as another SaaS/cloud option.

Cisco Announces Intent to Acquire PostPath

Why PostPath you ask? ………….The company extends Cisco’s Collaboration Platform through a Linux-based email, calendaring and collaboration software solution.  These additions clearly augment Cisco’s Saas based WebEx Connect Collaboration Platform which currently includes- Instant Messaging, Wikis, Web 2.0 applications, Teamspaces and Document Sharing. 

In addition, PostPath’s email and calendaring software has:
--native compatibility with Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Exchange.
--compatibility with mobile clients such as Blackberry and ActiveSync.

Upon the closing of the acquisition, PostPath is expected to become part of Cisco’s Collaboration Software Group and integrated with WebEx Connect and Cisco’s Unified Communications portfolios.

Take a closer listen to the announcement and details of the acquisition on the Cisco Analyst Relations Podcast website:
http://www.cisco.com/go/arpodcasts

Analyst Relations

Building upon its commitment to provide a comprehensive collaboration portfolio, Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) today announced its intent to acquire privately held PostPath, Inc., a provider of innovative email and calendaring software. Based in Mountain View, Calif. with additional development operations in Sofia, Bulgaria, PostPath will enhance the existing email and calendaring capabilities of Cisco's WebEx Connect collaboration platform.

In today's fast-paced business environment, effective, adaptive collaboration is critical to creating and sustaining a competitive advantage. With PostPath's software, Cisco will extend the e-mail and calendar functionality of its flexible software-as-a-service (SaaS)-based collaborative platform that includes instant messaging, voice, video, data, document management and Web 2.0 applications. This combination will enable customers to use collaboration to accelerate business processes, within and between businesses.

Cisco Announces Definitive Agreement to Acquire PostPath

Although summer is winding down, I’m adding these two to my reading list:

The Power of Momentum: Companies That Build Their Wave and Ride It

Published: August 20, 2008 in Knowledge@Wharton

How can a company deliver continuous, exceptional growth, year after year? J. C. Larreche, a professor of marketing at INSEAD, answers that question in his book, The Momentum Effect: How to Ignite Exceptional Growth. According to the author's research, momentum-powered firms delivered 80% more shareholder value than their slower rivals. "Momentum leaders are not lucky -- they are smart," he writes in the following excerpt. "They have discovered the source of momentum and, with it, the beginnings of a smarter way to exceptional growth. Managers often talk about 'riding the wave.' Momentum leaders aren't that passive. They live by this motto: First build your wave, then ride it."

Momentum. Most businesses get it at some point -- the impression that everything they undertake succeeds effortlessly, as if they're being carried along by a tailwind that increases their efficiency and propels them on to exceptional growth.

Some hold on to it. Most don't. Slowly, imperceptibly, the tailwind turns around and the momentum disappears, without anyone quite realizing what has happened. The company is still growing, but not as strongly as before, not as efficiently. Everyone's maxing out, but it seems like there's molasses in the works. Sound familiar?

The Power of Momentum: Companies That Build Their Wave and Ride It - Knowledge@Wharton

'The Objective of Education Is Learning, Not Teaching'

Published: August 20, 2008 in Knowledge@Wharton

In their book, Turning Learning Right Side Up: Putting Education Back on Track, authors Russell L. Ackhoff and Daniel Greenberg point out that today's education system is seriously flawed -- it focuses on teaching rather than learning. "Why should children -- or adults -- be asked to do something computers and related equipment can do much better than they can?" the authors ask in the following excerpt from the book. "Why doesn't education focus on what humans can do better than the machines and instruments they create?"

"Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth learning can be taught."
   -- Oscar Wilde

Traditional education focuses on teaching, not learning. It incorrectly assumes that for every ounce of teaching there is an ounce of learning by those who are taught. However, most of what we learn before, during, and after attending schools is learned without its being taught to us. A child learns such fundamental things as how to walk, talk, eat, dress, and so on without being taught these things. Adults learn most of what they use at work or at leisure while at work or leisure. Most of what is taught in classroom settings is forgotten, and much or what is remembered is irrelevant.

'The Objective of Education Is Learning, Not Teaching' - Knowledge@Wharton

Although summer is winding down, I???m adding these two to my reading list: The Power of Momentum: Companies That Build Their Wave and Ride It Published: August 20, 2008 in Knowledge@Wharton How can a company deliver continuous, exceptional growth, year... Mike Gotta

Some insightful company profiles:

The new employee connection: Social networking behind the firewall

Microsoft calls it TownSquare. Deloitte hosts D Street. IBM has its Beehive, and Best Buy its BlueShirt Nation. No, it's not a real estate explosion. In industries from retail to high tech, banking and manufacturing, companies are increasingly building networks behind the firewall where employees can create profiles and connect with one another in ways first demonstrated by LinkedIn, Facebook and MySpace.

Social networking behind the firewall

• Deloitte LLP: D Street
• IBM: Beehive
• Best Buy: BlueShirt Nation
• The whys of social networking
• Your say: Booster or time-waster?

The new employee connection: Social networking behind the firewall

Some insightful company profiles: The new employee connection: Social networking behind the firewall Microsoft calls it TownSquare. Deloitte hosts D Street. IBM has its Beehive, and Best Buy its BlueShirt Nation. No, it's not a real estate explosion. In industries... Mike Gotta

Social Networking within the Enterprise

Burton Group is conducting a qualitative research project to assess organizational and technology trends driving interest in social networking within the enterprise. A mix of face-to-face and telephone interviews will be the methods used for data collection. Our goal is to have an open-ended dialog with participants from business units and IT groups. The project is open to Burton Group clients and non-clients alike. Based on the response, there may be a limit to the number of candidates selected. Some participant roles we are looking to interview include:

• HR managers
• Line-of-business managers
• End users
• IT managers, architects and project leaders involved in such efforts
• Executive sponsors of initiatives related to social networks (e.g., retiree/alumni networks)

This effort is being coordinated by Mike Gotta, Principal Analyst within Burton Group’s Collaboration & Content Strategies service. Information obtained during the interview process will be held in confidence. Any publication or presentation arising from this field research project will not mention any participating enterprise or individual by name without the express written permission of the organization.

Those enterprises involved in the project will have the option to take part in a peer review process prior to publication of the research (e.g., provide comments and factual corrections). Participating organizations will also receive a copy of the resulting research document and have the opportunity to discuss its findings with Burton Group.

If you have a question, need additional information, or are interesting in participating, please leave a comment on this blog post and I will get back to you.

Social Networking within the Enterprise Burton Group is conducting a qualitative research project to assess organizational and technology trends driving interest in social networking within the enterprise. A mix of face-to-face and telephone interviews will be the methods used for... Mike Gotta

When the family heads to Cape Cod. For the next week, no computer – just books, newspapers, beach and seafood.

Where we’ve stayed for the past 15 years or so…

So no blog posts for a while.

When the family heads to Cape Cod. For the next week, no computer ??? just books, newspapers, beach and seafood. Where we???ve stayed for the past 15 years or so??? So no blog posts for a while. Mike Gotta

Interesting analysis and data coming out from a study (see below). My initial thought though however is: why is this a surprise? For those that covered this space in the late nineties (Dot Com 1.0) we went through a very similar experience. There was a very high degree of irrational exuberance by companies wanting to launch online communities. Most failed. Now we’re back using terms like social media and social networks. One can make the case that the technology can enable a better user and group experience but the fundamentals of relationship and community-building are not advanced by better tooling. This is very hard work. I would recommend you sign up for the BeeLine Labs report (last citation link below).    

Business Technology : Why Most Online Communities Fail

One of the hot investments for businesses these days is online communities that help customers feel connected to a brand. But most of these efforts produce fancy Web sites that few people ever visit. The problem: Businesses are focusing on the value an online community can provide to themselves, not the community.

Most corporate-sponsored online communities are virtual ghost towns

That’s according to Ed Moran, a Deloitte consultant who just completed a study of more than 100 businesses with online communities. Not surprisingly, these sites failed to gain traction with customers. Thirty-five percent of the online communities studied have less than 100 members; less than 25% have more than 1,000 members – despite the fact that close to 6% [Note: error in original story, 6% mot 60%] of these businesses have spent over $1 million on their community projects. “A disturbingly high number of these sites fail,” Moran tells us.

Business Technology : Why Most Online Communities Fail

SitePoint Blogs » Study: Why Most Online Communities Fail

• Businesses are being enticed by fancy technology. Mesmerized by bells and whistles, many business are foolishly blowing their entire budgets on technology. Moran’s advice is to reach out to community members and let them do your R&D for you, rather than blowing it on fancy tech you may not really need. If the goal of a community associated with a brand is to get people to evangelize your products or services, put money and time into reaching out them rather than developing a fancy site.
• Lack of proper management. The Deloitte study found that 30% of online communities have just part-time employees in charge, and most have just a single PR person running the show. Advice: hire a social community manager with experience running and building an online community. Managed communities are a lot less likely to grow organically the way general mainstream social networks do, so you need someone who knows how to build one in charge. My former colleague Marshall Kirkpatrick wrote a great post earlier this week about the merits of online community managers.
• The wrong measurement metrics. Moran noticed that most businesses are measuring the success of their communities in the wrong way. Though their stated goals are usually to create viral, word-of-mouth marketing and increase brand loyalty, the metric they use to gauge success is unique visitors. If all you’re after is growing visits to the site, then you’re missing the point. You’re not trying to compete with mainstream social networks, so you don’t need to chase eyeballs. Rather you need to build interaction and create a level of comfort among your most loyal users so they will evangelize your products for you. The best way to measure this might be by looking at things like blog mentions and Twitter tweets.

SitePoint Blogs » Study: Why Most Online Communities Fail

Beeline Labs » The 2008 Tribalization of Business study

THE MAJOR TAKEAWAYS

#1: Communities are about Delivering Game-Changing Results

• Communities can increase revenue per customer dramatically, i.e., 50%
• Communities will increase product introduction success ratios
• Communities amplify everything you do- increasing effectiveness and decreasing costs

#2: The Rise of the CMO 2.0?

• Communities should be an important part of the CMO’s toolset (but for many large companies - there is an under-investment and scale problem)
• Companies should evolve the role of the CMO into Chief Community Officer (but that will require drastic changes in attitude and approach to marketing)
• If done properly, communities will transform the way marketing works (reduced costs, improved effectiveness, new opportunities)

#3: The Need for New Management Thinking

• Mismatch between community goals and associated investments
• Major gaps between Community Goals and what is being measured
• Communities have yet to combine with major talent initiatives
• Communities will transform most business processes

#3.5: The Worst Practices Enjoy Wide Adoption

• The “build it and they will come” fallacy
• The “let’s keep it small so it doesn’t move the needle” phenomenon
• The “not invented here” syndrome

Beeline Labs » The 2008 Tribalization of Business study

Great metaphor by Liz Lawley (see below) people should remember if they are involved in the user experience, design and community-building aspects of social networks:   

Macworld | Researchers help define next-generation social networking

“One thing that’s very broken in the social tools we have right now is context and boundaries and a sense of who I want to share what with,” said Liz Lawley, director of the laboratory for social computing at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Many social-networking sites essentially force users to become part of a huge community, or they force users to choose whether someone else is a friend or not, with no other subtleties defining that relationship, she noted.

“People want to create villages and they’re being forced into cities. That’s creating a huge tension in social interactions,” she said. Lawley and other academic researchers spoke at the Microsoft Research annual Faculty Summit, an event that brings together academics, government workers and Microsoft researchers to discuss new fields of computer-science research.

Macworld | Researchers help define next-generation social networking

Great metaphor by Liz Lawley (see below) people should remember if they are involved in the user experience, design and community-building aspects of social networks: Macworld | Researchers help define next-generation social networking ???One thing that???s very broken in the... Mike Gotta

I love the opening quote:

"The social system is an organization, like the individual, that is bound together by a system of communication." − Norbert Wiener (1948, p. 24)

The PDF is worth reading (follow the citation link below to download the paper).

First Look: July 29, 2008 — HBS Working Knowledge

Which groups are most likely to communicate with others in a large organization, regardless of social-and physical-boundaries? Turns out that women, mid- to high-level executives, and members of the executive management, sales, and marketing functions are those most likely to build bridges, according to new research by Harvard Business School's Adam Kleinbaum, Toby Stuart, and Michael Tushman. The scholars base their findings on an analysis of millions of e-mail messages, e-calendar meetings, and teleconferences in a geographically dispersed, multiunit enterprise. "We measure three general types of boundaries: organizational boundaries (strategic business unit and function memberships), spatial boundaries (office locations and interoffice distances), and social categories (gender, tenure within the firm)," they write.

Communication (and Coordination?) in a Modern, Complex Organization

Authors:	Adam M. Kleinbaum, Toby E. Stuart, and Michael L. Tushman

Abstract

This is a descriptive study of the structure of communications in a modern organization. We analyze a dataset with millions of electronic mail messages, calendar meetings and teleconferences for many thousands of employees of a single, multidivisional firm during a three-month period in calendar 2006. The basic question we explore asks, what is the role of observable (to us) boundaries between individuals in structuring communications inside the firm? We measure three general types of boundaries: organizational boundaries (strategic business unit and function memberships), spatial boundaries (office locations and inter-office distances), and social categories (gender, tenure within the firm). In dyad-level models of the probability that pairs of individuals communicate, we find very large effects of formal organization structure and spatial collocation on the rate of communication. Homophily effects based on sociodemographic categories are much weaker. In individual-level regressions of engagement in category-spanning communication patterns, we find that women, mid- to high-level executives, and members of the executive management, sales and marketing functions are most likely to participate in cross-group communications. In effect, these individuals bridge the lacunae between distant groups in the company's social structure.

First Look: July 29, 2008 — HBS Working Knowledge

I love the opening quote: "The social system is an organization, like the individual, that is bound together by a system of communication." ??? Norbert Wiener (1948, p. 24) The PDF is worth reading (follow the citation link below to... Mike Gotta

Today and tomorrow I will be finalizing the reference architecture document below. “Templates” illustrate infrastructure and act as blueprints organizations can leverage as they make decisions on IT architecture. The focus on architecture makes templates one of my more favorite documents to work on. While I can’t share the lower-level analysis and specifics that describe the architectural components of a social network site (clients will be able to access this information when it comes out on the Burton Group site), the introductory portion of the report is contained below. I feel that it is important to openly “share back” this level of detail since the document extends some great work undertaken by danah boyd and Nicole B. Ellison.

Some terms below (e.g., infrastructure services model, service end points, and activity services) would actually link to other documents that discuss those topics. I removed those links to avoid confusion (those documents are only accessible by clients). If you are a client, I encourage you to schedule a dialog to discuss social networking trends in general, or specific project(s) you are undertaking in this area.   

My original concept for this document was outlined here in case you are curious to see how my thinking evolved during the writing process.

Templates always begin with a question (often based on what clients are asking us):

What are the architectural components of a social network site?

A social network site is a web site that:

• Acts as a destination hub for individuals to establish relationships with co-workers and by doing so, enable them to jointly build, or expand, their professional and social networks
• Includes different tools for people to interact with each other, contribute information to the site, participate in different site activities, and build a sense of community in an informal and voluntary manner
• Contains specific components that allow people to:
  • define an online profile (or persona)
  • list their connections (e.g., friends and colleagues)
  • receive notifications on the activities of those connections
  • participate in group or community activities
  • control permission, preference and privacy settings
• Is considered a service end point in terms of collaboration, communication and content infrastructure (respectively)
  • Service endpoints are applications or sites that interact with published interfaces of collaboration services entities.
• Draws on activity services in terms of collaboration, communication and content infrastructure (respectively)
  • Activity services help provide generalized automation services, including analytics, and event or pattern correlation functions
• Integrates with related infrastructure platforms to complete the end-to-end system (e.g., directory, security, and integration services)

Facebook’s soaring popularity has encouraged employees, human resource groups, line-of-business managers, and C-level executive teams to request an internal version of the popular consumer site (e.g., a “corporate Facebook”). However, there are no generally agreed-upon industry practices to guide IT organizations regarding what architectural components need to be included to qualify a web site as a successful intranet replica of the popular consumer site.

This template provides such a reference architecture model. It begins with a set of baseline requirements established by danah boyd and Nicole B. Ellison. The authors’ analysis identifies key repeating characteristics found across consumer social network sites. Their assessment helps establish a common baseline for architects to understand which capabilities need to be included within an enterprise social network site. Burton Group recognizes this baseline as a starting point for social network sites deployed for employees (“actors” in social network terms):

• A visible profile within a bounded system which describes the actor
• A public or semi-public display of connections between that actor and their relations (e.g., “friends”)
• An ability for people to traverse those connections (e.g., to view profiles associated with the list of “friends”)

Although boyd’s and Ellison’s research does not explicitly identify the following characteristics as core functions, Burton Group believes that the capabilities below should also be included within a social network site:

• A means for other members to participate, interact and contact the actor (e.g., e-mail, instant messaging, chat rooms, blogs, and message boards)
• An aggregated collection of entries streamed into a chronological feed that reflect the interactions and activities of an actor
• A set of permission and usage controls for that actor to manage their own visibility (search), relationships with other members (profile viewing), and how they prefer to interact or be contacted by other members (messaging)

Mapping these attributes into the architectural components listed below enables enterprise architects, infrastructure planners, application developers and user experience teams to implement a social network site that emulates consumer counterparts:

• Profiles
• Social Graph
• Participation Tools
• Social Presence
• Relation Controls

To orchestrate and manage these components, a social site application services layer is necessary (provided by a vendor or developed by the IT organization).

Social Network Site Template Diagram

Social Network Site Template Description

This template illustrates what architectural components should be included within a social network site, the relationship between those components, and how such components interact with other infrastructure services. A social network site is a web site that minimally includes the following capabilities:

• Profiles
• Social Graph
• Participation Tools
• Social Presence
• Relation Controls

To complete the list of required components, an application services layer that aggregates, manages, and delivers capabilities to employees is also required:

• Social Site Application Services

This template represents a logical architecture. The social network site model depicted in this template is one that is centralized. That is, all capabilities are managed by the social network site. Tools within participation tools however might not adhere to this constraint and can be a valid exception. Distribution of site components to enable social networking within other applications and on remote sites is outside the scope of this template. Finally, readers should note that while templates do not describe physical implementations, such efforts can leverage this document as an architectural guide.

Today and tomorrow I will be finalizing the reference architecture document below. ???Templates??? illustrate infrastructure and act as blueprints organizations can leverage as they make decisions on IT architecture. The focus on architecture makes templates one of my more favorite... Mike Gotta

Very sad news – but what a lasting legacy not only for his family but for the rest of us who were moved by the video and his life story.

'Last Lecture' professor, Randy Pausch, dies at 47 - USATODAY.com

Randy Pausch, the Carnegie Mellon professor who became a YouTube phenomenon with his "Last Lecture," died Friday of complications from pancreatic cancer. He was 47. He died at his home in southern Virginia.

RELATED: Professor Pausch's life, 'Lecture' go from Web to book

VIDEO: See 'Last Lecture' on YouTube

PHOTOS: Randy Paush's life in pictures

AUDIO: Hear a clip from 'Lecture'

'Last Lecture' professor, Randy Pausch, dies at 47 - USATODAY.com

Very sad news ??? but what a lasting legacy not only for his family but for the rest of us who were moved by the video and his life story. 'Last Lecture' professor, Randy Pausch, dies at 47 - USATODAY.com... Mike Gotta

In an earlier post, "Community and Social Network Vendor Blogs", I provided a list of vendors that had public-facing blogs. I missed the Lithium blog (my bad). The folks at HiveLive have recently launched a blog and I forgot to include Ringside Networks. I added iCohere to the list of vendors that do not have a public-facing blog but based on a comment in the original post, it sounds like that situation might be resolved this year. So - the list has been updated (I updated the original post here).

In an earlier post, "Community and Social Network Vendor Blogs", I provided a list of vendors that had public-facing blogs. I missed the Lithium blog (my bad). The folks at HiveLive have recently launched a blog and I forgot to... Mike Gotta