Never short of an opinion on Enterprise 2.o topics, Dan Keldsen tells it like it is. It’s refreshing to hear an unvarnished opinion on topics concerning today’s corporations and Dan doesn’t disappoint. When we spoke a few weeks ago, Dan was more than happy to share.
I am breaking up our discussion into two distinct parts. The first, this one, on the value of Microblogging. The second, a look at the future of Enterprise 2.0 and whether IT is going to participate or not. As always, you’ll learn something about these subjects and about Dan.
But first a short Quiz:
By the way, Dan will buy the first person that selects all the right answers dinner at the E2.0 Conference in Boston. Send him a note on twitter to @dankeldsen with your answers. We’ll reveal the correct answers in the next article.
On Microblogging, Yammer and Silos
Dan Keldsen’s biggest push back on microblogging is the silo it creates. “Yammer is yet another Enterprise 2.0 silo. And while there is always a need for real time answers, and Twitter has proven that (although some suggest dubious value) versus the closed silo of mass email, I don’t personally or professionally believe Yammer is ramping up fast enough to compete with all of the other Enterprise 2.0 solutions that are introducing similar offerings alongside a larger suite of collaboration tools.”
Before I began my deep dive into the microblogging market, I may have agreed with him. His view is perfectly sound and reasonable. Where I differ with him is that if the microblogging solution vendors can successfully become the communications hub of the enterprise (where both tools and people link into it), then they effectively are removing information silos not becoming another one.
Moreover, while it’s true that Enterprise 2.0 companies are adding microblogging functionality, their limited resources and focus will make it difficult to go as deep as SocialCast or Yammer in terms of communication benefits. The trick for microblogging vendors is to convince companies that there is real value in broadcasting information from their corporate data assets.
On the Future of Microblogging
Dan I do agree on the fact that microblogging solutions can be mission critical to the enterprise especially involving automatic alerts and signals. Alerts from enterprise systems provide compelling value especially in an emergency situation. Imagine your supply chain management system alerting the manufacturing team to a potential supply shortage or sending customer demand metrics to the sales team.
The untold secondary and tertiary benefits of the broadcasts are countless and impossible to summarize here. But I can imagine Marketing eavesdropping on the broadcasts and exploiting the situation above.
Dan believes that microblogging providers will make the conversations and data platform agnostic. Meaning it will work on a mobile device, an iPad, a laptop and other computing devices. Even integrated with Enterprise 2.0 platform providers. He believes the data needs to be free and open source so that any system can quickly utilize it.
Still more valuable, you’ll begin to see insightful reports and analytic Dashboards that expose companies to valuable information mined from the conversations. You’ll be able to identify trends, measure sentiment, and focus on problem areas not exposed by any one thread or discussion. It’s all going to happen soon.
Considering a Microblogging Solution?
Dan will tell you to either wait or pick a platform with integrated microblogging. He believes a microblogging solution without a platform is simply another data silo. He also reminds us to ensure there is a business problem first and not pick a solution in search of a problem.
Dan continues, “As a former CTO, and now consultant, I don’t care whether you’re in IT, or on the business side, focus on the BUSINESS VALUE first, and not the features, or you’re only making the problem worse.”
From my viewpoint, the biggest opportunities are in the future. But if you have a business issue that can potentially be addressed by a microblogging solution, then try it now. Don’t wait. I expect the more innovative companies to use microblogging solutions to better understand and address their internal needs as well as their customers’. There’s real ROI there, and a huge business need.
(Cross-posted @ Seek Omega )
