Enterprise social networks gaining ground

Most companies seen eager to start using social networking for the business

Most companies are keen on developing enterprise social networks to help boost collaboration, despite many banning social networks like MySpace and Facebook.

A recent survey by Trampoline Systems found that 88 per cent of delegates surveyed at the Enterprise 2.0 Conference in Boston and the Web 2.0 Strategies event in London are eager to start using social networking for the business.

The vast majority of respondents indicated that social networking could help with sharing knowledge and expertise among colleagues across the organisation, and 68 per cent said that it would help with finding relevant information.

Another benefit recognised by participants is the ability to interact with colleagues whom they do not know personally.

Analyst firm Forrester Research reported recently that the enterprise 2.0 industry will be worth $4.3bn by 2013.

However, the disparate nature of social networks, and concerns over information security and privacy, remain major stumbling blocks to adoption.

"This survey confirms that enterprise social networking is firmly established in corporate thinking on both sides of the Atlantic," said Charles Armstrong, chief executive at Trampoline Systems.

"Interestingly, it also verifies that executives are increasingly concerned about the drawbacks with conventional systems that rely on manual profile updates.

"In the current economic climate, businesses are under more pressure than ever to improve the way they work and fully harness the talent and experience in their workforce.

"Intelligent social networks that automatically stay up to date with new expertise and contacts offer a simple and powerful route to achieving this."

Armstrong reckons that integrating a social network platform into existing systems means that much of the information can be automatically generated and updated, as well as ensuring security.