Lotusphere: Business use of microblogging tools set to rocket

ORLANDO: The use of Twitter-like microblogging tools by businesses is set to jump in the coming years, as firms take advantage of the benefits staff can derive from such services, according to a leading analyst house.

Speaking at IBM's annual Lotusphere event, Mike Chui, a senior fellow at the McKinsey Global Institute, said the firm had been analysing the use of these platforms for several years and believes the technology is set to rocket.

"We are on the cusp of an increase in the use of these technologies, which will help firms improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their workers," he said.

"There is an increasing adoption of Twitter-like microblogging tools, as these help staff to collaborate more easily, communicate with specialists in their firm, reduce product development timelines and more."

However, Chui noted that in many instances firms do not know exactly how these benefits will manifest themselves, as staff use such tools in the way that best suits them once the technology is made available.

"It is a very bottom-up technology so businesses need to see how the benefits are derived once staff start using these tools," he said.

Chui added that, while not all firms are seeing massive changes in their working practices through the use of these tools, most believe they have had a positive impact on their operations.

"Not everyone is driving huge benefits, but 90 per cent of the thousands of executives we have surveyed said they are seeing measurable improvements, whether that is staff engaging internally or with customers and stakeholders."

The claims certainly chime with other industry predictions and come as firms such as IBM enhance their collaboration tools with more social capabilities, with the firm announcing several new tools for its Connections platform at the event.