ESN is basically an online platform that runs on a company's internal network. Its purpose is to connect colleagues or people who share business interests, enabling them to contribute and access the ideas, knowledge and resources they need to better work together. With bigger corporations such as Microsoft buying into it, don't think it is just a passing fad either, says Dayle Wheeler, founder and MD of ModernBusiness, referring to the software giant's recent acquisition of Yammer, a leading ESN tool. "Business owners are increasingly realising the value that enterprise social networking can bring to their companies in the form of collaboration."
Wheeler himself is at the helm of a ESN platform that takes a unique approach to enterprise social networking. Called 'ideas', Wheeler describes it as a collaboration and innovation platform that focuses on areas of interest. "Unlike Facebook, or even other enterprise social networks, where the emphasis is placed on who said something and on how many followers that person has, 'ideas' is more interested in what is being said."
"What 'ideas' aims to do, is to provide everyone in the company access to the ideas and thoughts shared by everyone else - not just by superiors or by colleagues in the same department. By using a platform like 'ideas', the reach extends to everyone in the company, not just to a set amount of followers as is the case on so many other social networking sites."
Wheeler says that this will encourage innovation since employees will gain access to information and solutions to problems that they haven't thought of themselves. "When you begin to solve problems and collaborate more effectively, that is great for business," Wheeler says.
Statistics reveal that web 2.0 tools such as ESN can definitely pay off for companies, leading to return on investment. According to the McKinsey Quarterly Business and Web 2.0 report, in which 2 000 enterprises participated, those companies that have been making use of social networking (at least 50% of them) and web 2.0 tools such as blogs (23% of respondents used blogging) and microblogs, have seen measurable benefits, including 18% of companies reporting an increased revenue from the internal use of such platforms. Up to 30% of them said that it had helped them to reduce operational costs, while 55% said it reduced communication costs.
"Every company is always looking to increase their bottom line," says Wheeler. "By joining an ESN platform like 'ideas', companies will give their employees access to valuable information and solutions needed to fulfill their business objectives."
