When Microsoft acquired Yammer about a month ago, it’s easy to see that going social is going to be the next step for enterprise software. As stated by Yammer’s CEO David Sacks:
“When Adam Pisoni and I started Yammer, we set out to do something big. When most people thought social networking was for kids, we had a vision for how it could change the way we work. Four years ago, we started paddling out to catch the wave that we’re riding today.
With the backing of Microsoft, our aim is to massively accelerate our vision to change the way work gets done with software that is built for the enterprise and loved by users.”
Now spotting trends is part of what marketing does and, to an extent, it’s supposed to shape the finer details of software lead generation. It’s only common sense to say that if you know what new innovations are dominating the market, then you’ll know which direction to take your B2B software firm and promote the appropriate technology.
In this case, social enterprise is one such trend and if you want further confirmation, Tony Byrne from InformationWeek has this to say about the actual necessity of making enterprise software more social.
“In other words, your colleagues are creating records while they engage, and seeking to engage while they manage formal documents and participate in structured processes. Ditto for your interactions with customers and other partners beyond your firewall.”
This also points to an even greater trend that’s set around configuring technology to enable social engagement. No doubt one can see the influence of social media sites when they spawned the popularity of social media marketing. This kind of marketing however demands engagement with customers (whether they’re B2B or B2C).
However, perhaps Byrne’s most driving point is the reality of engagement as a need in many business endeavors. There is now a need to integrate social interactions with the main processes of enterprise management. In the same way, marketing is now in need of a similar integration via social media.
Setting that aside, if you’ve engaged in social media marketing, then you may have already seen this coming. Adding a social aspect is a trend that’s beginning to encompass various forms of today’s technology (from the consumer level all the way up to the enterprise level). What should be noted however is that social engagement isn’t necessarily limited to digital channels. The main value of this engagement is still the enriching exchange of information. You can accomplish this even through more traditional channels of communication (whether it’s a face-to-face meeting with all your colleagues or using telemarketing services to engage customers with actual phone conversations).
In conclusion, going social is a trend that’s not just another trend for ERP but a trend that’s driven by more underlying principles. It’s driven by the need for humans to add a social element in many activities (be it in marketing or enterprise management). Use this trend to mold not just the way your software will drive engagement but the way you drive your business to similar engagement with your customers.