Just ten years ago, there was another significant shift in the way people interacted with each other: the Web came to the workplace. From e-commerce and peer-to-to peer file sharing to the emergence of web-based solutions for financial, accounting, and supply chain systems, the web has become a serious business tool for organizations and industries of every kind. And the evolution continues.
Now social networking services are on track to replace email as the primary communications method for many business users in the next few years. It’s a concept IBM social computing evangelist Luis Suarez has advocated for several years. But this new paradigm impacts more than the inbox. As each company looks to incorporate social networking technologies, it is, in fact, becoming what IBM calls a Social Business.
This approach shifts the focus from static content and other temporary artifacts to the source of the energy, creativity, and decision making that moves the business forward: people. As a result, people not only find what they need, but also discover valuable expertise and information they weren’t even looking for that might solve a problem in a new way.
via IBM – Smarter Planet – Social business – Overview – United States.
