Watch out for social enterprise collaboration
Alexis Gorton says now is the time to work out your strategy on this trend
It appears that social enterprise collaboration tools could go on to be as popular as their consumer counterparts. So why are many resellers still in the dark when it comes to this technology?
The phrase may be a mouthful compared with the words "cloud" or "big data", but social enterprise collaboration is no less crucial to businesses today. When organisations are driven by their need to do more with less, connecting people with knowledge, ideas and resources to unify communication and collaboration is a strategy that makes perfect sense.
Recognising the explosion in social media and a change in attitudes toward sharing news and content with others, social enterprise collaboration tools take the best elements of platforms such as Facebook or Twitter and adapt them for the workplace.
Earlier this year, Microsoft laid its cards on the table with its purchase of enterprise-oriented social network service Yammer, a sign that big players hold such tools in high regard.
The prospect of being able to adopt any tools that help deliver business results on time and budget – maybe even sooner than expected – should attract both businesses and resellers.
Resellers must know about and understand the areas of IT spend that will be key for businesses in 2013. CIOs are also looking to redefine how IT creates value and focus on using it to support agility.
The channel needs to do more to embrace the rate of change in this area in 2013. Resellers need to be selling these tools, in my opinion, and trends like BYOD, remote working and efficiency back me up here.
My advice would be to focus on the productivity benefits seen with these tools. Enhanced collaboration is high up on the wish lists of many managers.
It is also worth asking customers about their future aspirations. What type of offering do businesses imagine using in three to five years' time? It is easier to embrace these solutions as part of a big jigsaw, rather than individual, standalone pieces.
Alexis Gorton is UK channel manager at Mindjet