Socialtext White Paper Sample

Instead of using a public service, many employees sign up for a free private microblogging/social networking service. The problem with these private solutions is that in many cases, they are very unfriendly to IT. They do not let the organization control group membership or content. This means that while employees are having conversations about proprietary company information, IT has no way to ensure only authorized company employees are listening to those conversations. And without control of memebership or content, IT cannot enforce company policies. Some of the free services charge a fee if IT wants to "buy" their data, often based on number of users, and IT is caught off guard with fees they did not anticipate or approve.

What IT teams need is an enterprise-class social networking and microblogging solution that they can deploy quickly to replace rogue solutions that have cropped up in the organization, and that gives them the control they need. But to work, the solution must also give employees what they are seeking -- an easy way to share.