Email is dead.

At least it is according to William Newman, principal at Newport Consulting Group. The technology that essentially replaced the telephone within businesses is now itself being replaced by shorter, quicker, and easier methods of communication such as instant messaging (IM) and collaboration software. The new options can provide easier file and knowledge transfers, faster turnaround time, and increased efficiency, improving the bottom line. With this shift in technology, companies now need to seriously evaluate available social networking tools to see if any are right for them.

Internal social networking tools cover a large range of services, from IM programs and video conferencing, to file collaboration tools and sentiment analyses. The tools and services provide a way to replace email, phone, intranets, and meetings with one solution, and can even bring a company together socially with profiles, status updates, and groups users can create and join.

Newman’s own company dove into the world of social networking with its use of the SAP collaborative software, SAP StreamWork. The company had been using public document sharing services for some time, finding them a better alternative than emailing large documents back and forth. “We put research up there for everyone to access instead of emailing it,” he says.

Newport dabbled in other public document sharing services, but found them cumbersome with inadequate storage size limits, Newman says. When SAP approached Newport to try SAP StreamWork, Newman and his colleagues tested out the service. The private network offered the security they needed, and the 250 MB of space the free version provided to each user fit their requirements. Though an SAP solution, the service is platform agnostic so SAP and non-SAP users can create an account and access information.

Many collaboration services like SAP StreamWork are making their way into the business today. SAP, Cicso, Nike, and EMC² are using Jive, a software as a service (SaaS) social tools provider. Yammer, an internal social network service, is being used at Deloitte, LG, Pitney Bowes, and eBay. These solutions provide a central location for employees to share files, create reports and analyses, collaborate on group projects, participate in discussion forums, and communicate through IM or internal messages, essentially burying the need for email communication at all.

Of course, until standards unite these social platforms across the business world, email will still be a necessary tool to communicate with partners, clients, and customers. Over time, however, email may be a more outdated a platform that one might think. “I honestly don’t think we’ll be on email in 10 years. We’ll either be on these social network sites, or have one big dashboard, similar to TweetDeck, [a service that pulls different social media accounts into one view],” Newman predicts. “It’ll be one giant aggregator; you’ll just see all your messages coming into one cockpit. I think this is just going to be a matter of business practice within 10 years.”

Available Tools and Services

There are many service options, both SAP and non-SAP, a company can consider when looking into social networking tools aimed at improving communication and collaboration. The options offer a variety of tools and services and range from free versions to paid models. Some popular services are:

• SAP StreamWork: SAP StreamWork provides a common place for documents; agendas; timelines; polls; strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analyses; and other project-related tools to reside with access granted to members by the activity’s owner. SAP StreamWork’s integration with SAP systems allows it to pull SAP data into documentation, reports, and analyses. There are three editions of the program, the first free with 250 MB of storage per year, the second at $9 per person per month with 5 GB of storage and additional features, and the third at $192 per year per user with 10 GB of storage and more features still.
• Microsoft SharePoint: SharePoint allows users to collaborate on shared documents and projects, build Web-based applications, and publish information to the Web. SharePoint Foundation is the service’s free base tool requirement, but SharePoint Server must be purchased to create sites, communities, and content. SharePoint not only integrates with other Microsoft products like the Office suite and Exchange and SQL servers, but as of earlier this year, the product integrates with SAP applications through the use of SAP and Microsoft’s joint solution Duet Enterprise. SharePoint is available in three different tiered editions, with pricing based on chosen capabilities, internal or external deployment, and hosting option.
• Jive: Jive is a service provider with a variety of social networking and social media tools for businesses with at least 1,000 employees. Its collaboration tool Social Business Software includes functionality for user profiles, file sharing, discussions, blogs, and group and network creation. The Jive Analytics Module is built on the SAP BusinessObjects BI OnDemand solution, providing reporting and analysis functionality familiar to users of that SAP solution. Pricing is based on hosting option, customization, and level of support.
• Yammer: Yammer is an enterprise collaboration option with a heavy social media influence, providing users the ability to share files, create profiles and groups, and tag content in the searchable company knowledgebase. Company networks are restricted to users with a company email address, but users can create a community to work with partners outside the network. Yammer has a free version that includes features such as file sharing, microblogging, polls, and desktop and mobile apps, and a paid version with additional features including advanced admin controls, custom branding, keyword monitoring, and SharePoint integration.
• Skype: It’s not unusual for teams to be spread across countries and around the globe today, but they still need to communicate frequently. Because budgets and schedules don’t always permit teams to meet in a physical location, video conferencing tools like Skype are now commonplace in such organizations. Skype’s free version provides one-to-one video conferencing and screen sharing, allowing presentations, programs, and documents to be shown among colleagues. There are three tiers of paid Skype access, with the highest allowing group video conferencing for three to 10 users at $8.99/month.
• Google Documents: Google’s collaborative service is free and available via a Google account. Each user has 1 GB of upload storage for word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, audio, video, and picture files that can be shared with other Google or non-Google users or published to the Web. SAP StreamWork integrates with Google Documents, allowing files to be shared between the two, and Google account credentials can be used to log in to SAP StreamWork.
• Instant messenger programs: Perhaps most prevalent within the business are IM programs. There are countless types, from Internet-based ones that require accounts and screen names, to corporate IM programs that automatically include all employees in a searchable index. This form of communication has been popular in the workplace, providing easy access to any staff member. When one quick question needs an answer, some prefer sending an IM to someone they may never have even met before, rather than picking up the phone to make a call that requires the courtesy of pleasantries and a structured conversation. Popular corporate IM programs include Microsoft Lync and IBM Lotus Sametime. Spark is one of many popular open source IM programs built on Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XXMP, formerly named Jabber), an XML-based messaging protocol.

Plan Your Social Initiative Carefully

Though social tools are sometimes viewed as highly intuitive, a social initiative can’t simply be put in place and left to thrive. It needs to be well thought out to ensure the company culture and work methods are taken into account — otherwise the initiative will struggle or even fail altogether.

Employees’ familiarity with social sites is a good indication of how easy it will be to bring them onto a social networking platform. Those using sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn will be quick to come up to speed on the company’s social initiative, while those unfamiliar with, disinterested in, or uneducated on the new trend will likely need more time. Plan training on the use of any new tools. Thinking that most staff members have used a social site in their personal lives and therefore can easily pick up the new business social tools is a dangerous assumption that can lead to some employees feeling left behind. Formal training will ensure everyone is comfortable with the new initiative and understands the goals, direction, and use of the new tools.

Like any project, management needs to lead by example when it comes to a social initiative. Staff must see that the company as a whole is behind the initiative, and management should be among the first to begin using the new tools as leaders in the company. If they don’t embrace the new initiative, its perceived importance may dwindle and it may be difficult to build morale surrounding the project again.

Implementing a social networking service into the business can be a simple project in any company, and can be done at a low cost, with most of the services described above available in a free version. With adequate planning and thorough training, it’s an initiative that staff can get behind and easily see the benefits of.

Overall the usefulness of these services is evident, though one negative aspect of the trend comes along with the positive – the deterioration of personal interactions. Companies that already use an IM program have no doubt seen the politeness that generally accompanies a phone call replaced with cold disconnect of a question that pops up on a computer screen from a colleague they may have never even met before.

“The benefit to work efficiency these tools bring is huge,” says Newman. “Though, unfortunately, that is sometimes achieved at the sacrifice of personal relationships in your company.”

Laura Casasanto

Laura Casasanto is a technical editor who served as the managing editor of SCM Expert and Project Expert.

You may contact the author at lauracasasanto@gmail.com.

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