Facebook and Twitter Listed as Enterprise Collaboration Tools

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A new survey conducted by consulting firm Avanade found a disconnect between perception and reality when it comes to enterprise social collaboration software. Most of those surveyed said they used enterprise social collaboration software at work, but when asked which platforms they use, most cited Facebook and Twitter rather than software platforms designed for enterprise users.

ZDNet’s Toby Wolpe reported, “Nine out of 10 IT staff and about two-thirds of managers and users say they are using social-networking technologies at work, according to a global study by Microsoft- and Accenture-owned services firm Avanade. However, when pressed to identify the products they are using, the only social platforms used by more than half of respondents turn out to be Facebook and Twitter. Actual enterprise collaboration tools, such as Microsoft SharePoint and IBM Connections, feature lower down the list.”

CITEWorld’s Nancy Gohring noted, “Among those who use social networking to collaborate at work, a whopping 74 percent said they use Facebook. In second place is Twitter, which 51 percent said they use for work collaboration, followed by LinkedIn with 45 percent. The first real enterprise social app to make the cut in the survey is Microsoft’s SharePoint, with 39 percent of social networking workers using it, followed by IBM Connections at 17 percent, and Salesforce’s Chatter at 12 percent.”

InformationWeek’s Gary Flood wrote, “The problem: while the CIO, aided by firms like Avanade, have been providing enterprise-caliber tools, no one’s really been doing much collaboration work with them. This has left a huge vacuum that Avanade says is being rapidly filled with homegrown, grassroots-driven, consumer-based technology instead.”

CMSWire’s Marisa Peacock observed, “While early adapters continue to drink the social Koolaid, social skeptics have remained unswayed. One in five business and IT decision-makers (23 percent) have not adopted social collaboration tools in the enterprise. And among those decision-makers who have adopted, one-quarter (24 percent) believe their social collaboration tools waste time or distract employees from their core jobs.”