SaaS is a great solution for small, mid-sized and big companies to get things done in a quicker way and distributed over several countries. One big advantage is the capability to work in realtime on the same document or data with a group of people, for example using Google Docs. SaaS also gives you the opportunity to become more mobile instead of using local apps, because your data walks with you. The hook on this great way to work is an internet connection and of course a fast and stable connection. This is what the network provider etc. needs to face with, because mobile connections for example 3G are not stable enough especially when you are sitting in the train.
Social Media is a great way to communicate, deliver and get new information in realtime. It’s a perfect way for companies to get closer to their customers and let them become a part of the company and for example of the products lifecycle. But companies need to understand that Social Media is not just deliver new information. Social Media means communication and (realtime) interaction with their customers.
Another big problem of using Social Media for the enterprise is that this huge masses of data needs to be organized. Not just for the IT staff regarding storage capabilities. It’s a problem for the employees. When email grew up, the people say that they are not able to handle it because you get al lot of information the whole day, during the work and still after work. If we now extend that with Social Media for enterprises the organisation of this data is a big challenge. Because now we get information over multiple channels and need to sort and/ or put everything together. Actually Google tried to start that change with Google Wave. For me a mix of Social Media, live collaboration and email. But it did not work because it was to complex and it was hard to keep track of everything.
Image sources: http://retailprophet.com/, http://www.applicationsnet.com
