Social networks like Viadeo and Xing have long cultivated a business audience. Given the statements companies like LinkedIn made in 2011, are these professional social networks now positioned (and inclined) to make a move at the enterprise?
I believe the real question is if they have disruptive, bottom-up potential to make their move in large companies, especially while the Enterprise 2.0 market is still somewhat immature. The possibility is clearly there: LinkedIn is used by millions of professionals every month, especially in the SMB space. By making a strong enough play, targeted at the right audience, they could genuinely change the enterprise social networking space. On the other hand, the hundreds of existing products in the space have made it a pretty crowded market. It will refreshing to see an entirely new take enterprise social software emerge in the space. The question is whether organizations will see the value, or if it will just happen on its own from the existing user base as enterprise-class features are added.
From: Should professional social networks make a play for the enterprise? | ZDNet
Related:
Social Business Predictions for 2012 | Collaboratory
