Imperative Number 3 of 6 Facing Information Professionals

Make the business social: Integrate social technologies into processes rather than create stand-alone social networks. Connect internal and external stakeholders to tap into unexpected sources of knowledge.

Social technologies have moved into the enterprise, and are beginning to transform organizational processes.

• Consumer sites like Twitter and Facebook initially exposed organizations to the potential benefit of using social technologies as listening posts to the market.
• Organizations are now beginning to understand that true Systems of Engagement mean more than just this public veneer; true Systems of Engagement mean embedding social technologies in the very nature of how an organization operates.
• Many early adopters of social and collaborative technologies were keen to try out different tools and services to see how they might work in a business environment. These pioneering toolsets have now converged to a much more defined set of products and application areas, and an increasing focus on integrating social technologies into the core of business processes.
• In just a few years we will cease to view “social” as a separate layer from process and the objective will be how to make the business itself social. 

Data points:

• 51% of organizations consider social business to be “Imperative” or “Significant” to their overall business goals and success. [AIIM – Social Business Systems, Success Factors for Enterprise 2.0 Applications]
• 27% of organizations now consider social business applications to be an infrastructure investment, rather than one required a separate financial business case analysis, and this % has doubled in the past 3 years. [AIIM – Social Business Systems, Success Factors for Enterprise 2.0 Applications]
• Within organizations using an Open Innovation social platform for ideas and suggestions, 48% have successfully surfaced major changes to internal processes and 34% have come up with major changes to external product offerings. [AIIM – Social Business Systems, Success Factors for Enterprise 2.0 Applications]
• 38% of those organizations using some form of Enterprise Q&A or expertise sourcing get half or more of their answers from unexpected sources within the business. [AIIM – Social Business Systems, Success Factors for Enterprise 2.0 Applications]

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The First 3 of 6 Imperatives…

1. Make everything mobile: Redefine content delivery and process automation to take advantage of mobile devices and mobile workforces. 
2. Digitize processes: Drive paper bottlenecks out of processes and automate process flows. 
3. Make the business social: Integrate social technologies into processes rather than create stand-alone social networks. Connect internal and external stakeholders to tap into unexpected sources of knowledge.

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 AIIM's Certified Information Professional designation was developed by a team of subject matter experts in conjunction with AIIM, in accordance with ISO 17024 methodologies. The purpose of the certification is to establish a core body of knowledge relevant to the needs of content and information professionals. The certification exams are independently administered by the global Prometric testing centers. Free certification prep kits and sample exam questions are available now from AIIM.

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