Social software has taken the Internet by storm, fuelling huge growth in collaborative authoring platforms (such as blogs, wikis and podcasts) and massive expansion in social networking communities. These technologies have generated an unprecedented level of consumer participation and it is now time for businesses to embrace them as part of their own information and knowledge management strategies.

Enterprise 2.0 is one of the first books to explain the impact that social software will have inside the corporate firewall, and ultimately how staff will work together in the future. Niall Cook helps you to navigate this emerging landscape and introduces the key concepts that make up 'Enterprise 2.0'. The 4Cs model at the heart of the book uses practical examples from well known companies in a range of industry sectors to illustrate how to apply Enterprise 2.0 to encourage communication, cooperation, collaboration and connection between employees and customers in your own company.

Erudite, well-researched and highly readable, this book is essential reading for anyone involved in knowledge, information and library management, as well as those implementing social software tools inside organizations. It will also appeal to marketing, advertising, public relations and internal communications professionals who need to exploit the opportunities social software offers for significant business impact and competitive advantage.

Contents: Introduction. Part One Social Media and Social Software: The social media explosion; The birth of social software; Social software in the enterprise. Part Two The 4Cs Approach: Communication; Cooperation; Collaboration; Connection. Part Three Implementing Social Software in the Enterprise: Models for success (and failure); Implementation and adoption. Part Four Social Software Outside the Enterprise: Join the conversation; Afterword. Appendix; References; Index.

About the Author: Niall Cook is the Worldwide Director of Marketing Technology at communications consultancy Hill & Knowlton. He frequently advises the agency's Fortune 500 clients on the effective use of technology to support internal and external marketing strategy, having recently worked on projects for Allianz, HSBC and LG.

Previously Niall held positions at the online currency beenz.com, Answerthink Consulting Group, UBS and Reed Elsevier. He is also the founder and chairman of Cogenz Ltd, a company providing social bookmarking software for the enterprise.

Reviews: ‘This is a truly inspirational book which should be required reading for managers, IT leaders, systems analysts, developers, and business strategists in any enterprise, small, medium, and especially large.’ – Roy Johnson, Mantex

‘A must read for new and future adopters of social computing…a smart book to make people smarter, not like the usual management recipe books made of 20% ideas and 80% case studies.’
– Olivier Amprimo, Headshift

Extracts from this title are available to view:

Full contents list

Foreword

Introduction

Chapter 2 - The birth of social software