New Social Network Roadmap Provides Risk-managed Approach for Applying Web 2.0 to Mature Businesses

PRLog (Press Release) – Jul 03, 2008 – CSRA, a management consultancy that advises firms on Web 2.0 strategy and programs, announced today that it would beta release its new social network roadmap at the Social Networking Conference in San Francisco on July 11, 2008.  The roadmap helps enterprises to effectively assess, plan and apply social networks' new technologies and behaviors to business while minimizing risk.  It offers a structured approach to evaluating and using social networks for process innovation in marketing, business development, client service, human resources, research & development and others.

CSRA Managing Director Christopher Rollyson said, "We created the social network roadmap because roadmaps are invaluable tools for companies that are adopting significant change.  By articulating the adoption path, a roadmap helps educate people about how the novel technology affects their company and what they can do about it.  It aligns them around orchestrated plans for action, and it gives them a vocabulary to talk about the change process."  Rollyson has over twenty years of experience with technology-driven innovation as a management consultant and marketing executive.

CSRA's enterprise social network roadmap is comprised of three phases:

Feasibility builds the company's vision around social networking and Web 2.0.  It helps executive sponsors understand customer, partner, investor and other influencer activities in LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, blogs, virtual worlds and other venues as well as competitors' activities.  Subphases are Due Diligence, Baseline and Benchmarking.

Strategy helps the company build an explicit plan for its structured adoption of LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Second Life and other Web 2.0 sites, as well as its plan to apply them to business processes.  Notably, it targets processes to which pilots will apply social networks to boost innovation through cross-boundary collaboration.  Subphases are Governance, Metrics and Adoption Plan.

Implementation is a measured process for applying the company's activities in social networks and Web 2.0 to business processes for process innovation.  Social networks, since they enable members to find each other and collaborate around very specific interests, hold extensive promise to boost the value of collaborative knowledge work.  In Implementation, companies use social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn to innovate in business development, client service, marketing, research/product development and recruiting/human resources processes.  Implementation contains Pilot, Scale and Integrate subphases.

At the Social Networking Conference

Rollyson will present the roadmap at the conference (http://www.socialnetworkingconference.com), which educates business and government leaders on emerging trends in social networks and mobile computing.  The conference will be keynoted by Apple Co-founder Steve Wozniak, and other speakers will include executives from LinkedIn, Visible Path, Jigsaw, Twitter, GM, IBM, GE, Deutsche Telekom, Motorola, HP, Perfspot, Gemini Mobile and others.  Immediately after the roadmap presentation, Rollyson will moderate the panel, "Business Social Networking and the Changing Nature of Data," featuring executives from LinkedIn, Jigsaw and Visible Path.

Adding Value to "Enterprise Facebooks"

Most companies are thinking about launching "enterprise Facebooks," or they have already built them with software like Lotus Connections or Microsoft SharePoint, according to Rollyson.  As he has written extensively (http://www.executivesguide-linkedin.com/blog/?cat=4), these solutions can add incremental value by helping employees connect with each other inside the enterprise, but they largely miss the point of the Web 2.0 age: as IBM itself has emphasized, cross-boundary collaboration is the holy grail of innovation: employees need to connect seamlessly with expertise wherever it emerges, whether inside or outside the enterprise.  "Enterprise social networks" do not readily allow this due to security and intellectual property concerns.

The roadmap has an explicit process for harnessing internal and external information within the protected enterprise environment in a way that does not compromise intellectual property or security.  This will add significant value and dynamism to proprietary environments.

The Roadmap's Strategy, Transformation and Execution Roots

The roadmap draws from Rollyson's experience (http://www.rollyson.net/consulting/clients.html)  with e-business strategy and transformation at PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting during "Web 1.0" in which he was a subject matter expert involved with building the firm's roadmap and services framework while serving industry teams and clients in automotive, energy, consumer products and high tech.  It also borrows from his exposure to fast-cycle software development.  It manages risk by identifying, creating process for and testing the riskiest parts of a proposition prior to extensive investment.  

The Implementation Phase Often Features LinkedIn

Companies that sell to other companies ("B2B") often have a focus on LinkedIn because it is arguably the most prominent executive network for making and maintaining executive connections globally.  Acknowledging this, CSRA launched a management consulting service, the "Executive's Guide to LinkedIn," in January 2008.  It helps companies to use LinkedIn for enterprise process innovation, and it counts dozens of executives as clients.  As such, CSRA has gained significant experience with applying LinkedIn to enterprise business processes such as business development/sales, client service, research/product development, recruiting and public relations. CSRA is not affiliated with LinkedIn Inc. beyond being an enthusiastic member.