The next big shift: Intranets, portals, and software suites that are the integrating force of the social fabric for our organizations. This morning’s announcement here at Dreamforce today from Salesforce of Chatter, an enterprise-class realization of Facebook and Twitter, is further evidence of the industry’s push for social Web capabilities for business activities.
Early indications are that Chatter will drive conversation and attention on this subject in enterprise circles very much like Google Wave did for consumer circles (as well as some businesses.)
Of course, a central question is — given current economic challenges for example — whether this is what the enterprise world is really looking for right now. However, as I’ve covered here throughout the year, enterprise social computing has been coming into its own as a significant component of modern business software for a number of reasons lately.
So while adoption numbers vary, it’s an increasingly smart bet that not only are social applications moving into the enterprise, but that existing business applications will begin to get more and more social features.
