A Journey In Social Media

What The Market Needs ...

So, as I've been looking at various technologies in this arena, I've come away with the distinct impression that there's a huge gap in the market.

I'd like to see that gap plugged.  Maybe even plugged by EMC, in the best-of-all-worlds.

Simply put: today you can by chocolate, and you can buy peanut butter, but no Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are available today.

Of Chargeback Models And Business Outcomes

Reality bites again!

If wer're going to have 35,000 people at EMC using a social media platform, who's going to pay for it?

Remember: it's licenses, hardware and people.

Now, I'm not arguing that it doesn't need to be paid for.

But how it's paid for is turning into an interesting discussion.

Whew -- Things Are Moving (Way Too) Fast

My apologies on not keeping you up-to-date on our progress here.

It's all good.  It's just that it's coming fast and furious now, and I'm struggling to keep ahead of the wave.

Usually, I like to write thoughtful pieces on a particular aspect or issue we've encountered.

Maybe this post is "be careful what you ask for, you just might get it"

What Is Collaboration?

Words matter here.

And I'm starting to notice two distinct modes of thinking as people approach this topic.

You're going to have to pick what's important to you, I think.

Here goes.

Striking The Balance

Social media tools (or collaboration, or email, or ...)

By now, many people at EMC really "get it" that this is the next big thing to propel our company forward.  It changes the way we interact and contribute to EMC's success.

But there's a very hairy debate looming -- and the answer will define not only the future of social media at EMC, but at every company on the planet that attempts this.

And there's no easy answer.

Controlled environment and rollout?  Or an experiment in emergent behaviors?

This is one of the key debates that's emerging in companies deploying social media.

And, I believe, both sides are wrong.

A Thoughtful Post ...

... from my "other" blog -- the one I write for EMC corporation.

Simply put, I tried to put the whole social media thing into a context that technologists might appreciate. 

Find it here.

You might find this useful as well!

Developing Community Developers

Someone once said "you peel off layers of the onion ... until you cry".

Well, it's not that grim, but we're now into the meat of the real challenge that lays in front of us -- creating important new skills and behaviors that bring the potential of social media as a business tool to fruition.

And Now The Real Work Begins ...

So, if you're following the story so far, we've launched our internal platform as a "phase one" of a general approach to increasing social media proficiency at EMC.

There's been some successes already, to be sure, but now it's clear that the real work has only now just begun.

Creating Context For New Users

We want our social media platform to grow virally.

We also don't want to spend a lot of time hand-holding users, especially new ones.

But we're finding out that a little effort in creating context can go a long way to easing the process.

Dealing With Pirates

I would think that very often it is the case that -- by the time your company gets around to having an Official Social Media Platform and an Official Social Media Strategy -- there will be more than a few "pirate" platforms up and running that are already part of the landscape.

Certainly, that was the case here at EMC.

And thinking about these the right way might be helpful.

Sharing Responsibility with IT

So, is rolling out a social media platform (behind the firewall or otherwise) an IT thing, or a business thing?

The right answer is "both", which means that neither function can dictate terms to the other.

And today, I'd like to share some thoughts about organizational models, and specifically, working with IT groups.

We Have Been Live One Week ...

... and I have to say, I'm delighted overall. 

Everyone who rolls a big IT thing to users should have this kind of positive feedback.

I thought I'd capture some of the learnings and experiences here.