Enterprise 2.0: How Social Software Will Change the Future of Work

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 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.

Table of Contents:
Contents: Introduction. Part 1 Social Media and Social Software: The social media explosion; The birth of social software; Social software in the enterprise. Part 2 The 4Cs Approach: Communication; Cooperation; Collaboration; Connection. Part 3 Implementing Social Software in the Enterprise: Models for success (and failure); Implementation and adoption. Part 4 Social Software Outside the Enterprise: Join the conversation; Afterword. Appendix; References; Index.

About the Author :
Niall Cook is advisor and co-founder of Sociagility (www.sociagility,com), a social business consultancy. He worked for 13 years at leading global PR agency Hill & Knowlton, first leading the UK digital practice and then as worldwide head of marketing technology. He pioneered the firm's use of social media including its blogging platform, Collective Conversation. Prior to joining Hill & Knowlton he held positions at the online currency beenz.com, Answerthink Consulting Group, UBS and Reed Elsevier. Niall is the author of Enterprise 2.0: How social software will change the future of work, which explores the application of social software inside organisations and was published by Gower in July 2008. He is also a trustee of East Anglia's Children's Hospices.

Review :
'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 'Enterprise 2.0 is something that we will increasingly hear about in the coming months; Cook's book is a great way to educate people new to the subject while enabling those who are already experienced in the area to add to their knowledge. He has produced a fresh book that shows how easy it can (and should) be to start experimenting with Web 2.0 technologies in the workplace. Cook's message come through loud and clear throughout the book: start experimenting with social software platforms today and begin to understand what will work in your organization.' - Daniel Penton, www.simply-communicate.com 'Niall Cook packs a considerable amount of insight into this book...He makes the important point that if you do not provide social tools for the next generation of employees, they will either use third party software, leave for a competitor, or not work for you in the first place...Reading this book changed a number of my assumptions, and I expect it will do the same for you.' - Martin White, Intranets Today Magazine '...Cook's approach is remarkably spin-free and pragmatic...' - Andrew Wahl, Canadian Business Magazine '...as organizations embark on projects to implement comprehensive enterprise software solutions that integrate multiple technologies into unified platforms, they need to rely on guidelines and recommendations from prior research, practitioner experiences, expert opinions, and lessons learned by others in their projects. Enterprise 2.0 provides a useful synthesis of these resources in the form of a discourse that will appeal to both the industry and the academic communities.' - Umar Ruhi, Academici Knowledge Networks Wesbite '...an interesting book in that it brings together and consolidates (under the banner of 'Enterprise 2.0') many of the recent Web 2 developments within the context of an enterprise environment. Many of the tools and techniques that are described are reinforced through the use of practical 'real world' case studies taken from within contemporary organisations. Although it comes at the end, the book's appendix provides a very useful review of the literature relating to social software.' - Philip Barker, Electronic Library '...I will nail my colours to the mast from the outset - Enterprise 2.0 is, in my opinion, a significant publication. The book is not a solutions manual per se, more a thought leader. Niall Cook - Worldwide Director of Marketing Technology at Hill & Knowlton and founder of Cogenz Ltd - provokes the reader into assessing information flow, and the tools needed to facilitate it, with deft skill.' - Andrew Alexander Clarke, Legal Information Management