Being Peter Kim

Whither social business?

Consider this consulting question:

"If I were re-creating this company today, given what I know and the current level of technology, what would it look like?"

Sounds like a contemporary social business question, right?

It could be, but the original context predates "social business" by two decades. It's the key question from "Reengineering the Corporation," a classic business text. Its subtitle? "A Manifesto for Business Revolution."

You probably know what happened with reengineering. It quickly gained a negative reputation for being a management fad and excuse to lay off staff. Not exactly business revolution.

But no question, social business seems to ask the exact same key question of organizations today -- with an intent of corporate revolution.

Whither social business?

 

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Facebook: That was then, this is now.

The title of this post is borrowed of course from the classic coming-of-age novel by S. E. Hinton. It also happens to be a great phrase to describe what's happened to Facebook.

On the road: hotel horribility

If you travel frequently for work, you've stayed in plenty of hotels. And when you stay in plenty of hotels, you get exposed to the good, the bad, and the ugly of what happens when you use a common bed and bathroom that might be used by 364 different people over the course of a year.

What's next for business and why I joined @RGA

Let's face it. Great brands need to be thinking about what's beyond social business.

You might be thinking, "Wait a second...the social business era has just begun!" And if so, you'd be correct...

I'm a free agent

Four years ago, I saw a market opportunity and left Forrester Research to start Dachis Group. We outlined that opportunity for the world and gave it a name: social business. Dion Hinchcliffe and I co-authored a book that endcaps what we've seen so far.

Today, the social business market has matured. Companies are devoting budget and staff to social business efforts and their partners are becoming increasingly specialized. For example, Dachis Group has been building up its SaaS product offering and now offers six data products under the banner of "Engagement @ Scale": Campaign Performance Monitor, Employee Insight, Advocate Insight, Social Performance Monitor, Social Portfolio Insight, and the Social Business Index.

Sounds pretty good, right?

I think now's a perfect time to switch to a new s-curve.

The season of value creation in the social business market is over; it's time for value capture. We've been seeing this primarily in the technology segment of the market, with acquisitions including Buddy Media, Involver, and Yammer and initial public offerings of Jive, Bazaarvoice, and others. Internally, companies are organizing for social business and focusing on operationalizing programs for tens and hundreds of thousands of employees. Service providers have also seen movement here - Big Fuel was acquired last summer and more social shops will follow.

To prepare for this next industry shift, I've separated from Dachis Group leaving the firm in great shape and focused on executing the same strategy announced over four years ago. I have some thoughts on what's coming next, for example needing to own the experience to own the future.

For now, I'll be writing here and available as an independent analyst for speaking and advisory work. As for what's next...

 

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Own the experience, own the future

Have you asked yourself why Apple launched iMessage when its core competency appears to be in physical devices? Why Google is interested in wiring Kansas City with fiber optics when it makes most of its revenue from search? Why it would make sense for RIM to sell to Microsoft? Or what Facebook might do with its IPO riches? For an answer - and what I believe is the near-term future of the internet, read on.

The definition of social business

"Social business" is a term you can't escape these days---even if your work just remotely touches on social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, or collaborative technologies, such as IBM Connections or Yammer.

But what does "social business" mean? And why should you care?

sCRM: Stop me if you think you've heard this one before

Two weeks ago Oracle acquired social media management (SMM) tool Vitrue and yesterday Salesforce.com's $689 million acquisition of Buddy Media was confirmed.

Although these deals may be great for the acquired companies and the start of an era of social software consolidation, I can't shake the feeling that this matters very little, if at all, to client-side marketers.

With Facebook IPO, Social Business Becomes Key

We published this a couple weeks ago at CNBC. Although Facebook's IPO has been widely panned, it's important to keep in mind that the company still has a market cap of over $65 billion - that's pretty big. And that valuation has meaningful implications for social business.

Reviews of Social Business By Design

Social Business By Design has been out for a couple weeks and we're hearing great feedback on the book:

• "If you work in social media you have to buy a copy." - Forbes
• "For those trying to sell their companies on why social business makes sense, passing around a few copies of this book would be a good way to start." - Information Week
• "The graphics in this book are worth the price of the book alone." - ZDNet