Post by Alan Lepofsky, VP and Principal Analyst at Constellation Research. With almost two decades of experience in the software industry, Alan helps organizations improve their existing business processes by providing access to the colleagues, content and communities that can help people get their work done more effectively.

Openly Sharing Knowledge Within The Social Enterprise

Do you remember the old saying “Knowledge is power?” Within the enterprise this used to represent the belief that if people kept their skills and knowledge to themselves then they would remain valuable and their jobs would be secure. The problem is, a company is not just a bunch of individuals, but rather a team of people working together on a common goal. The more seamlessly those people can work together, the more successful a company can be. Thankfully the tides are turning in the workplace, as both culture and technology are empowering the notion of the Connected Enterprise. In this new era, people work together with their colleagues and their customers, sharing information and expertise in order to help each other get their jobs done.

In this article we’ll examine how enterprise software is evolving to support this new connected workforce. Where tools were once standalone platforms, many have now become integrated parts of the processes that are critical to business success. Constellation Research calls this new style of integration, Purposeful Collaboration. (See figure 1)

Figure 1: The Evolution Of Social Software