“Geometric was looking for a way to connect our large and dispersed workforce and to offer them a place to socially collaborate”, says Jitendra Kasliwal, Head of Enterprise Systems at Geometric, “With SharePoint 2013 already implemented it was the logical platform of choice for this purpose”. SharePoint offers a very good foundation, but Geometric quickly realized that certain essential Enterprise Social Networking capabilities were lacking. “Besides enhancing SharePoint´s social features we also realized we needed to improve its User Experience” continues Kasliwal. “Now the question was: will we custom develop a solution or acquire a ready to install social add-on for SharePoint?”

Make or Buy an Enterprise Social Network?

With software development skills in-house and with competent IT partners at hand, developing an Enterprise Social Networking solution seemed feasible at first sight. However Geometric soon realised that custom developing and maintaining such a solution would not be sustainable and financially unfeasible. Moreover the timelines provided by Beezy would never have been met with custom development. “In June we were still discussing commercials and on the 3^rd of July Geometric´s Enterprise Social Networking platform, ConnectPlus, went live for its international workforce”, says Kasliwal, “So in less than a month Geometric could turn its plans into a ready to use network.”

“Besides a few small branding customizations we applied ourselves, Beezy delivers the Enterprise Social capabilities and the intuitive user experience we were looking for out-of-the-box”, says Kasliwal, “We could have never build this solution ourselves within the current budget. Let alone meet the same timelines”.

Creating Awareness and Driving Adoption

With the soft launch of ConnectPlus in July it was time to create companywide awareness of the new social network in August. What better way for this than the group CEO using it!? In August Geometric´s CEO held his first Beezy Town Hall. Allowing Geometric´s global workforce to connect with him. The Town Hall was not only breaking down hierarchical barriers, it was also giving the CEO a good feel of what was going on throughout the organisation. Having the CEO using the company´s new Social Network sends an important message: “Our executive team takes social collaboration and transparency serious”. It is important that executives lead by example when it comes to driving new behaviour and the use of innovative solutions.

Results

• ConnectPlus went live just 5 weeks after the initial installation of the Beezy Software
• Within 2 months the group CEO held his first companywide Beezy Town Hall
• Beezy´s User Experiences has completely revamped the look & feel of Geometric´s collaboration environment
• Over 65% of the total workforce has joined ConnectPlus during the first 3 months
• Over 110 communities have been created in ConnectPlus over the first 3 months

About Geometric

Geometric is a specialist in the domain of engineering solutions, services and technologies that span across the entire lifecycle of a product. It serves industries ranging from automotive, off-highway, aerospace and defence, to consumer goods and oil and gas. Geometric employs over 4,000 people with offices across the USA, Canada, the UK, France, Sweden, Germany, Romania, India, China, and Japan.