3. It Could Be More Social Than Your Social Networks.
Because Skype in the Workspace overlays the platform's various communications services, it might actually make you more social -- even if you won't see the word "social" in Skype's marketing copy. That's because opportunities can lead not just to connections with legions of relatively anonymous Internet users but directly to conversations with actual people.
More Insights
Webcasts
- Reduce Cost and Improve Manageability with IBM Windows Storage Server
- IT Consumerization in SMBs: How to Manage User Demands
White Papers
More >>Reports
More >>LinkedIn, for one, has taken steps in that direction by making phone numbers more apparent in its recent revamp. But Skype provides the actual phone or videoconference line, too.
"Making that easy connection and then connecting on Skype and taking the conversation from there seems to be very powerful," Cebeci said. "That's what we heard from the beta customers as well."
Social SMBs should find other elements of Skype's new service familiar, too. Users can offer testimonials about a business and its opportunities or other services, for example -- similar to how LinkedIn users can endorse each others' skills. Opportunities can be "favorite-d," as with favorite tweets or Facebook Likes. Then there's the simple fact that compelling opportunities will create connections -- by any name, they remain the core currency of social networks.
And there's the most obvious social element: Links with other well-known networks. At launch, Skype in the Workplace includes integrations with LinkedIn, Twitter and Google+. When you create an opportunity, you can simultaneously promote it across those networks. Facebook is conspicuously absent from Skype in the Workspace, although it could be added later. For now, the omission is by design.
"Given the professional nature of this, LinkedIn and Twitter seemed to be the most appropriate," Cebeci said.
Attackers are increasingly using a simple method for finding flaws in websites and applications: They Google them. Using Google code search, hackers can identify crucial vulnerabilities in application code strings, providing the entry point they need to break through application security. In our report, Using Google To Find Vulnerabilities In Your IT Environment, we outline methods for using search engines such as Google and Bing to identify vulnerabilities in your applications, systems and services--and to fix them before they can be exploited. (Free registration required.)
