Sanjeev Sisodiya • CTO Connectbeam

Connectbeam started as an internal business social bookmarking tool like del.icio.us, then learnt going into large enterprises that a social aggregation service was more valuable, so they are working hard on enabling the joining of siloed content.They see their products as an evolution of the corporate directory, a social context service across the set of applications behind the firewall to be served up where users live their lives.Questions people are asking are 'how to determine ROI'? 'How can we see what is happening in all the organizations across our enterprise'?Sanjeev believes momentum is building around Enterprise 2.0 but anything that involves organizational change, as is the case with Enterprise 2.0, and you are talking five to six year time frames.Adoption cycles: Connectbeam deals typically start with a small pilot and expand out. As the adoption cycle kicks in, value is seen and usage expands.Connectbeam are seeing uptake by middle management for pilot adoption as well as top level blessing and grass roots adoption.People don't really see the endpoints yet - Sanjeev thinks this will ultimately be a service which is woven into the entire organization and at some point it will be as fundamental as the company directory.Rigidly organized companies are starting to adopt because they see the value, while the safety factor of feeling comfortable with acceptable security standards is a significant customer concern.There is a confusion among the wider population about the broader 'social media' space and what is providing core value and what is superficial.Measurement of metrics in business use will help significantly but there is no credible way to 'put something in and measure the ROI in 90 days'. This is a serious enterprise evolution which will take 3-5 years to be truly unified and measurable.