Almost 90% of firms ready for enterprise social networking

A survey says 88% of businesses are ready to deploy enterprise social networking systems.

The survey, from enterprise social intelligence firm Trampoline Systems, says that although firms are eager to start using social networking, many are looking for more business functionality than that offered in consumer social networks.

UK businesses are the most eager to deploy social networking in the enterprise, with 94% of those surveyed believing social networking would be beneficial to use at work. This compared to 82% of US organisations.

Trampoline Systems surveyed 111 industry executives in the US and the UK for their views on how social networking could be useful for businesses in the future.

It found that 84% overall reported that social networking would help with sharing knowledge and expertise with colleagues across the organisation, and 68% said it would like help in finding relevant information.

In addition, 69% said they wanted to be able to interact with colleagues that they did not already know personally.