Gartner: Viele Social Software-Projekte in Unternehmen scheitern wegen unklarer Zielvorstellung

2.      Aligned
Purpose should align with business value that is the "What's in it for the business?" value, be it direct or indirect.

3.      Low Risk
Organisations are advised to resist the temptation to opt for high-risk communities, which seem to offer the greatest potential for business value. They are better revisited once social applications have gained momentum.

4.      Properly Scoped
Gartner advises organisations to start with a minimal scope and focus on growing a community's scale as fast as possible. Once the community has scaled up, users will guide on how to expand the scope.

5.      Facilitates Evolution
Purposes must be selected that both the organisation and community can build on. A "purpose road map" will allow for growing the scope of communities or establishing other applications and communities with the goal of progressing toward a highly collaborative organisation.

6.      Measurable
The success of a good purpose can be measured. Especially early on, when organisations are skeptical of social applications, Gartner advises choosing a purpose where business and community value can be clearly measured.

7.      Community-Driven
The value must come from the community. The best communities contribute far more to themselves than do the organisations that support them. If the purpose requires the organisation to contribute most of the content, and the community participants are mere readers, the organisation has simply used the new technologies as another channel to push communications.

Gartner analysts will provide more detailed analysis on the impact that social software is having on the organisation during the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2008, taking place 3-7 November in Cannes, France. Gartner Symposium/ITxpo is the IT industry's largest and most strategic conference, providing business leaders with a look at the future of IT. More than 3,000 senior business and IT strategists will gather for the insights, tools and solutions they need to ensure their IT initiatives are key contributors to and drivers of their enterprise's success. Gartner's annual Symposium/ITxpo events are key components of attendees' annual planning efforts. They rely on Gartner Symposium/ITxpo to gain insight into how their organisations can use IT to address business challenges and improve operational efficiency. Additional information is available at www.gartner.com/eu/symposiumfall

Members of the media can register for the event by contacting Laurence Goasduff at [email protected]

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