Industry Reference: The Social Business Stack for 2011 (Slideshare)

Below is an embedded powerpoint. If you can’t see it (perhaps from email) please see the blog post to access the presentation.

Last night, I was invited to to present my research findings to the VC community on Sand Hill road at National Venture Capital Association presented a forecast of where the Enterprise Social Business space was headed in 2011.  Below, you’ll find a reduced version of my slides and most of the salient points.  I’ve removed much of the spending data in 2010 and 2011 as I have a formal research report coming out in the near future which will publish on this blog.

The social business category is quite difficult to track, in part due to the constant investment injections this room as provided. I provided my view of the entire category and presented the 7 major categories and 18 specific classes within the space, here’s a former blog post where I was laying out the stack, although this presentation supersedes the post.  Also, you’ll find a few snippets of enterprise buyer objectives for both internal and external, and I provided the attendees with recommendations on what I would do if I were in their shoes.

The Social Business Stack: 7 Categories, 18 Discrete Classes, for 2011
Above Framework: The Social Business Stack: 7 Categories, 18 Discrete Classes, for 2011

In closing, I told these top VCs that much later in my career, I plan to move closer to the investing space. But first I must get more experience under my belt, I recognize I still have a lot to learn as an entrepreneur just passing year one.

(Credits: Thanks to Altimeter’s Charlene Li and Christine Tran for ongoing collaboration)

56 Replies to “Industry Reference: The Social Business Stack for 2011 (Slideshare)”

  1. Thank you for directing me to this very interesting post. The data are superb.

    However, I do have some thoughts on how we organize the 7 categories as we talk at the SocialTech.

    To me, the Social Network and the Social Platforms should be at the bottom. And they really interwoven with each other. And Lays the foundation for social interaction. So they should really be the basis of other software that are build on top of them.

    Then right on top of it is the three categories: Monitoring, Aggregation, and Publication. Actually each of these have their Analytics, so I wouldn't put Analytics with just the Monitoring category. In some sense, I would even put Analytics as a separate category that goes on top of the Monitoring, Aggregation and Publication category. However, there are not that many independent stand alone analytics engine. Most analytics along with other apps. So I can totally see why you put them together.

    IMHO, these three categories of apps works on both of the lower layers. Monitoring Apps monitor social networks as well as community, blogs, etc. Likewise, Aggregation apps also aggregate data from both the Social Platforms as well as the Social Networks.

    I just spend few min and sketched up an alternative schematics for these center blocks (attached). Unfortunately, it has to be in 3D, because each of the blocks above should touch both the social network as well as the social platforms. Then the Service and Infrastructure makes perfect sense going next to these center pieces.

  2. Dr Wu

    I would love to see your take on the stack –recreate it in this vision. I appreciate your perspective coming from the social platforms (Lithium viewpoint) so it would be really interesting to see. (I don't see the attachment)

    Here's my reasoning:
    I tried to keep this in context of the enterprise buyer.
    I put what was most farthest away from them at the top (social networks) and what's closest to their corporate websites: and visible, that's you, the social platforms.

    I see the other technologies in the middle as connective applications, brand monitoring companies are parsing information and bringing it back down to the corporate side. The 'brother and sister' of aggregation and publication go opposite directions.

    Regarding 'social networks' being the layer for social interaction, I might stuff that into the 'infrastructure' on left column as the features aren't really traversing –the data is.

    Not all apps have analytics –and those that do drastically vary in ability. I'll guess that 90% of all 'analytics' features that are out there are just combinations of 'engagement data' without any true insight or ability to predict information –commodity and low value.

    Although there's no 'correct' answer for this, it's just all a matter or perspective and I had the buyers in mind.

  3. Sorry, Disqus don’t work with attachment. I’ve upload it to flickr. Here it is
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/55560819@N05/5150091761/
    It is a very rough sketch that I drew up in few minutes. I can clean it up with illustrator later if you like.

    I see your reasoning now. I was putting it more on a functional perspective.

    It is true that not all apps have analytics, and fewer have any real analytics insights beyond just counting, summing, and averages. However, all of them have data. I think it is a matter of time when the industry become sophisticated enough to turn the data into insights via analytics. But I guess we can say that when they do become mature.

    Definitely agree that there is not correct answer on this. This is classification of application types. And depending on what criteria you use, you come up with different classification. This is even true in statistics and machine learning where we build statistical classifiers from data. But I totally see your perspective now. And having the buyers in mind definitely is the right approach for business. I’m still heavily geared toward science and functional thinking. 🙂 So I have a lot to learn.

  4. Jeremiah,
    Left a comment on Slideshare as well. Really like the way this presentation was organized given the audience. In response to the dialogue between you and Dr. Wu, I too, would love to see his 3D rendering. One of the biggest concerns I hear in conversations with CMO's and top level marketers is how to “fit” a SCRM solution into their existing data and analytic infrastructure (it's now thought of as a bolt on). It's all a bit dispersed at the moment and often times, I see data analysts pulling data from their analytics solution without creating the connection to their existing CRM. Add SCRM into the mix and scale becomes more complicated. I agree that we are still in the early adoption phase of SCRM and CIO's are struggling to figure out how all of these systems connect and how to prove value.

  5. On your findings about what companies are doing internally, this seems to be a huge opportunity for organization/culture change consultants.

  6. I think that major social networking players like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn may rule the year 2011, but we may never really know as there are plenty of promising sites that can be the next big thing on the Web. I guess, keeping one's options open will work best. Thanks for the sharing!

  7. Great presentation Jeremiah. What do you suggest smaller social media enterprise plugin/app developers should do to compete with agencies that are becoming full service stack providers? Try to stick it out nimbly as David versus Goliath?

  8. Jeremiah,

    Excellent, informative, insightful.

    Where would an interactive direct communications portal fit in the stack? I’m talking about a platform that allows an enterprise to share all types of direct communications such as email, SMS, VOIP and phone calls within the company collaboratively.. a module that identifies customer service issues and complaints quickly and proactively.

    Something that would allow a C-level executive to visualize the entire direct communications heartbeat of the enterprise; who is talking to who, dire issues, prioritize customer complaints, rate sentiment of top customers… Something that allows an exec. to spot redflags proactively while engaging with every possible employee in the company. This would include suggested communications, relationship maps, etc.

    Where would that fit on your diagram?

    Sergei Dolukhanov
    Director of Marketing, EvoApp

  9. I am surprised that IGLOO Software is not mentioned in your stack as a community platform… can you tell me why? We are listed on the Gartner Magic Quadrant for both internal and external social business social networking – not too mention also by Forrester, IDC and a host of other leading analyst firms. Just curious.

    BTW, I really like your stack – one thing we are seeing is point solutions like Yammer being built into the suites. IT is looking to minimize their support on single point solutions.

    Dan

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