IDC Report – SocialCast Is a Leader

One of the cool things I get to do is blog about any news related to everything VMware.  Yes recently I have been the vCloud guy, and now Nicira dude, but I also follow some of the other spaces VMware is in.  Specifically Socialcast since we use it a lot internally especially for the new four-man Nicira Team I am working with.  I was informed recently of a new IDC report on the Social Enterprise Space where Socialcast was rated a leader.  I wanted to provide some of the insight from that recent report for those not familiar with it.

Why is this important?  Well from my perspective Social Enterprise medium has changed my job significantly.  Once it was rolled out internally at VMware I was able to connect with people I otherwise would not have on E-Mail.  It has provided a venue for discussions that otherwise would be cryptic to have in email.  It is more real-time than email can be and allows for some familiar social interactions with “likes” and ‘Thank You’ tags along with search-ability of posts.  The great thing for me is it also provides me a voice within the company when I cannot be at Corporate to attend meetings for various initiatives.  So onto some of the data from the report.

IDC Key Criteria for Enterprise Social Software Solutions

  • Solution capabilities that extend activity streams, blogs, and wikis to offer a broader and more inclusive system to include external groups and secure communities
  • Optimized mobile user experience (UX), including an enhanced in-app experience across multiple devices
  • Native platform analytics that supersede basic reporting, offering the ability to extend data models to application partners and perform behavioral and predictive analysis on data generated by the network
  • A scalable and extensible platform that encourages customers and ISV partners to develop complementary solutions to extend the value of solutions for different roles, company sizes, and industries
  • Prepackaged integrations with collaboration tools and major enterprise application vendors delivered via the cloud as well as support for on-premise legacy enterprise application systems

IDC Key Measures of Success for Enterprise Social Vendors

Key indicators for successful longer-term strategies

  • Offering strategy
    ex. Functionality or offering roadmap, delivery model, future integration strategy
  • Go-to-market strategy
    ex. Pricing model, sales/distribution strategy, customer service strategy
  • Business strategy
    ex. Growth strategy, innovation/R&D pace and productivity, financial/funding model

Key capability measures for successful short-term strategies:

  • Offering capabilities
    ex. Cost competitiveness, integration, scalability
  • Go-to-market capabilities
    ex. Pricing model options and alignment, marketing, customer service
  • Business capabilities
    ex. Growth strategy execution, employee management

IDC MarketScape: Enterprise Social Software

  • X-axis indicates how well the vendor’s future strategy aligns with what customers will require in 3-5 years

  • Y-axis reflects the vendor’s current capabilities and menu or services and how it aligns with customer needs

  • Size of bubble indicates vendor’s market share

  • A (+), (-), or () icon indicates vendor’s relative growth rate

Socialcast Strengths

According to IDC in the report, Socialcast is the standard upon which all competitors will be evaluated.

  • Integration/extensibility
  • Strong customer case studies
    • Faster go-to-market
    • Increased productivity
    • Improved employee retention and hiring
    • Competitive differentiation
    • Greater business agility
  • Focus on customer success and adoption
  • Socialcast provides a single solution linking systems and services in a secure, but open platform

More Information

For more information on this report check out the following links and resources

About Chris Colotti

Chris is active on the VMUG and event speaking circuit and is available for many events if you want to reach out and ask. Previously to this he spent close to a decade working for VMware as a Principal Architect. Previous to his nine plus years at VMware, Chris was a System Administrator that evolved his career into a data center architect. Chris spends a lot of time mentoring co-workers and friends on the benefits of personal growth and professional development. Chris is also amongst the first VMware Certified Design Experts (VCDX#37), and author of multiple white papers. In his spare time he helps his wife Julie run her promotional products as the accountant, book keeper, and IT Support. Chris also believes in both a healthy body and healthy mind, and has become heavily involved with fitness as a Diamond Team Beachbody Coach using P90X and other Beachbody Programs. Although Technology is his day job, Chris is passionate about fitness after losing 60 pounds himself in the last few years.

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