Experton Group’s extensive study of vendors on the German market underlines leading position of IBM’s social business solutions.
Ehningen, February 18, 2014: A recent study by the Experton Group investigated the entire range of social business solutions offered by different vendors. IBM came out as a top vendor in eight out of nine categories. The analysts assessed IBM as the leading provider within the areas of Social Enterprise Networking Suites, Social Collaboration File Sharing, Social Talent Management, Social Commerce, Social Media Marketing Management, Socialytics, Consulting, and Integration. The results of the study will also be the subject of a roundtable discussion with the Experton analysts at CeBIT on March 12.
The social business landscape in Germany is growing in leaps and bounds. According to forecasts by the Experton Group, social business investments for communication and collaboration in Germany are set to grow by more than 50 percent per year from 2013 to 2016. The number of social business solutions available on the market is growing at the same rapid pace. To help customers make decisions within this environment, the Experton Group identified and assessed around 100 social business offerings. The Social Business Vendor Benchmark 2014 is the first extensive comparative study of its kind in Germany.
The study defines social business offerings as professional solutions for different application scenarios based on social networks, such as sharing instead of sending information. During a research period of three months, the experts rated the performance of vendors in the following nine categories: Social Enterprise Networking Suites, Social Collaboration File Sharing, Social Talent Management, Social Commerce, Social CRM, Social Media Marketing Management, Socialytics, Consulting, and Integration.
The analysts placed IBM in the leading quadrant in eight out of nine categories. The only category in which IBM did not lead was CRM, for which the company does not currently have a solution on the market. “The Experton Group study is further proof that we are on the right path when it comes to social business,” says Michael Schikorra, Brand Sales Leader, IBM Collaboration Solutions for Germany, Austria and Switzerland. “IBM is clearly a pioneer in the field. Back in 2007, we were the first to launch a flagship social networking platform, with IBM Connections, and this has been leading the way ever since, unchallenged at the top of this growing market. We are now benefiting from the fact that we took the opportunities offered by social business seriously at a time when others were still mocking the trend.”
IBM was identified as a leading vendor in the following categories:
Social Enterprise Networking Suites, Social Collaboration File Sharing: IBM Connections is the market leader in terms of completeness and range of features. With the announcement of Mail Next at IBM Connect in January, IBM once again set standards for the integration of traditional communication and social software.
Consulting, Integration: IBM was one of the first to launch an extensive and in-depth consulting solution with its Social Business Agenda, which has already proved its worth in numerous client projects.
Social Talent Management: IBM was quick to realize that competition for Generation Y talent would become crucially important for many companies. In 2012, the company added Kenexa, a leading vendor of Social Talent Management solutions, to its portfolio. The recently launched IBM Kenexa Talent Suite completely integrates this solution with IBM Connections.
Social Media Marketing Management, Commerce: IBM is accommodating the growing significance of customer interaction in retail with its Enterprise Marketing Management solutions and a wide range of services for commerce.
Socialytics: The use of big data generated through social channels is another important field emerging within social business. IBM has leading solutions for making responsible use of these data on the market and can draw on its well-known Watson technology to this end.
Discussion at CeBIT
IBM is holding a roundtable discussion on Social Business in Germany, Austria and Switzerland at CeBIT. Experton Group analysts Frank Heuer and Heiko Henkes will be presenting their study and its findings at the event. They will be joined by Barbara Koch, Social Business Leader, and Michael Schikorra, IBM Sales Leader for Germany, Austria and Switzerland, who will talk about the future of social business. The discussion will take place on March 12 from 11 a.m. to 12 noon in the IBM Press Center, Hall 2, Room 5.