THOUGHT LEADERSHIP Social Intranets and the Supply Chain EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW SEP 2015 Alan Pelz-Sharpe, Research Director, Business Applications Matt Mullen, Senior Analyst, Business Applications In one form or another, intranets have been around for 15 years or more. Now, we are finding they are reaching the end of a lifecycle. This lifecycle moment represents a major opportunity for organizations to rethink the purpose and value of a corporate intranet and to leverage newer technologies to increase productivity and enhance corporate communications and insights to build next-generation social intranets. 2015 451 Research, LLC WWW.451RESEARCH.COM
ABOUT 451 RESEARCH 451 Research is a preeminent information technology research and advisory company. With a core focus on technology innovation and market disruption, we provide essential insight for leaders of the digital economy. More than 100 analysts and consultants deliver that insight via syndicated research, advisory services and live events to over 1,000 client organizations in North America, Europe and around the world. Founded in 2000 and headquartered in New York, 451 Research is a division of The 451 Group. 2015 451 Research, LLC and/or its Affiliates. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction and distribution of this publication, in whole or in part, in any form without prior written permission is forbidden. The terms of use regarding distribution, both internally and externally, shall be governed by the terms laid out in your Service Agreement with 451 Research and/or its Affiliates. The information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. 451 Research disclaims all warranties as to the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of such information. Although 451 Research may discuss legal issues related to the information technology business, 451 Research does not provide legal advice or services and their research should not be construed or used as such. 451 Research shall have no liability for errors, omissions or inadequacies in the information contained herein or for interpretations thereof. The reader assumes sole responsibility for the selection of these materials to achieve its intended results. The opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice. NEW YORK SAN FRANCISCO LONDON BOSTON 20 West 37th Street 3rd Floor New York, NY 10018 P 212-505-3030 F 212-505-2630 140 Geary Street 9th Floor San Francisco, CA 94108 P 415-989-1555 F 415-989-1558 37-41 Gower Street London, UK WC1E 6HH P +44 (0)20 7299 7765 F +44 (0)20 7299 7799 1 Liberty Square, 5th Floor Boston, MA 02109 P 617-261-0699 F 617-261-0688 ABOUT THE AUTHOR ALAN PELZ-SHARPE RESEARCH DIRECTOR, BUSINESS APPLICATIONS Alan Pelz-Sharpe is the Research Director for Business Applications at 451 Research. Alan has overall responsibility for the coverage of Business Applications technology and trends, including social/collaboration, compliance and legal, marketing and sales automation and integration. Alan s own primary area of focus is on the emergence of next generation collaborative business applications that leverage the power of the crowd and cloud. II
Key Findings The theoretical value proposition for intranets is potentially stronger today than it was 15 years ago. To realize true value, it is vital to embed intranet technology into the way people work, not supplant it as an additional task. Employee use of intranets cannot be driven in a top-down manner enforcement is not equal to engagement. There is no one-size-fits-all technology approach that works for all industries or all organizational structures. More recent technology markets, such as file sync and share, are enhancements to, not replacements for, a contemporary social intranet. Software vendors will only realize successful growth for social intranet sales if they also recognize that integration with existing business applications is vital in representing the value they can bring to an organization. III
Executive Summary INTRODUCTION Intranets first came about in the mid-to-late 1990s and were conceived much along the same lines as we propose for future social intranets. Intranets were originally built to provide a unified system to deliver early email, groupware, corporate directories and communication technologies. We see a number of converging trains of thought and differing technologies that will impact the way we think about intranets and create the potential to build next-generation social intranets that fully deliver on the promise of a centralized employee collaboration and communication platform. METHODOLOGY This report on the emergence of social intranets is based on first-party research undertaken by 451 Research through in-depth interviews with a variety of industry sources, including software vendors, practitioners and industry experts. In addition, our findings for this report are based on 451 Research s Social Business Market Monitor service, including questionnaire data responded to by software and service vendors referenced within the report. The data here was collated and supplemented with additional research that was undertaken by the Quantitative Services/Market Monitor team. Further referenced is 451 Research s ChangeWave buying surveys. Reports such as this one represent a holistic perspective on key emerging markets in the enterprise IT space. These markets evolve quickly, so 451 Research offers additional services that provide critical marketplace updates. These updated reports and perspectives are presented on a daily basis via the company s core intelligence service, 451 Research Market Insight. Forward-looking M&A analysis and perspectives on strategic acquisitions and the liquidity environment for technology companies are also updated regularly via Market Insight, which is backed by the industry-leading 451 Research M&A KnowledgeBase. Emerging technologies and markets are also covered in additional 451 Research channels, including Datacenter Technologies; Storage; Systems and Software Infrastructure; Networking; Information Security; Data Platforms and Analytics; Development, DevOps and IT Ops; Business Applications; Service Providers; Cloud and IT Services Markets; Multi-Tenant Datacenters; European Services; Enterprise Mobility; and Mobile Telecom. This report was written by Alan Pelz-Sharpe, Research Director, Business Applications, with help from Matt Mullen, Senior Analyst, Business Applications. Any questions about the methodology should be addressed to Alan Pelz-Sharpe at: alan. pelzsharpe@451research.com. For more information about 451 Research, please go to: www.451research.com. IV
Table of Contents 1 A MERCIFULLY BRIEF HISTORY OF INTRANETS 1 Figure 1: Evolution of Intranets..........................................1 WHAT SHOULD A SOCIAL INTRANET PROVIDE?.............................. 2 Figure 2: Forces for a Social Intranet........................................3 2. TECHNOLOGY OPTIONS 6 Figure 4: Organizations Look to Establish Social Priorities on the Intranet Spectrum...............6 Figure 5: SMAC Components...........................................7 THE GROWING IMPACT OF SMAC..................................... 8 Figure 6: Applications Deployed on Smartphones.................................8 VENDOR TYPES.............................................. 9 Figure 7: Organizations Aligning Social Priorities on the Intranet Spectrum with Technology Options..... 11 3 MARKET LANDSCAPE 13 Figure 8: Total Enterprise Collaboration and Social Revenue ($M)........................ 13 INVESTMENTS.............................................. 14 Figure 9: Notable Social and Collaboration Deals................................ 14 4 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 15 5 INDEX OF COMPANIES 16 V