The Next Wave in Social Computing

By Teresa Carlson, Vice President, Microsoft Federal 

Earlier this month Gartner released its 2009 Magic Quadrant for Social Software in the Workplace, and we are proud that Microsoft is positioned in the “Leaders” quadrant.  We are ranked highest on the “Ability to Execute” axis, which reinforces the fact that our customers are finding real value in SharePoint’s social tools right now.  The report mentions that “Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 (MOSS 2007) offers a broad set of capabilities that combine structured collaboration with core social computing capabilities.”

Many federal leaders are already using Gov 2.0 resources like blogs, wikis, discussion groups, and workflow tools to foster collaboration across teams and improve the way agencies get things done.  For example, we’ve gotten very positive feedback on SharePoint’s “My Site” feature, a personal page that allows users to manage their documents, calendar, and contacts, while serving as a point of contact for other users to find information about their colleagues’ expertise and current projects.  It’s almost like an internal Facebook, with options like newsfeeds and status updates to keep coworkers connected.  And SharePoint’s social tools integrate with our Office applications and online productivity tools, so users can use them in conjunction with programs that they are already comfortable with.   

There are challenges associated with implementing Gov 2.0 tools, and federal leaders are rightly concerned with security.  To help agencies through the transition, last month we launched our Gov 2.0 Kit, which extends Sharepoint’s social networking capabilities while ensuring sensitive data is protected.  The “My Peeps” template allows users to securely collaborate with colleagues in “government-only” mode, with the option to tag certain information for public sharing on sites like Twitter and Facebook.   Auditing and “post-tracking” features allow federal leaders to track the information posted to agency-approved social networking sites, to make sure governance policies are being followed.  And to help agencies increase transparency and improve citizen services, there are templates for starting conversations with the public through blog comments, idea portals and Q&A features.  We released the kit as an open source application for the same reason – we want feedback and suggestions, and agencies are free to modify the solution themselves to suit their needs.   (click here for a demo)

We’re building additional social functionality into SharePoint 2010 while supporting social technology innovation throughout Microsoft with the creation of Future Social Experiences (FUSE) Labs.  FUSE is Microsoft’s new social computing research lab focused on exploring and developing collaborative solutions that touch all aspects of user experience, including media, search, and mobile devices.  FUSE is working closely with Microsoft product groups to incorporate the latest social thinking into the tools our customers rely on.  Web 2.0 technologies are changing the way we all think about software and computing, and federal agencies are starting to benefit from the next wave of solutions.