????如果將“社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)”等專業(yè)術(shù)語(yǔ)與諸如“企業(yè)級(jí)軟件”這樣枯燥乏味的詞兒聯(lián)系在一起，結(jié)果是什么？結(jié)果顯然是個(gè)煞風(fēng)景的詞，具體到我們要說(shuō)的情況就是“企業(yè)級(jí)社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)”。

????互聯(lián)網(wǎng)領(lǐng)域里凡是涉及消費(fèi)者的內(nèi)容總是要新奇有趣得多。根據(jù)市場(chǎng)研究機(jī)構(gòu)高德納公司（Gartner）的統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)據(jù)，企業(yè)級(jí)軟件的市場(chǎng)規(guī)模已經(jīng)高達(dá)2,850億美元。盡管如此，它得到的關(guān)注只是消費(fèi)類網(wǎng)站的一個(gè)零頭。而且，企業(yè)級(jí)軟件跟上潮流的步伐往往過(guò)于緩慢，比如在使用iPhone、平板電腦、以及依托于網(wǎng)絡(luò)的應(yīng)用等方面都是如此。

????雖然社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)是IT業(yè)重大的發(fā)展趨勢(shì)，但是直到最近，許多非互聯(lián)網(wǎng)行業(yè)的公司在企業(yè)辦公領(lǐng)域部署社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)的行動(dòng)依然緩慢。盡管現(xiàn)在可能已有8.45億個(gè)用戶與朋友在Facebook上建立了聯(lián)系，1.5億名LinkedIn會(huì)員在網(wǎng)絡(luò)內(nèi)與同行廣泛建立了關(guān)聯(lián)，但是鮮有用戶經(jīng)常性地訪問(wèn)公司內(nèi)部的社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)來(lái)實(shí)現(xiàn)與同事的協(xié)同工作。

????不過(guò)，這種情形可能已開始改變。Yammer這個(gè)廣受歡迎的企業(yè)級(jí)社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)目前已擁有了400萬(wàn)名用戶。最近，在有德豐杰成長(zhǎng)基金（DFJ Growth）、科斯拉風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資公司（Khosla Ventures）、查爾斯河風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資公司（Charles River Ventures,CRV）、以及創(chuàng)始人基金公司（Founders Fund）等風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資機(jī)構(gòu)參與的新一輪融資中，Yammer融到了8,500萬(wàn)元美元。迄今為止，該公司已經(jīng)融到了1.42億美元的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資。

????Yammer并不是特例。搖擺舞軟件公司（Jive Software）于去年12月上市。目前，該公司號(hào)稱已經(jīng)擁有1,700萬(wàn)用戶。搖擺舞軟件的股票價(jià)格上市時(shí)為12美元每股，現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)上漲了82%。另外，Socialtext 和Socialcast等其他企業(yè)級(jí)社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)也在成長(zhǎng)壯大。同時(shí)，大型公司也開始介入這一領(lǐng)域。谷歌公司（Google）就對(duì)外宣稱，要在社交平臺(tái)Google+中增加內(nèi)部社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)功能。客戶關(guān)系管理軟件服務(wù)供應(yīng)商Salesforce.com也認(rèn)定其Chatter協(xié)同軟件將推動(dòng)公司的成長(zhǎng)。

????上周五，Salesforce.com公布的收入和利潤(rùn)超過(guò)了分析師的預(yù)測(cè)。此前，分析師曾預(yù)測(cè)說(shuō)該公司本季度收入將再次超出預(yù)測(cè)。結(jié)果，在周五收盤后交易中，其股價(jià)應(yīng)聲上漲了9%，達(dá)到143.64美元，創(chuàng)下了半年來(lái)的最高值。公司首席執(zhí)行官馬克?貝尼奧夫在接受電話采訪時(shí)表示，取得這個(gè)好成績(jī)的原因在于，該公司開發(fā)的Chatter等企業(yè)級(jí)社交產(chǎn)品已經(jīng)吸引了包括惠普公司（HP）和電子游戲開發(fā)商Activision等公司在內(nèi)的新客戶。“我們本季度財(cái)務(wù)數(shù)據(jù)的杰出表現(xiàn)完全有賴于社交企業(yè)級(jí)戰(zhàn)略的推行，”貝尼奧夫說(shuō)。“借助社交企業(yè)戰(zhàn)略，我們正在達(dá)成公司史上最重大、最激動(dòng)人心的戰(zhàn)略交易?！?/p>

????由于企業(yè)逐漸認(rèn)識(shí)到社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)的價(jià)值，于是開始興起部署社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)的熱潮。上周，研究機(jī)構(gòu)Altimeter Research公司發(fā)布的報(bào)告顯示，盡管Yammer等服務(wù)在有些公司中日漸流行，但許多公司尚未認(rèn)識(shí)到社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)的巨大潛力，它不僅能在現(xiàn)有工作場(chǎng)所關(guān)系中起到加強(qiáng)溝通的作用，而且還能建立新型關(guān)系，提高工作效率?！霸S多企業(yè)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人根本沒有認(rèn)識(shí)到，類似Facebook狀態(tài)更新的功能在企業(yè)內(nèi)能夠創(chuàng)造多大的價(jià)值?！?Altimeter 集團(tuán)的創(chuàng)始人查琳?李在最近的一份報(bào)告中寫道。“有些組織最初滿懷熱情，在組織內(nèi)部署了社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)功能，但最終換來(lái)的結(jié)果是，早期的種種努力均付之東流，剩下的只有寥寥幾名堅(jiān)定不移的參與者。”

????李曾采訪了搖擺舞、Salesforce、IBM等軟件廠商以及百思買（Best Buy）和斯普林特（Sprint）等公司。她發(fā)現(xiàn)，盡管社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)在改善公司內(nèi)部溝通方面潛力巨大，但是企業(yè)部署社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)的方式往往并沒有推動(dòng)、反而阻礙了其應(yīng)用。造成這種現(xiàn)象的原因，某種程度上是由于迄今用于企業(yè)級(jí)社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)的投資還很低：李調(diào)查到的公司中，有三分之二去年用于社交技術(shù)的投資不足10萬(wàn)美元；余下的則是將社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)胡亂地整合進(jìn)公司組織，一些部門十分熱心，另外一些則根本不放在心上。

????What do you get when you cross a buzzword like "social networking" with an eye-glazing term like "enterprise software"? A buzzkill -- in this case, one called "enterprise social networking."

????As long as the web has been around, the consumer side of things has been sexier. Enterprise software may be a $285 billion market, according to Gartner, but it receives a fraction of the coverage that the consumer web does, and it tends to adapt slowly to major changes, such as the adoption of iPhones, tablets and web-based apps.

????Social networking is another major trend. But until recently, many companies outside of the web industry have been slow to adopt them as workplace tools. There may be 845 million people users connecting with their friends on Facebook, and 150 million LinkedIn (LNKD) members networking with colleagues in their industry at large, but relatively few people frequent an in-house social network to collaborate with their co-workers.

????That may be changing. Yammer, a popular enterprise social network with 4 million users, raised $85 million in funding in a round including DFJ Growth, Khosla Ventures, Charles River Ventures and Founders Fund. Yammer has raised $142 million in venture financing so far.

????It's not alone. Jive Software (JIVE), which went public in December, claims to have 17 million users. Jive's stock is up 82% from its $12-a-share offering price. Others, such as Socialtext and Socialcast, are growing. Meanwhile, bigger companies are moving in. Google (GOOG) is making noise about adding in-house social networks to Google+. And Salesforce.com (CRM) is betting that its Chatter collaboration software will fuel its growth.

????Last Friday, Salesforce.com's stock rose 9% to a six-month high of $143.64 in after-hours trading after reporting revenue and earnings that exceeded analyst expectations and forecast that revenue would exceed forecasts again this quarter. On reason, CEO Marc Benioff told analysts in a call, was that the company's social enterprise offerings, including Chatter, was luring in new customers, such as Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and Activision (ATVI). "Our outstanding financial success this quarter was powered by the momentum of our social enterprise strategy," Benioff said. "With the social enterprise, we are now closing our largest most exciting strategic deals."

????The rise of social networks in companies is coming as corporations slowly figure out their value. A report by Altimeter Research last week said services like Yammer are growing popular in some companies, but that many don't yet realize the potential to strengthen communication in existing workplace relationships but also build new relationships that can increase efficiency. "Many business leaders are at a loss to understand what value can be created from Facebook-like status updates within the enterprise," Charline Li, founder of research firm Altimeter Group, wrote in a recent report. "Some organizations have deployed social-networking features with an initial enthusiastic reception, only to see these early efforts wither to just a few stalwart participants."

????Li interviewed software vendors such as Jive, Salesforce and IBM (IBM) as well as companies like Best Buy (BBY) and Sprint (S). She found that while social networks have a significant potential to improve communications inside a company, they are often implemented in ways that discourage rather than encourage their use. Part of the problem may lie in the low investments in enterprise social networks to date: Two-thirds of companies surveyed spent less than $100,000 on social technology last year. Others integrated social networking clumsily, with some departments taking to them and others not so much.