Purpose-Built Enterprise Social Productivity Software Included in Three Technology Areas of Report by Leading Industry Analyst Firm
Pleasanton, CA August 26, 2009 -- Spigit, developers of the only purpose-built social networking tool for idea generation and innovation management in the enterprise, announced today that it has been included as a sample vendor in Gartner's Hype Cycle for Social Software 2009 (Gartner, Inc. "Hype Cycle for Social Software 2009" by Jeffrey Mann, et al., July 24, 2009).
The report, which highlights the most important technologies that support rich social interactions, lists Spigit in three technology areas: Activity-Specific Social Applications, Idea Management and Prediction Markets.
The Hype Cycle predicts that many of the technologies listed are expected to mature within five years, and will have a moderate or high business impact. "In other words, this is a high-benefit set of technologies that is maturing fairly rapidly -- companies had better figure out how to exploit the technologies or get left behind," the report states.
"The concept of applying social software in the enterprise environment is an emerging trend, but one with incredible value for companies that depend heavily on innovation to drive results," said Spigit CEO and founder Paul Pluschkell. "In analyzing this space, Gartner has recognized the growing potential for social software to enhance customer relationships, idea management, product development and sales across a wide variety of industries."
Activity-Specific Social Applications
In his overview of activity-specific social applications, analyst Anthony Bradley concludes that "enterprise social software offers the potential to drive significant operational benefits by decreasing the 'communications inefficiencies' between internal and external stakeholders."
Spigit's purpose-built enterprise social solutions for both internal (InnovationSpigit) and external (IdeaSpigit) applications are specifically designed to create the kind of collaborative environment for businesses and their stakeholders where input is not only encouraged, but rewarded and even incentivized. By removing the barriers inherent to traditional idea generation and customer feedback models, companies can delve deeper into the collective talent and creativity of their employees and customers, realize a greater ROI on the innovation process and even effectively measure the results.
"Because Spigit is designed specifically for the enterprise environment, the platform eliminates much of the difficulty, work and risk associated with integrating more general-purpose social tools into the business environment," Pluschkell said. "The use of targeted solutions enables companies to actually increase productivity and see a more measurable return on their investment."
Idea Management
New to Hype Cycle for 2009, idea management is an emerging process whereby companies leverage social platforms to generate, capture, develop, evaluate and prioritize insight and ideas that might otherwise have escaped the typical innovation process. According to Gartner analysts Carol Rozwell and Kathy Harris, "Companies in a wide variety of industries are turning to idea management as a way to bolster innovation that drives the sales of existing products, creates new opportunities to increase revenue, or radically changes process or cost structure."
For enterprises, one of the key benefits of idea management on a social platform is the ability to tap into non-traditional sources for new ideas and fresh perspective. Using IdeaSpigit, for example, employees who may not typically be part of the usual innovation team may be invited to contribute their thoughts and insight, which can then be evaluated and elevated by the community.
"Soliciting input from a broader range of sources not only helps companies gain a more thorough perspective, but it also helps to boost employee morale and investment in the company," Pluschkell said. "Employees who feel that their ideas and contributions are valued by their employer are more loyal, more productive and more committed to the long-term growth of the company."
Prediction Markets
Historically quite accurate, prediction markets are essentially betting pools where users place wagers on their opinion of the most likely outcome with the final forecast determined by consensus. While the concept of prediction markets is nothing new - the method has been used for years to predict election results and other contentious issues - the integration of prediction markets with social applications for business-specific forecasts is an emerging model.
"Prediction markets can help model outcomes more accurately for sales efforts, product delivery dates, product uptake rates, manufacturing capacity needs, product ideas, marketing campaigns and competitive actions, among other things," wrote Gartner analysts Jeffrey Mann and Matthew Cain.
"In our experience, the sometimes startling accuracy of social-based prediction markets can once again be attributed to users' feeling empowered to contribute directly to the forecasting process in real time," Pluschkell said. "Factor in the opportunity for real, tangible incentives for accuracy, and you can tap into a community of experts with a vested interest in being correct in their assessment."
Spigit's PredictionSpigit leverages the enterprise social platform to allow employees to weigh in on their predictions for project milestones, sales and other events using a tangible rewards system for accurate forecasts. By gaining input on the most likely outcomes from all levels, from the executive level to the front-line employees, companies can gain a more thorough perspective on the issue at hand, including an early warning system for missed deadlines and sales targets.
Spigit's award-winning innovation solutions are already in use by several Fortune 200 companies and other well-known brands at the forefront of innovation, including IBM, Pfizer, Lloyds Banking Group, MedPlus, Walmart, Southwest Airlines and Choice Hotels International. The company was recently named to InformationWeek's Startup 50 list of the top business technology startups as selected by readers and editors.
For more information about Spigit's award-winning innovation solutions, visit www.spigit.com.
About Spigit
Spigit is the leading developer of social productivity software for enterprises to drive innovation and empower decision makers. Spigit's product offerings range from the intra-enterprise InnovationSpigit™ to its customer-facing IdeaSpigit solutions. Spigit currently powers innovation projects at numerous Fortune 500 companies and has been named Best of Software Interop 2008 and is listed on the AlwaysOn Global 250 list, the power list of the top 250 private global technology companies. For more information, visit www.spigit.com.
The Hype Cycle is copyrighted 2009 by Gartner, Inc. and/its affiliates and is reused with permission. Hype Cycles are graphical representations of the relative maturity of technologies, IT methodologies and management disciplines. They are intended solely as a research tool, and not as a specific guide to action. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
Contact:
Tony Keller
Spigit
719-634-8279
www.spigit.com/index.html
