The industry reflects, looks ahead

Foo Mao Gen, managing director, South Asia and Hong Kong, Interwoven

	Foo Mao Gen, Interwoven
	New social networking Web sites pop up almost every day. This phenomenon is changing the way companies engage with customers, forcing decision makers to realize how important it is to analyze the plethora of information that is floating around the Web today.

Q. Social networking sites...
Foo: ... Have created an environment where customers now have multiple touch points with an organization. It isn't just about the interaction with a salesperson or customer service representative anymore. Customers have the option of building discussion threads on a forum to celebrate or demonise a company or product.

New social networking Web sites pop up almost every day. This phenomenon is changing the way companies engage with customers, forcing decision makers to realize how important it is to analyze the plethora of information that is floating around the Web today.

Many have incorporated content management abilities into their online architectures that enable them to mine some of this information to build a better customer interface. Instead of fighting this development and being on the defensive, companies are engaging with user groups, sometimes creating their own presence where open discussion is encouraged. This leads to a better understanding of the marketplace, its habits and preferences, and eventually a better product or service focused on fulfilling a specific need.

Most IT heads often forget to...
... Work into their legacy systems the ability to manage and optimize data and document flows. In today's competitive, customer-driven markets, companies across all industries face new pressures to deliver a relevant, personalized, and consistent experience across all customer touch-points and geographies.

Moving ahead in 2008

 

 

1.	Socializing goes big in 2008
2.	The urge to merge in 2008
3.	New chips on the block
4.	Web threats dominate security landscape
5.	Battle for the mobile platform space in 2008
6.	The industry reflects, looks ahead

Looking back on 2007

 

 

1.	Looking back at 2007 with envy
2.	Predictions that went right and wrong
3.	2007's movers and shakers

The sheer volume of content generated from these various interactions is resulting in companies feeling like they're drowning under this deluge. With the appropriate content and customer experience management tools in place, IT heads can better manage all this information and build the connection loops between internal resources, firm-generated content, and the users' feedback.

With globalization, there's also a growing need to ensure that brands, policies and best practices are managed/interchanged in a consistent manner across the globe. This could mean that a company's subsidiary in Korea, for example, will have access to the same set of logos, brand materials/codes to create the same experience about its brand.

Customer research, press materials, and media coverage, that are generated in any market can also be easily accessed across the different subsidiaries to ensure that best practices can be adopted and adhered to. This issue of digital rights management needs to be seen as important as every other issue facing the IT department.

The biggest challenge facing IT departments is...
... The ability to maintain control over the IT assets of an organization and in the process, enhance productivity, increase operational efficiency and reduce the risk exposure of the company. In addition, they also frequently overlook the importance of adequately interpreting and building compliance management capabilities into their systems. To adhere to strict compliance regulations such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, companies need to ensure there is an auditable trail for all forms of content from documents to web pages. As collaboration moves online and business users are empowered to update and edit relevant content to improve operational efficiency and increase productivity, a proper workflow and version control is essential to adhere to compliance regulations.

 International SOS 

Juniper Networks  

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