What’s great about free expos is that I can check out demos of the latest technologies. In this case, I’ve been curious about Enterprise 2.0 tools because I’ve always worked in small organizations. We never had a huge need for collaboration and community platforms because our teams comprised of 3, maybe 5. I’d simply turn towards my coworker and say “Hey.” On the other hand, we also didn’t have an awareness of what was available.

What did I come away with?

• Service providers and platforms ranged from highly established, robust, and expensive (Jive) to more upstart, narrowly focused, and cheap (or free) (SocialCast).
• I was surprised that so many large enterprises were using 2.0 tools.  Client lists for Jive and Yammer were particularly impressive.  Enterprise isn’t as old-fashioned as I thought.
• After talking to several service providers, their offerings all started to sound the same.  The big distinctions for me were credibility (as gleaned through presentation and client list), and I hate to say it, design.  Despite being customizable, some platforms had a core design which was more pleasing to my eye.  For instance, I really liked PBworks, a collaboration platform, which was clean and intuitive.  Jive was also very sleek.
• Honestly, it’s still hard for me to understand how companies benefit from internal use of microblogging tools. A Yammer exhibitor offered: information-sharing and building a knowledge base.  Socialcast added that social analytics behind microblogging reveal which employees are “periphal players, connectors, or brokers.”
• My favorite platform was PBworks, not just because it was eye-pleasing.  It had the most useful applications for me, such as, collaborative workspaces, chat, and conference calls.  Check out their webinars here.

I imagine that enterprises are eager to tackle the silo effect.  Social tools seem like an obvious way to open discussion, while improving employee morale.

If anybody out there is using any of these tools, I’d love to hear about your experience.