Brian Kim, COO Liferay

While social networking tools have steadily increased in popularity web-wide as well as inside the firewall, I’m getting a strong sense that they are getting an even more intense workout now that layoffs are a daily occurrence. As ever, we see that hard times often trigger good ideas. In this case, I’m seeing visible proof that these digital networks provide meaningful connections that can deliver real value.

An increasing number of enterprise application vendors recognize the popularity–and power–of social networking tools and are integrating some of the most popular features into content management, delivery, and publishing offerings. Liferay, best known for its Open Source portal solution certainly recognizes the impact that “social” has in the enterprise, as demonstrated by its emphasis on “social collaboration.” Company COO Brian Kim, who will be presenting a talk on “Putting Social on Your Portal for Better ROI” at this year’s BSeC, says the company is “encouraging users to think outside typical use cases of how  portals are used.” He plans to provide examples of organizations effectively using social content on their portals to create community and enhance the content base. He says, “Some of our clients use networking tools and to their advantage. They use them to build an ecosystem around their product: Users come to their site to see what’s going on, which drives interest and gets users to collaborate and contribute content. All of this activity and information brings users back to the site, which ultimately drives business.” Social networking is a lot more than fun and games; join us at BSeC to hear examples of how it can add community and content to your site.