In the enterprise social networking space, there have been a number of significant and noticeable changes over the last few months; fresh new faces, energy, content and announcements from key players in the industry. Vendors are chomping at the bit to corner this fast-paced, idea-driven marketplace.
One instance is the introduction of the 30-day free trial of enterprise social networking tools. These free trials provide companies an opportunity to quickly sign-up online and have full access in minutes. This provides firsthand the experience to determine what the benefits are and how one social software solution can be a better fit for you and your company over another.
If your company is interested in modernizing its social collaboration process, a free trial is a forcing mechanism. It has forced many providers to launch an experience that’s not only powerful, but also engaging and simple. Free trial opportunities are quite exciting and because it’s an attractive offer, both potential customers and vendors are optimistic about the process, knowing there’s nothing to lose – no investment and no errors, only trial. Free simple trials not only benefit companies, but it’s also used as a litmus test and contributes to make any product more powerful.
Enterprise social collaboration tools (also referred to as Enterprise 2.0), should be inherently simple and user friendly. Similar to Apple’s take: “the simpler the better.” With a free trial, your information sharing tools are simple, intended for knowledge exchange between colleagues and will have you and your company up and running immediately. 30-day trials are meant for employee to really get accustomed to the flow of work with an enterprise social network, acquire a solid understanding of the platform, and recognize the provider’s underlying philosophy.
In the social business space, there is a grab bag of vendors that can “sprinkle some social” on the enterprise, or go even deeper to create a comprehensive mix of the social intranet, collaborative workspaces, groups, enterprise profiles, social networking, microblogging and spreadsheets. It is all about what the customers need and require. Additionally, providing the vendor with the capability to test social features throughout the trials provides a great benefit to all.
