For businesses yet to avail of enterprise social networking, it is high time to do a rethink or else they face risk of losing their competitive advantage because internal collaboration along with cross-functional integration hold the key to efficient organizations in today’s competitive climate. A long-term approach to integration, mobility and community-building is critical to successful social networking within the workplace irrespective of geographical barriers.

The enterprise social-networking software incorporates collaborative workspaces, employee profiles, activity streams, file sharing, joint document editing, and microblogging, along with APIs, other developer tools, IT management and extensive security features. Here are some handy tips to understand and build a solid social networked enterprise:

1. At a broader level, enterprise social networking initiative is essentially about empowering people to smoothly and seamlessly engage across hierarchical boundaries as well as outside of the rigid confines of division-specific information silos. Ideally, it should give employees easy access to resources and information so that they can function effectively smarter and take smarter decisions. Companies that are able to extend knowledge and ideas, experience and expertise to the most employees are those learning faster and innovating more.
2. Social media has radically changed the manner in which we tend to share and connect with family and friends. It will have an even greater impact on the way organizations work. Giving your company the competitive advantage of a social foundation is important for lasting success in today’s tough business environment.
3. It is critical to recognize the intrinsic value of social technologies in complex workplace situations. The reality is many companies are still to recognize the role of enterprise social networking.  A Forrester survey points out that many companies are keen to foray into social networking solutions, but lack of expertise pushes them on the sidelines.
4. Of course, you don’t really have to build everything right from scratch. While there are top vendors like Salesforce, many others provide a capable enterprise-level social network system, to meet privacy, security and compliance needs. You can also look for the expertise within your own set-up.  You may ask your peers to find out how their social media plans were devised and executed and the results they are producing.
5. Often, an internal social network like Chatter or Yammer might languish till the department begins to create and respond to discussions. In other words, social networks demand top-down buy-in. Also, it’s important to traverse the marketing needs, to consider even supplier interaction and product development for an elaborate social network infrastructure. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ are not just social sites, but also development platforms. They employ their own APIs and distinct application methodologies.
6. Remember, the social enterprise is not merely a product; it’s a concept. And the more you share your experiences, the more feedback and advice you will receive. These services can not only boost workplace communications but also build new strategic professional relationships to increase the organizational efficiency once business owners learn how they can be leveraged with proper guidance, and advice from experts.