Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Video
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Subscribe
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Video
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Subscribe
    Home Applications
    • Applications
    • Cloud
    • IT Management
    • Virtualization

    VMware Repositions Socialcast as Enterprise Social Networking Tool

    Written by

    Robert J. Mullins
    Published June 6, 2012
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      eWEEK content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.

      VMware is repostioning Socialcast as an enterprise social networking platform with what the virtualization company considers a competitive pricing system. Specifically, VMware customers will get a full-featured version of the product free for up to 50 users.

      With this new go-to-market approach, introduced on June 6, VMware is looking to compete in the expanding field of enterprise social networks, where Salesforce.com and other smaller companies already have a presence, but where bigger players such as Oracle and SAP are looking to put their stamp.

      In order to compete, VMware is looking to offer a full-feature collaboration service for free. VMware claims that its competitors will offer a free social networking tool, but that free version won€™t have the advanced features of the paid version, forcing customers to move up to the paid version without getting to see how it works.

      €œYou can sign up for free, but you get just a slice of the functionality, a scaled-back version of it,€ said Chuck Dietrich, vice president of VMware Apps, referring to competitors. €œWhat they try to do is say, €˜Look, if you want everything, you€™re going to have to pay and we€™ll get a rep talking to you and we€™re going to sell you hard and you can€™t see what€™s behind the curtains until you buy.€™€

      In this case, VMware is targeting small businesses and smaller units within enterprises. The company€™s executives believe that even if small and midsized businesses (SMBs) and enterprise departments get Socialcast for free by having fewer than 50 users, they€™ll evangelize the service by word-of-mouth to colleagues, partners, suppliers or customers who may be big enough to need the paid service, which costs $5 per user, per month, said Dietrich.

      While primarily offered as a cloud service, Socialcast can be purchased as an on-premise solution, running in a virtual machine in a data center.

      VMware acquired Socialcast in May 2011 for an undisclosed sum.

      Enterprise social networking is increasingly being offered to improve communication within an organization the same way social media works for consumers through sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Enterprises would use it to share information with employees, get input on ideas and collaborate on projects.

      Salesforce.com offers a social media platform called Chatter that is used for internal collaboration and to receive customer feedback. Moxie Software offers a social media platform called Social Media Spaces that listens to customer feedback, monitors their sentiments about products or services, and engages them in conversation with the company. And Jive Software, which went public in December 2011, offers social media platforms for work teams, customer service and sales and marketing campaigns.

      The research firm The Radicati Group also lists Atlassian, IBM, Microsoft, Novell, Oracle, Socialtext and Telligent as players in the enterprise social networking space. While Radicati did not estimate the value of the social networking market in dollars, it estimated that the number of social media accounts will reach 3.9 billion globally by 2015, from 2.4 billion in 2011, but it counted enterprise and consumer social media accounts together. It forecast the number of total actual users globally to hit 1.2 billion in 2015, from 798 million in 2011, noting that many people have multiple accounts.

      The features that Socialcast users will get, even under the free plan, include security features and a management tool allowing administrators to control who can use the network, restrict comments if necessary and protect sensitive business information from being shared. It will also offer a Socialcast Mobile version of the product that will run on Apple iPads and iPhones, Google Android devices and BlackBerry smartphones and tablets.

      Socialcast also interoperates with enterprise collaboration tools such as Microsoft SharePoint as well as cloud-based software offerings by companies such as Salesforce.com, said Dietrich.

      Editor’s Note: This articles has been updated to clarify how VMware is marketing Socialcast to SMBs and smaller units within larger enterprises.

      Robert J. Mullins
      Robert J. Mullins
      Robert Mullins is a writer for eWEEK who has covered the technology industry in Silicon Valley for more than a decade. He has written for several tech publications including Network Computing, Information Week, Network World and various TechTarget titles. Mullins also served as a correspondent in the San Francisco Bureau of IDG News Service and, before that, covered technology news for the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal. Back in his home state of Wisconsin, Robert worked as the news director for NPR stations in Milwaukee and LaCrosse in the 1980s.

      Get the Free Newsletter!

      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis

      Get the Free Newsletter!

      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Artificial Intelligence

      9 Best AI 3D Generators You Need...

      Sam Rinko - June 25, 2024 0
      AI 3D Generators are powerful tools for many different industries. Discover the best AI 3D Generators, and learn which is best for your specific use case.
      Read more
      Cloud

      RingCentral Expands Its Collaboration Platform

      Zeus Kerravala - November 22, 2023 0
      RingCentral adds AI-enabled contact center and hybrid event products to its suite of collaboration services.
      Read more
      Artificial Intelligence

      8 Best AI Data Analytics Software &...

      Aminu Abdullahi - January 18, 2024 0
      Learn the top AI data analytics software to use. Compare AI data analytics solutions & features to make the best choice for your business.
      Read more
      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Video

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2024 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.