Social networks are targets

1. When reports surfaced this month that a new variant of the Koobface worm was slithering its way across Facebook, it became another entry into the book of malware targeting social networking sites. Security vendors expect more of the same in 2009, with attackers adding a touch of social engineering to infect users of sites such as MySpace and Facebook. For enterprises, users and even the social networking sites themselves, it may be time to take a firmer stance on security.

2. Customers that can afford social software in 2009 and beyond should be in the driver’s seat, as larger vendors such as IBM, Microsoft and Oracle strive to buy up new technologies, insert them in their portfolios and deliver more solid suites.

3. Social networking tools will be de rigeur in enterprises in 2009, so get your portfolios fitted with proper social tools, including contacts lists for professionals, discussion forums and other tools to help colleagues connect.

4. Think Twitter has no business value? The service has made Dell $1 million in revenue through sales alerts during the past year.

5. Google recently launched voice and video chat for Gmail, adding a new dimension to the Web mail application used by more than 50 million users. In fact, what started as a simple messaging app is starting to look a lot like Microsoft SharePoint. The Google solution may not appeal to large enterprises, but, by effectively dropping its own lightweight version of Skype into a Web-based messaging system, Google is building a solution that will work for SMBs.

6. Xobni is a messaging and collaboration startup that brings social contacts from consumer and enterprise apps to Microsoft Outlook. The startup recently announced support for Yahoo Mail, Facebook and Hoovers, as well as VOIP provider Skype.

7. DiVitas Networks’ newest mobile UC platform moves beyond the usual fixed mobile convergence features to include secured instant messaging, presence and visual voicemail. Such features made up for a disappointing setup experience, in eWEEK Labs’ tests.

8. According to a Forrester Research report released in 2008, by 2013, investment in customer-facing Web 2.0 technologies will outstrip spending on internal collaboration software by nearly a billion dollars.

9. According to a survey of eWEEK readers, blogs and wikis are the most broadly deployed apps in the Web 2.0 category. When asked which Web 2.0 technologies were deployed at their organizations, 49 percent of respondents said blogs and 48 percent said wikis. RSS came in a close third, selected by 43 percent of respondents.

10. A plethora of alternative information sources have changed the vendor-customer relationship from being highly vendor-centric to one in which customers and vendors each may have relationships with one another, with partners and distributors, and with other customers. Web 2.0 technologies enable CRM users to capitalize on these changes in profound ways. Salesforce Ideas, for example, allows users to suggest and then vote on new ideas, enabling organizations to identify the best ideas contributed by their employees, customers and partners.