Appirio Takes the Social Enterprise from Idea to Impact

New Technology-Enabled Services from Appirio Help Enterprises Achieve Real Business Value With Cloud-Based Social Solutions

SAN FRANCISCO - Salesforce.com Dreamforce Conference - August 31, 2011 - Appirio’s Social Enterprise practice today announced services and technology that will help enterprises more successfully use cloud-based social solutions like Salesforce Chatter, Twitter and Facebook to power their business. The announcement was made today at Dreamforce 2011, the cloud computing event of the year. The Dreamforce conference is being held August 30 - September 2, 2011, at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Appirio will be in booth #420 in the Dreamforce Expo.

Appirio’s new social enterprise offerings include:

• Social Enterprise Blueprint - Appirio’s social experts work with IT and business leaders to identify the areas of your business where social solutions can have the greatest impact, quantify the benefits and develop a roadmap to achieve social success.
• Social Enterprise Implementation - Appirio helps enterprises plan, build, and manage cloud-powered social businesses that include sales, service, marketing, IT and company-wide collaboration. With a core expertise in salesforce.com’s social technologies, including Chatter and Radian6, Appirio has a proven track record for embedding social technologies into the enterprise to drive innovation and customer-engagement. Customers range from consumer brands such as Nikon to media companies including Yahoo! and large financial institutions.
• Multi-Channel Social Integration - This proof of concept, demonstrated today at Dreamforce 2011, shows how employees can post updates on one social media channel and selectively replicate it on other media channels without double entry. It showcases the benefit of breaking down social silos and the possibilities of working with open platforms.

Appirio Survey Shows Enterprises Already Taking Steps To Be More Social

A recent survey of 140 Appirio customers revealed that almost 90 percent are currently using at least one social technology in their business, and 57 percent are using more than one. Respondents using Salesforce Chatter report the potential for significant impact on their business, with 59 percent saying Chatter will result in better informed employees, 57 percent saying it will result in less email, and 49 percent saying it will help people find information faster.

This adoption brings the promise of improved customer service, increased employee productivity and valuable engagement, yet many companies continue to struggle with how social technology can provide real business value in a way that is secure and compliant. Appirio’s new social enterprise offerings can help.

Hear first-hand from Appirio customers about how they are using Chatter and other social technologies:

• Video of Nikon’s use of Chatter
• Video of Yahoo!’s use of Chatter

Quotes:

“Enterprises want to take advantage of social and collaboration technologies but to see real business value in the long-run they need to understand their ‘collaborative intent’, the impact social will have on compliance and governance, and how to incorporate social into their existing enterprise application footprint.”
- Eryc Branham, General Manager of Appirio’s Social Enterprise Practice

"With Appirio's help, we were able to eliminate a series of 'digital landfills' and replace them with a single global sales collaboration portal built on Salesforce Chatter and Content…and now half of the company wants access."
- Kristen Sanders, Director of Global Sales Operations and Sales Enablement, Yahoo!

Useful Links:

• Social Enterprise page on Appirio.com
• Blog on Appirio’s Chatter deployment and adoption dashboard
• Blog on the social enterprise becoming reality
• More research on the Social Enterprise

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About Appirio
Appirio accelerates the cloud-powered business, helping enterprises achieve real results from cloud applications and platforms like salesforce.com, Google and Workday. Appirio has worked with more than 250 enterprise customers including organizations like City of Los Angeles, Facebook, Flextronics, Home Depot, International Hotels Group, Japan Post Network, Ltd., L'Oreal, NetApp, NYU, Starbucks, Thomson Reuters and VMware. Appirio’s technology-enabled professional services are supported by a team of 400 cloud experts and CloudSpokes, a nearly 20,000 person-strong global cloud developer community. The company’s expertise and innovative brokerage technology have been recognized by organizations such as Bloomberg BusinessWeek, InformationWeek, Gartner, IDC and the World Economic Forum. Appirio has offices in the U.S. and Japan, and is backed by Sequoia Capital and GGV Capital.