Down To Business: Are Execs Twittering Their Time Away?
On Information Week, Rob Preston discusses the evolving usage of social networking, and questions its usefulness in business. “It comes down to this: Are Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook, as well as the more enterprise-focused social apps from the likes of Socialtext, IBM, and Microsoft, really helping us communicate, collaborate, solve problems, and close deals? Are they establishing executives as thought leaders and providing valuable references to third-party thinking? Or are they just forums for poseurs to primp for the adoring or drive-by masses? Most enterprise users of social apps have jerry-rigged an ROI, mostly around cost savings and productivity improvements, but those justifications are still mostly qualitative. Meantime, skepticism abounds.”

Three Simple Ways to Start Small with Enterprise 2.0
Social Computing Journal’s Ethan Yarbrough gives some simple tips for companies wary of the risks involved in engaging the public through social media. “The benefit of social media is that it gives an avenue into the conversation for voices and ideas that you previously might not have heard. But that’s also what worries some companies. I think it’s helpful, therefore, to remember that adding social media to your operation means adding avenues for expression of opinion, but expression of opinion doesn’t have to mean the written word. If you aren’t ready to engage with constituents’ comments, go in a different direction. There are ways to let people add their views and contribute to your operation without words.”

Best Security Questions to Ask About SaaS
Ellen Messmer talks to analyst Eric Maiwald about the security issues potential buyers need to check before diving into SaaS on CIO.com. “Which of the SaaS employees has root and database access, and will anything prevent them from getting access to your corporate data? What controls are in place? Is data held encrypted? How? Is the held data separated between clients or is it all stored on one huge database out there? How is data separated? How will the legal question of e-discovery be addressed should it arise as a business concern?”

Is SaaS more secure?
As part of a debate, Michelle Murrain points out SaaS’ incompatibility for small nonprofit organizations on Idealware.org. “But lack of access to good IT expertise means a few things: Yes, it does mean that their in-house network is likely insecure. It also means that they might not know how to understand or choose SaaS products that are known to be stable and secure, with solid business models. It means they likely won’t know how to get their data out when they need to, for whatever reason. It means there is a lack of understanding of the risks of SaaS, especially in organizations, like human rights or activist organizations, with sensitive data. And the human factor in security doesn’t pay attention to where the data lives.”

SaaS and Security – the Response!
Replying to the previous article, Peter Campbell argues that the benefits of SaaS outweigh its limitations. “Certainly, bad security procedures are bad security procedures, and that risk exists in both environments. But beyond the things that could be addressed by IT-informed policies, there are also the security precautions that require money to invest in and staff to support, like encryption and firewalls. I reject the argument that the data is safer on an unsecured, internal network than it is in a properly secured, PCI-Compliant, hosted environment. You’re not just paying the SaaS provider to manage the servers that you manage today; you’re paying them to do a more thorough and compliant job at it.”

Outsourcing 2.0: Workable Business Models for IT Chargeback
On CIO.com, Mark Denne writes about a promising IT business model, why it’s needed, and how it’s currently being tested in the real world. “High performance businesses have begun to use new models for funding IT within an enterprise. Instead of the traditional cost center model, advancements in service-oriented architecture (SOA) and service-oriented infrastructures (SOI) enable IT organizations to move to an environment in which IT is consumed and paid for on a metered basis. This ‘pay-per-drink’ model has three advantages: It elevates the status of the IT organization from a cost center to a value center, it helps redefine the IT organization as a service provider, and it provides the commercial framework in which to run IT as a ‘business within a business.’ It also raises the stature of the CIO within the organization.”

The art of taking notes
Meetings can be a bore, but they can be very productive, especially if you pay attention and take notes the right way, according to Examiner’s Steve Arneson. “Challenge yourself to be more imaginative and creative when sitting in the audience. What’s cool about conferences is they take us out of our day-to-day routine; they give us time to think, frankly. Put that time to good use – you might be surprised by the volume of great ideas you’ll generate!”

Cisco CTO’s 5 Predictions for the Future of Collaboration
Oliver Marks features Cisco exec Padmasree Warrior and her views on technology, strategic partnerships and new business models on Collaboration 2.0. “It is not about ‘on-premise’ versus ‘on-demand’, it will be all about the User Experience. Steve Balmer’s famous ‘Developers, Developers, Developers‘ engineer cheerleading video clip badly needs a larger than life counterpart with someone bellowing ‘Users, Users, Users’. Malcolm Gladwell wrote in Blink about the ‘the first two seconds of looking–the decisive glance that knows in an instant’.”

Mentors can show you the way
Again on Examiner, Steve Arneson highlights the differences between coaching and mentoring, and how you can get the most out of having someone there to guide you. “The great thing about developing yourself as a leader is that you don’t have to make the journey alone. There is an ancient Buddhist proverb that says: “when the student is ready, the teacher will appear”. Loosely translated, this means that when you’re open and willing to listen, you will find the answers from someone who has been down the road before you. In the modern business world, this proverb is best defined as mentoring.”