We hear much in the press about social computing but is it really relevant to business? In this article, J.B. Holston looks at just what we mean by 'social computing' and provides some insights into how business can benefit from these new technologies.

Social computing tools may be just the secret weapon you've been searching for

Online collaborative encyclopaedia Wikipedia refers to social computing as "...systems that support the gathering, representation, processing, use, and dissemination of information that is distributed across social collectivities such as teams, communities, organisations, and markets. Moreover, the information is not 'anonymous' but is significant because it is linked to people, who are in turn linked to other people."

An integrated social computing platform delivers the information an individual needs to the right place at the right time on any device, without interruption or exacerbating email overload. By synthesizing e-mail, calendaring, file-sharing, social networking, knowledge management, expertise discovery, business intelligence, blogging, wiki, RSS, photos, video, chat and more into a 'Facebook for the Enterprise' environment, financial professionals can reduce IT burden, licensing fees, and operating costs as well as improving performance.

You can also better maintain control of employees and help marketing protect the brand. Embracing an enterprise social network also helps discourage employees from forming 'rogue' social networks around your brand on consumer platforms like MySpace or Facebook.

Implementing an enterprise social computing solution requires both social/cultural (the 'people part') and technical steps.

The people part of enterprise social computing projects breaks down into:

• Deciding on the company stance around 'openness' and 'fun'
• Finding the first champion
• Identifying the initial group of people
• Looking at existing business processes for those people
• Providing a mechanism for feedback
• Considering new incentive systems.

The technology side compliments the social/cultural elements and is also critical for a successful outcome. The key technology elements are:

• Integration with current work processes and destinations
• Providing sufficient and appropriate channels and modes of participation
• Security
• Designing for minimum end user effort.

Even with a champion pushing the initiative and incentives in place, the chances of success for a social computing solution are much higher if users can participate from interfaces where they are already spending their time. The existing internal corporate intranet or portal infrastructure can be improved  by incorporating social computing elements. And the users who are already going to those destinations can start powering the social computing engine.

In summary, here are just a few of the many benefits of implementing a Facebook for the Enterprise social computing platform:

You’ll have less e-mail traffic.

Aside from the burden of poring through e-mail, storing it typically costs $447 per gigabyte per year. A Fortune 100 manufacturing company we work with estimates that reducing e-mail volume by merely one-half of one percent saves the company more than $600,000 annually. And by letting employees interact in communities focused on work areas, conversation is streamlined and content is deliberately shared in context, including files that would formerly be e-mail attachments. As a result, an organisation can eradicate a lot of e-mail, increase the transfer of knowledge, and quickly see the return from its enterprise social computing investment.

You will reduce printing costs.

Organisations can significantly reduce costs of printing equipment, supplies and maintenance by reducing printer usage, which turns out to be a wonderful side effect of using social computing to build or update a company portal. The catalyst is the RSS (Really Simple Syndication) technology that puts relevant content in the hands of the right people at the right time. For example, one of our customers, CME Federal Credit Union, cut its printing and toner budget by nearly two-thirds simply because employees were able to view important content from their start pages. They no longer had to drill deeply into disparate back-end systems to find and print out their reports and other documents.

HR will love you.

Enterprise social computing woos HR three ways. One is providing an environment attractive to Gen Y candidates and the way they expect to work. 77 per cent of millennials use social networking sites (which are brimming with non-work distractions and security holes), 50 per cent subscribe to more than one social networking site, and a full 91 per cent say "newer, innovative technologies in the workplace would make them more likely to consider a potential job opportunity," (KRC Research, April 2008).

Another way that enterprise social networks simplify life for HR is by capturing important institutional knowledge as their best workers retire. The enterprise social network also provides a support system and safety net during layoffs that mitigates morale problems. Networking, on or offline, is by far the most common route to a new job. 70 per cent found their current position this way, (ExecuNet, 2008). With an enterprise social network, laid-off workers have a fighting chance to land on their feet, which everyone appreciates.

These are just a few of the ways an integrated social computing platform translates into hard cost savings for a company. There are even more savings in reducing publication subscriptions, minimising travel and streamlining software development.

All this is good news because social computing is a fact of business. It's here. All computing will eventually be social and that translates into financial savings, and better yet, financial gain for your company.

J.B. Holston is president and CEO of NewsGator, the enterprise social computing company. Previously he was President of Ziff Davis International and managed Ziff Davis' operations across more than 100 countries. He also launched Yahoo! Europe. He can be reached at JBH@NewsGator.com.

For more information about NewsGator’s products go to: www.newsgator.com

Activity around eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) has been growing over the last few years. Recently there have been significant behind-the-scenes developments with XBRL both here and abroad. Here's a snapshot of some of the bigger news items.

International Developments

• SEC Mandate - the US Securities and Exchange Commission has issued a ruling effective 13 April 2009 that mandates filing of financials in XBRL format (what they call 'interactive data') by all US public companies and foreign private issuers. The phase in period begins for larger companies and accelerated filers for periods ending on or after 15 June 2009, with all filers required to file in XBRL for periods ending 15 June 2010 or later. This will affect all Australian SEC registrants directly, but more importantly signals a major step of XBRL into the mainstream of global corporate reporting

• The UK tax agency (HMRC  - Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs) has mandated filing of corporate tax returns from 2010 also - following on from the success of Companies House in the UK in accepting XBRL financial statements on a voluntary basis for the past few years

• The IASCF has released its 2009 version of the IFRS Taxonomy in XBRL for public comment, demonstrating their ongoing commitment to XBRL. The comment period ended on 24 March 2009

• For the technical boffins out there, Altova has included XBRL support in XML Spy 2009 marking a significant milestone in the evolution of XBRL into the mainstream. XML Spy is a hugely popular tool and its recognition of XBRL is a major vote of confidence in the standard, as well as providing a key alternative to the niche XBRL tools in the market. Reports from the front line indicate that the XBRL features are 'pretty good'.

Australian Developments

• In our own backyard, the Standard Business Reporting (SBR) Program released its XBRL taxonomy on 31 March 2009. SBR is a whole of government initiative to implement XBRL for business reporting, starting with 80 plus forms required by the ATO, APRA, ASIC, the ABS and each of the state revenue offices. They are working closely with all the major software vendors to reduce the cost to the business community and their advisors - essentially you should not need to know any more about XBRL than you do about PDF. The mechanics should be hidden from you and all you need to know is how its special features can help you achieve more

• The Institute and the SBR Program have been running XBRL/SBR awareness sessions for the past 18 months to bring this technology to members

• The SBR Program is holding an International Conference on 26/27 May 2009 in Sydney and 29 May in Melbourne - for more details go to www.sbr.gov.au.

Be Prepared

We have been telling you for years now that XBRL is coming - well, it's finally here. To work out the impact that the SBR program or other initiatives that use XBRL might have on you or your practice, there are a number of things you can do to be prepared.

Good places to start to do a little digging are:

• www.sbr.gov.au
• www.xbrl.org.au
• or simply Google “XBRL” and see where that takes you.

It would also be a good idea to talk to your software suppliers and let them know that you expect them to be involved in SBR and let them know that you expect them to incorporate SBR functionality (including XBRL) into their products in 2010.

If you still want to know more then contact the Institute for further information.

Trevor Pyman, CEO of XBRL Australia and Paul Madden of the SBR program have provided this update.

For some years now, the Institute’s IT Special Interest Group has monitored and reported on the annual research program into Technology Trends for Accountants. The research is conducted each year by the AICPA's IT Center. This year the AICPA's Top Technology Initiatives (TTI) survey celebrates its 20th anniversary and the AICPA has kindly permitted us to share the results with you.

Information security management

Proper information security management protects the integrity, confidentiality and availability of information in the custody of an organisation and reduces the risk of information being compromised. It is an integrated, systematic approach that coordinates people, policies, standards, processes, and controls used to safeguard critical systems and information from internal and external security threats.

Privacy management

The right to privacy is a commonly assumed fact, and failure to protect sensitive information can cause serious damage to an organisation's reputation and subject it to legal penalties. Privacy management involves the strategies and safeguards used to protect the privacy of an organisation's records that include resources, restricted assets, personnel, client and customer personally identifiable information. Safeguards are enforced so that this information cannot be released to or accessed by unauthorized subjects. The initiative includes complying with local, national and international laws.

Secure data file storage, transmission and exchange (formerly known as securing and controlling information distribution)

Stored data can be altered to commit fraud, intercepted by an unscrupulous person en route and altered, and laptops storing vast amounts of confidential information can be lost or stolen. Strategies that can mitigate these risks include encrypted storage disks and laptop hard drives, message digests used to identify altered data, digital certificates, secure channels using Secure Sockets Layering (SSL) or Transport Layer Security (TLS) for purchase transactions, and Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) which allow for more permanent secure data channels.

Business process improvement, work flow and process exception alerts process improvement

These initiatives assist with controlling and documenting processes across the organisation, most commonly in accounting or content management (paperless) applications. Transaction processing and audit trails are being replaced with automated processes, work flow, exception alerts, and electronic authorisations.

Mobile and remote computing

Enabling people to work from anywhere and at any time is the goal of mobile and remote computing. Technologies used in mobile and remote computing include, terminal services, citrix, virtual desktop interface, cellular broadband, WiMAX, and remote control applications. A paperless office environment is essential to support mobile users who want to access and collaborate on digital documents from remote locations.

Training and competency

Knowledgeable and competent employees who address issues with confidence are a key differentiator among competitors. As technology develops and is in a constant state of change, training methods must also change. On-site training has given way to computer-based training (CBT), pod casts, web casts and distance learning.

Identity and access management
Identity and access management involves the implementation of physical, technical, and administrative controls that limit access to company resources to authorised persons. A challenge exists with achieving easy access by authorised users while making resources inaccessible to unauthorised users.

Improved application and data integration effective decision support and business intelligence systems rely on information systems which 'talk to each other' seamlessly and where information is readily available in a form that expedites business decision making. Disparate systems continue to exist within organisations and duplicate databases reside within these multiple systems.

Document, forms, content and knowledge management document, forms, content and knowledge management (the 'paperless' office)

This is the process of electronically capturing, indexing, storing, protecting, searching, retrieving, managing, and controlling information using scanning, forms recognition, optical character recognition (OCR), centralised data repositories, and the management of PDFs and other document formats. Knowledge management brings structure and control to information, allowing organisations to harness the intellectual capital contained in the underlying data.

Electronic data retention strategy

Electronic data retention strategy involves technologies that enable appropriate archiving and retrieval of key information over a given (statutory) period of time. Strategies include policies and processes to ensure destruction of information from storage and archival media in a timely and consistent manner, as well as the impact of eDiscovery rules and regulations regarding retained data.

For the first time in 20 years, the American Institute of Certified Practising Accountants, (AICPA's), Top Technology Initiatives (TTI) survey for 2009 extended the audience base to include the broader AICPA membership. Judith Merryweather compares this year's TTI with those of previous years and provides some thoughts about the more significant changes in rankings.

Changes in Rankings

The following table compares the direct rankings of technologies from the 2008 and 2009 TTI surveys. While the AICPA itself acknowledges that some of the shift in priorities has occurred as a result of the broadening of the audience for the 2009 survey to the wider membership, there are some movements in the rankings that deserve special comment.

Ranking 2008-2009

1. Information Security Management (See 1 below) Information Security Management
2. IT Governance (See 2 below) Privacy Management
3. Business Continuity Management (BCM) and Disaster Recovery Planning (DRP) (See 3 below) Secure Data File Storage, Transmission and Exchange (Formerly known as Securing and Controlling Information Distribution)
4. Privacy Management Business Process Improvement, Work Flow and Process Exception Alerts
5. Business Process Improvement (BPI), Workflow and Process Exception Alerts (See 4 below) Mobile and Remote Computing
6. Identity and Access Management Training and Competency (See 9 below)
7. Conforming to Assurance and Compliance Standards (See 5 below) Identity and Access Management
8. Business Intelligence (BI) (See 6 below) Improved Application and Data Integration
9. Mobile and Remote Computing (See 7 below) Document, Forms, Content and Knowledge Management
10. Document, Forms, Content and Knowledge Management Electronic Data Retention Strategy

Honourable Mentions

While maintaining the focus on the TTI, the AICPA has acknowledged that there are also many other technologies that are of significant interest to its members. For the last few years, the AICPA has also included in its published results those technologies that achieved ranking 11 through 15. These technologies were published as 'honourable mentions'.

The comparison of the results for 2008 and 2009 'honourable mentions' are included in the table below.

Ranking 2008-2009

11. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) (See 8 below) Business Continuity Management and Disaster Recovery Planning
12. Improved Application and Data Integration Conforming to Assurance and Compliance Standards
13. Training and Competency Collaboration – Information Portals
14. Web-deployed Applications Business Intelligence
15. Information Portals Customer Relationship Management

Commentary on significant changes

Information security management

As the top concern for the last 2 years, this ranking reinforces the focus of business on addressing their corporate responsibilities for data and information in a global online world. As more and more data is captured and stored electronically, this focus should remain. It is important for all organisations to take steps to ensure that all corporate policies, systems and processes are integrated to protect this sensitive corporate asset.

IT governance

This is one of the most interesting changes in that the focus on IT governance has disappeared from the rankings altogether in 2009. While many believe that the focus of management on IT in terms of risk and value has never been greater, it would appear that there are more pressing technology issues for business.

Business Continuity Management (BCM) and Disaster Recovery Planning (DRP)

The drop of this technology issue from 3rd place in 2008 to 11th place (an honourable mention) in 2009 may have much to do with timing. Many businesses focussed on BCM and DRP following September 11th and may have developed polices and procedures around their systems and businesses. For those companies who have yet to address this issue, it should remain top of the business agenda.

Business Process Improvement (BPI), Workflow and Process Exception Alerts

The increase in ranking and importance of this technology issue reflects the global 'tightening of belts'. In times where the focus is largely on cost reduction, the focus of business turns to improving efficiencies and streamlining business processes through smarter ways of working.

Conforming to assurance and compliance standards

Similarly, the slippage of this technology from 7th place to 12th place (honourable mention) reflects the timing of new legislative changes into the marketplace and a resulting focus on technologies and practices associated with compliance to these changes.

Business Intelligence (BI)

While BI appeared in the rankings in 2008 in 8th place, it has all but disappeared from the list in 2009, appearing at 14th place (honourable mention). Increasingly business relies on keeping its finger on the pulse of its key business drivers and we would have expected this to remain a high focus for business. The change may reflect a sense that data warehousing projects and dashboard projects have been implemented and the management information is flowing. Further investigation would be needed to confirm the reasons behind the changes.

Mobile and Remote Computing

The increase in ranking from 9th place to 5th place reinforces the importance that business places on keeping in touch. Developments in networks, mobile devices and connectivity are enabling a more mobile workforce and keeping all those associated personnel and information issues to remain a focus for business.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

While never quite making it into the Top 10 technologies, CRM appeared in 2008 as ranking of 11th and has fallen in 2009 to a ranking of 15th. This is despite industry papers and other research data that still highlights CRM as a core issue for business. While all aspects of client management are of key concern to accounting firms, the lower ranking as determined by the American CPAs, probably highlights the fact that all aspects of Client management have historically been addressed through core practice management systems.

Training and Competency

The increase in ranking from 13th to 6th of this technology issue highlights the importance of efficiency to business. With many new technologies being introduced into the marketplace and into businesses, it is imperative that employees are trained in the use of these technologies to gain the maximum benefits and returns.

Summary

While the significant changes to rankings described above deserve consideration by CAs in Australia, all the TTI for 2009 deserve attention by business. Check your IT strategy against the 2009 list of TTI as a benchmark. If you do not understand or have not at least considered the technology, then it might be time to investigate the potential impact on your business.

Judith Merryweather is a principal of Alexer Pty Ltd. Alexer focuses on business improvements through the smart application of technology and streamlined business processes.

In this issue we have identified a number of issues and trends for our contributors. Below is a miscellaneous selection of websites and references that has been compiled to help interested readers undertake further research on these topics.

Hot Technologies
Many organisations monitor and report on trends in technology. While we have looked at the AICPA list here are a few other sites that provide different views:

"...we believe Cloud Computing has the potential to transform a large part of the IT industry, making software even more attractive as a service and shaping the way IT hardware is designed and purchased." In a recently published white paper, 'Above the Clouds: A Berkeley View of Cloud Computing',www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Pubs/TechRpts/2009/EECS-2009-28.html the Electronic Engineering Department at the University of California, Berkeley describe what they view as Cloud computing and why it has the potential for enormous change for business.

Representing the views and concerns of management of organisations, CIO Magazine also looks at technology trends (www.cioupdate.com/trends/). This site contains many links to articles that provide more depth on particular “hot” technologies through to views and options on “hot” technologies from contributors.
“Five Tech Trends to Watch in 2009”

www.eweek.com/c/a/Midmarket/Five-Tech-Trends-to-Watch-in-2009/provides another opinion on technology trends but this time is aimed at small businesses. It highlights 5 emerging technologies that may assist small to medium enterprises (SMEs) to manage their IT budgets.

The article provides some predictions and thoughts about the changes that may occur in how companies manage their IT spend.

Social Computing
The projects described at Social Computing research (http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/groups/scg/) shows just how many applications for social computing there are. Microsoft is investing in many projects looking at wider applications of social computing networks. This site provides some interesting and thought-provoking applications.

It is evident that a technology has captured the imagination of the world when special magazines and forums dedicated to the technology appear. Social Computing Magazine demonstrates the level of interest in this topic world wide with references to conferences, books and articles.

And anyone interested in this topic can even specialise in Social computing (http://www.si.umich.edu/msi/sc.htm) as part of a Master of Science in Information degree.