In the world of IT, social buzzwords can be a real way to kill any interest in adopting applications that give the enterprise access to the consumer Web.
You have to speak their language. Social media? No way. Social middleware? Oh, yeah – now we are talking!
Socialware talks in a language that IT can understand. The company is offering social middleware products that help companies integrate social networks with a level of control that makes them comfortable that the access is compliant with government regulations and IT policies.
In many ways, companies have set up their own iron curtains to keep social interaction to a minimum.
It’s also fair to say that many companies are eager to let their employees engage with the social Web. But they want the risk managed, especially when it comes to interacting with social networks.
Socialware believes the missing component for the enterprise is a bridge layer that helps companies connect its people, processes and systems with the open, social Web.
Socialware offers feature access control to social networks. An admin panel allows the IT manager to block access to different features on social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
For example, users may access LinkedIn but there may be features that the employee is not permitted to access. The feature is flagged with a message that tells the user they do not have permission to use it.
Socialware provides the security layers and controls that give corporate IT the comfort that the risk in exposing social networks can be managed with rules that reflect the policies of the organization.
Socialware is funded by Mike Maples, Jr., who is an investor in Twitter. It is also funded by Silverton Partners and G51. The management team members have backgrounds in Web 2.0 and the enterprise.
That’s a mix that can make for a winning combination in the enterprise space. Socialware’s technology is reflective of that experience. We’ll be interested in seeing how the company develops in the year ahead.