Results

As Robert Burns wrote, “the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry,” and in the world of online business, this old axiom rings especially true.  To ensure your best-laid online business plans do not go awry, you need a proper web analytics program to help you ride herd on your business metrics and beat your competition.

Luckily for you, the Internet is awash in measurable data; much of it real time data.  For web-based businesses, collecting data is not difficult—but reams of raw data does not a proper web analytics program make.  Generally speaking, a good web analytics program—one that helps you succeed online—consists of five elements.  You must collect the right business data; you must present it in a meaningful way; you must analyze it properly; you must use the data to optimize your business strategies; and you must use the data to innovate—continually.

Only Measure What You Can Use
The Internet is a sea of information; with that information comes enough raw data to fill the sea several times over.  Because so much data is available—at your fingertips, no less—it’s difficult to make sense of it all.  Moreover, often it’s difficult to determine if you collected the right data in the first place.

To avoid data overload, begin by focusing on Key Performance Indicators (KPI)—those metrics that measure impact on your key business objectives.  Then, narrow the scope even further:  focus only on those KPIs that give you actionable information.  Information you cannot act upon will not help you grow your business.

Once you determine the KPIs that give you the best actionable information, establish measurable business goals.  With good, measurable metrics and clearly articulated business goals, you should be able to see how you’re doing by measuring your performance against those goals—and current performance versus past performance—at any point in time.

Report Your Findings—Clearly and Succinctly
Business does not occur in a vacuum; you will not achieve your business goals without help from others.  So don’t keep the valuable business intelligence you gather to yourself—report it to others, often, so that everyone on your team stays on the same page.

When you report your findings, don’t be ambiguous—leave nothing open to interpretation.  The best tool for reporting business intelligence is the business dashboard—a simple, easy to read, easy to understand visual data display, often in real time.  The best business dashboards present data comparatively, as standalone data is rarely useful.

Your business dashboards should make extensive use of filters and alerts.  Filters help ensure your reporting contains relevant, actionable data in the proper context.  Alerts—email alerts, text message alerts, and others—help ensure information is pushed out to those who need it automatically, whenever they need it, so immediate action can be taken.

Analyze Your Findings
You went through the time and trouble to collect this valuable information, now make it work for you by analyzing it.  More specifically, analyze it in the proper context—as compared to your Return on Investment (ROI).

Successful online businesses are able to gauge the ROI of each and every business initiative.  This allows them to reallocate investment dollars and realign business tactics quickly and accurately.  With the proper metrics, and the best reporting tools—business dashboards—you should be able to tell, at a glance, how a particular investment, like an advertising campaign or a special promotion, is affecting your ROI.  Moreover, you should be able to determine the value of specific online content in meeting your ROI.

Make Use of Your Analysis
One of the best attributes of doing business online is the ability to make on-the-fly adjustments to your business tactics for little cost.  Use your analysis to make cut-and-dried business decisions, but don’t be afraid to test in order to find out what works and what does not.  To be successful, you must use your analysis to test, and then optimize, every element of your business program.

Multivariate testing, in which one or more components of your site are tested in a live environment, can help you attribute gains or losses in your key metrics to the proper variables.  Generally speaking, you should test a small portion of your incoming traffic by directing them to the changes you wish to test, while minimizing the risk to the remaining incoming traffic by directing them to the “control” portion of your site.  Of those being tested, most of your efforts should be geared towards trying to “beat” the control group by improving existing variables.

Don’t Rest on Your Laurels
While a vigorous testing program can help you determine what works and doesn’t work now, it can also direct you towards what may work—and what may not work—in the future.  Remember, the online world is evolving rapidly; what resonates with your users now might not resonate with them tomorrow.

To ensure your business remains viable for the long term, you must be willing to embrace risk.  But don’t just take shots in the dark; use the data you gathered and the analysis you performed to inform the risk you are willing to take.  Think about the things that work well for you now, and use the business intelligence you gathered to come up with ways to make them work even better.  Can a process or transaction be streamlined?  Can a labor-intensive procedure be automated?  Will static content areas be more useful if you can make them dynamic instead?  Use what you know to make informed choices; keep the pipeline full of fresh, innovative ideas—and don’t be afraid to test them.  After all, those who risk the most usually stand to gain the most.

Finally
A good web analytics program is crucial for online success, but a good web analytics program consists of more than just the ability to collect reams and reams of data.  In order to help you be successful online, your web analytics program should collect clear, actionable data; report that data in meaningful, unambiguous ways; allow for vigorous comparative analysis to your ROI for specific business initiatives; provide you with the ability to test results against isolated variables; and help you innovate for the future.  With a good web analytics program in place, you will be well-positioned to beat your competitors and make your business the best-in-class on the web.

Many companies have enacted policies regarding employees’ web use, but with every banned site comes an added challenge: how do you enforce these policies? Comprehensive and costly software packages are the answer for large organizations, but even these often fall short of expectations. They cannot necessarily be scaled or customized for different types of users. Smaller businesses often lack the means to enforce web browsing policies at all.

As with many other forms of software, web filtering services are making their way to the cloud. A Silicon Valley-based start up called Zscaler is tapping into the power of web-based software to provide monitoring services for top companies like The Weather Channel and NetApp. However, the appeal of products like Zscaler extends far beyond companies with large, diverse staffs. IDC analyst Brian Burke said in a Zscaler press release, “SaaS is ideal for large corporations with dozens of Internet gateways, where deploying traditional point products is very expensive. It is a good fit for small businesses, which do not have enough IT staff.”

The idea is to provide more value which is easy for any business to manage. Zscaler’s website enumerates a four-tiered approach:

• Enforce business policy and mitigate risk
• Protect end-users from Web-based threats and malware
• Empower organizations with the right access to the right users
• Twice the functionality at half the price

The unique platform works by utilizing a number of interconnected servers to monitor incoming and outbound HTTP traffic from any given client’s employees. Data is collected and scrubbed from both sides, ensuring the safety of any interactions as well as the maintenance of company policy. As Zscaler’s website explains, “Web traffic leaving the customer’s firewall is automatically redirected to one of Zscaler data centers, where user policy is enforced. Web pages returning from the Internet are inspected to ensure that only clean traffic is returned to the user.” The “clean traffic” refers to malware and spybots, both of which are a source of major headaches for IT departments.

In addition, Zscaler can be set up on a per user basis, and they offer a free trial version so clients can check it out before buying. While marketing staff may need access to YouTube, the accounting team probably does not. Salespeople might keep track of contacts on social networks, but customer service representatives could be cut off from their Facebook access. The rules could also be applied across the board, such as a universal block on World of Warcraft. Additionally, since the software is hosted and managed on cloud computers, crafty IT techs would not be able to circumvent or alter the rules for themselves or friends.

A recent profile of Zscaler in the New York Times points out one of the most innovative features of the web-based software: “If Zscaler does not recognize a Web site, it can analyze pages on the fly with technology called “dynamic content classification.” So an employee does not necessarily have to be at YouTube for his employer to know he is viewing Web video when he should be cranking out that spreadsheet.” By adding smart controls to the SaaS service, employers can ensure that mirror sites are also off-limits.

By moving this type of software to the web, it gives the average employer much more control in trying to curb employee web surfing behavior. A program hosted on outside servers, while subject to outages and unexpected changes, prevents employees from circumventing company policy. Some have questioned the privacy issues involved with SaaS filtering services. Even the New York Times article wryly remarks, “it’s [the cloud’s] going to watch your every move online and tattle to your boss.”

That being said, anyone who expects web surfing privacy on a work computer is unrealistic. Our on-the-clock time belongs to our employers, and Zscaler simply found a convenient, inexpensive, dynamic, and frankly a little scary way to ensure we’re on task.

It’s no secret that the latest Batman movie, The Dark Knight, is a runaway blockbuster. In its fourth week of release, the D.C. Comics-based thriller is still the most popular movie, and it is expected to earn close to $520 million dollars in the United States. D.C. Comics parent company Warner Bros. is enjoying the success, but they have often been scolded for not utilizing the franchise to its potential.

This may change with a new plan for classic comic books on the web. Warner will release hybrid versions of the stories called “motion comics,” a sort of mixture between the graphic interface of a comic book and cartoon animation. While the end result isn’t as dynamic and crisp as a fully-animated feature, these motion comics better represent their original book forms. The best part? Web distribution.

Warner is developing two mini-series’ of these short episodes which will be distributed either through Xbox 360 and V Cast, or on iTunes. The first, called Mad Love, is based on a Batman/Joker storyline. The other will serve as a promotion for the upcoming Watchmen movie, and will be based on the 1980s graphic novel of the same name. Chapters of these motion comics will be released over time, building regular audiences.

Warner Bros president of digital distribution Thomas Gewecke told the Wall Street Journal that a revenue strategy is flexible. “He [Gewecke] plans to play around with different business approaches for the motion comics, trying some ad-supported models, and some paid ones; he may bundle several chapters together and sell them on DVD.” However, digital downloads are expected to be the most popular method to follow the comics. DVD sales are down nearly $1 billion since 2006, as audiences move towards services like Netflix, Hulu, or iTunes, which use either advertising or low download prices to bring in money.

Gewecke points out that a variety of approaches can make for more viewers. “It’s an interesting way to create a number of different configurations and packages, and give the consumers a lot of choice,” he says. While some may look for free viewing or streaming online, more dedicated comic book fans will want to own their own digital copies of Mad Love or Watchmen. By offering more than one distribution method, Warner stands to please both casual viewers and hard core D.C. Comics devotees. Web distribution is the key to creating a large target audience, and Warner Bros. has clearly seen the power of the internet. If the launches of Mad Love and Watchmen are successful, perhaps comic book fans will have more motion comic adventures to follow on the web.

With mobile internet access growing leaps and bounds, it’s no wonder that diverse content sources are finding a way onto your cell phone. Even newspapers, notoriously slow to embrace the internet as a delivery tool, are beginning to make the jump to mobile sites. Verve Wireless, based in Encinitas, California, is helping local news organizations build wireless content for mobile users. The company provides a proprietary “Verve Publishing Platform” and application development for the innovative local paper.

Verve’s website explains their mission. “Verve helps publishers fulfill a very human need – to stay connected to their community – even as their community evolves: accessible in all the usual places, but also moving beyond conventional boundaries.” Since nearly 40 million cell phone users are actively checking email, weather, news, sports, and stocks on their phones, Verve gives even the small guys a chance to reach these early adopters.

Verve’s platform has created delivery tools for more than 4,000 newspapers, including The Associated Press and the New York Times. They even developed an A.P. app for the 3G iPhone. As the New York Times reports, “The A.P. recently released a popular iPhone application developed by Verve that lets users scan the day’s headlines, send articles to friends and save articles to read later.” These kind of Web 2.0 tools are increasingly jumping from computers to phones, and more users than ever expect to stay connected no matter where they are. Verve’s CEO Art Howe, a Pulitzer Prize winner himself, points out, “Mobile is actually a better way to reach people than print or even Web. It’s versatile, immediate, travels and is just as compelling.”

In addition to bringing standard content, like news articles, sports photos, and weather reports to subscribers, Verve enables local papers to buy and deliver local mobile advertising. Verve clients can upload ad spots from local businesses, or have national ads placed on their mobile sites. This just may be the key to making smaller news organizations competitive in the digital age. Verve believes that mobile phones are the “ultimate one-to-one marketing tool”, and their Adcel module can support traditional display ads as well as more intimate methods, such as text messaging or mobile alerts.

A good example of this can be found in the New York Times’ profile of the service. “Verve can deliver a particular ad to, say, people age 21 to 30 who live downtown and have searched for articles about the bar scene. Philadelphia Magazine, for example, sent readers of its Verve-developed Web site a text message offering $4 grapefruit cocktails and half-price appetizers at a local bar.” By preemptively contacting readers with offers, newspapers can be sure that their content is fresh on users’ minds. They also have a much better chance of attracting quality advertisers and increasing revenues.

Verve Wireless seems to have hit on an important niche market for its mobile services. As newspapers struggle to compete with online rivals and amateur reporters, Verve gives them a very relevant way to grab and retain the attention of readers, both local and national.

The market for documentary films is fairly small. Those who enjoy the genre are usually stuck with the offerings of local art theaters, or at the very least, Netflix’s library. However, a new platform is making documentaries available to wider audiences through Web 2.0 technology. SnagFilms allows anyone with a website, blog, or even just a social networking profile, to host a wide selection of documentary films. Not only do viewers have a chance to see lesser known titles, but filmmakers can reach a wider audience on the web.

SnagFilms functions much like a widget, or small web-based application. Users are able to capture their favorite documentaries and embed them into any kind of website. SnagFilms’ website summarizes the idea:

• Find. Whether using our custom search tools, browsing by topic, or tuning into one of the great channels provided by our partners, with a few clicks you’ll be able to find what you’re looking for.
• Watch. By streaming films worldwide, on-demand, 24×7 and with no software installation or downloading required, we have radically expanded the audience for documentary films. All you need is a decent broadband connection. Just click play, go full-screen, and lean back and enjoy our films.
• Snag. Widgets let you take your favorite SnagFilms with you wherever you like to go online. Open a virtual movie theater right in your webpage, blog, Facebook or MySpace page, or just about any other place online you can think of.
• Support. At their best, documentaries don‘t merely entertain us, they engage and inspire us to action. Our filmmakers have selected their favorite charities and causes so you can get involved, immediately. And just by embedding our widget our widgets, you’ve donated your pixels and helped support independent film.

The Wall Street Journal’s Walter S. Mossberg reports, “I have been testing a prerelease version of the SnagFilms service and have posted SnagFilms widgets with no problems to Facebook, MySpace, iGoogle, Netvibes, Blogger, Windows Live Spaces and Vox. Many more Web sites can house these widgets, including the vast number of blogs built on the popular WordPress and TypePad platforms.”

Those who use the new service are fondly known as “filmanthropists.” Their efforts to spread documentaries to a wider audience are helping struggling filmmakers with their distribution efforts. They receive no revenue from posting the video, and are essentially providing a virtual “theater” space for these films. For their part, filmmakers are able to not only reach more viewers, but they also get to split advertising revenue with SnagFilms 50/50. In addition to ad dollars, SnagFilms has a “Buy DVD” button at the bottom of each documentary, and they receive an 8.5% commission for DVD sales.

Any film in their library of 225 documentaries can be “snagged”. Burgeoning filmmakers are encouraged to contact SnagFilms if they’d like their creations to be featured on the site and available for Web 2.0 distribution. And for your viewing pleasure, Talkibie will feature a delightful documentary called “A Pug’s Life - The Dogumentary”, which explores the world of dedicated pug owners and breeders. The filmmakers Marilyn and Chuck Braverman explore the world of pug lovers from California to London, meeting plenty of kooky characters and adorable dogs along the way.

We’ve all done it: type your name into your search engine of choice, and find out what type of information is online about you. Sometimes called Google-stalking, companies are doing it for potential job candidates, and some individuals are Googling potential dates. A lot of pertinent information can be found about someone because of their online presence, and not all of it is good. What would you do if you found a damaging story or even an outright lie about yourself online?

With the spread of blogs, social networks, wikis, and community forums, just about anyone has the power to influence the reputation of an individual or business. A good example of this is found on bitterwaitress.com, a website dedicated to outing bad tippers and rude customers in restaurants around the country. Many posts include the names of the offending customers, which could prove a very embarrassing situation for those who are written up. For businesses, the stakes are even higher. Sites like Yelp exemplify the other side of the coin, and users post scathing reviews of restaurants and wait staff, gyms, and just about any other service-oriented business you can imagine.

A new kind of business is popping up to help people manage their online reputations. Victims of negative online publicity can turn to companies like ReputationHawk, a specialist in the emerging field of online reputation management (ORM). ReputationHawk’s CEO Chris Martin spoke with Business Report about his company’s mission. “What we do is kind of a mixture of PR and SEO…Say you have a negative Web site in the top ten [search results], when we build positive content, it starts to put a lot of pressure on [the results].”

ORM companies like Martin’s build or find positive content, and use traditional SEO techniques to move it to the top of search engine results. Since most of us look at only the first few pages of search engine results, any negative publicity can be made to virtually disappear. Though the content is still out there, it isn’t likely to be discovered by a casual search.

ReputationHawk sometimes has to create positive content for clients, though often it’s already out there. Search engines favor newer content packed with keywords. By republishing or creating favorable articles, blog posts, or commentary, companies and individual can hide from bad publicity online. However, this service is not available to those who are receiving well-deserved negativity from customers or clients. ReputationHawk’s website urges potential clients to address the sources of the negativity before contacting his firm. Companies who have tried to resolved outstanding complaints or have been targeted by competitors are Martin’s preferred clients.

While some might scoff at the idea of managing one’s online reputation, our web activities are increasingly creating a mirror image of our offline selves. Whether it’s our Facebook activity feeds, our personal or professional blogs, or our photos on Flickr, each of us has a web-based persona. For professional reasons, we must ensure that this persona is the best possible reflection of our true selves.

To quote Winston Churchill, (as Martin does on his website), “A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.” In the digital age, I’d argue that lies can travel even faster than that. My guess is that more businesses and individuals will need the services of entrepreneurs like Martin in the future.

Just as the faces of the young athletes change every four years when the Olympics roll around, so does the media coverage change. During the 2006 Games in Turin, NBC Universal streamed just one hockey game online for users to view. This year, 2,200 hours of live events can be watched at NBCOlympics.com, with almost the entire Olympics (4,000 hours) available on the website to watch again or catch up on missed events.

NBC Universal Sports & Olympics Chairman Dick Ebersol said in a recent press release, “For the first time, the average American will be able to create their own unique Olympic experience whether at home, at the office or on-the-go. With 25 sports streamed live at NBCOlympics.com and significant live coverage on our cable platforms and NBC, highlighted by all swimming finals, the biggest nights of gymnastics and beach volleyball live in primetime, the viewer has plenty of options for live coverage.”

In addition to airing the Games on seven NBCU-owned networks (with different events on different channels), NBC’s online efforts will keep sports fans up to date on their favorite events. Athlete profiles, video clips, up-to-date news stories, and analysis of the contests will help meet the needs of a diverse audience. Ebersol says, “”In the 41 years since my first Olympics, it’s staggering to me to be involved in a Games where we are producing 2,900 hours of live coverage - especially from an Olympics half-a-world away. It’s more live coverage from a single Olympics than the total of all previous Summer Olympics combined. The enormity of what we’re doing just blows me away.”

Part of the reason for the expanded coverage is a growing audience for the Olympics. Approximately 203 million U.S. viewers watched the 2004 Athens Games, a 14 percent increase over the 2000 Sydney Games. However, with the popularity of video sharing sites like YouTube and online video portals like Hulu, audiences are shifting their attention away from standard TV sets. Many people are accessing online video not only on their computers, but also on their mobile phones.

Perkins Miller, SVP Digital Media, NBC Sports and Olympics spoke with CNN about the change: “YouTube is now sort of the lingua franca of what’s happening (on the Internet), and that’s really expanded in the past two years. The driving force is about entertaining the viewer, and … viewer appetites and points of contact have changed. That’s not just putting it online, but (viewer on demand) transmission, moving content onto mobile phones. The ambition is to reach as many viewers as possible.”

By reaching out to mobile and online viewers, NBC can expect not only large live audiences, but a flurry of activity in archived footage. Beijing, after all, is 12 time zones away from the Eastern United States. Only the most hardcore fans will be watching equestrian events at 3 a.m., so by providing archive video online NBC will capture a much larger audience than with TV coverage alone.

NBC has been working with Microsoft Silverlight technology to provide the online Olympics coverage. Silverlight, a rival to Adobe’s Flash player, provides a rich internet application (RIA) experience for video clips. Video interviews with athletes, clips of record-breaking events, and emotional medal ceremonies will be delivered through Silverlight’s platform.

NBC Universal’s focus on internet Olympic coverage reflects the new expectations of TV viewers. They are still willing to gather around the big screen, high-definition TV, but they want additional videos and news on the web and on their phones. As the trend of web video reaches audiences around the world, expect other big sporting events to follow NBC’s lead. The diversity of coverage (and subsequent advertising revenue) will lead to another type of gold entirely.

Web video advertising is in its infancy, and it’s trying to find its feet with a number of different techniques and strategies. One recent announcement should help give “skins” the edge over other forms. CBS, in acquiring an online show called “The Burly Sports Show,” will give skins a boost on CBSSports.com.

“The Burly Sports Show” reportedly draws two million visitors per month. As a recent Wall Street Journal article explains, “[The show] covers wacky events such as a failed marriage proposal during halftime of a Houston Rockets basketball game and a baseball mascot’s fall during a running race.” While CBS has claimed “The Burly Sports Show” to re-energize the content on their site, they are also unwittingly putting skins higher on the web advertising totem pole.

Skins are essentially an advertisement that surrounds the video player or page. For example, a poster for an upcoming movie release or a haircare product might provide a virtual “matting” for the featured video. This format, which has been used as backgrounds on blogs and websites like MySpace, is starting to take hold for web video players.

Other ad techniques are also being employed by content providers for promoting products during web videos. The most common, which are used on Hulu, are known as “preroll”, “midroll”, and “postroll” ads, which interrupt the video much like a television commercial. According to the Wall Street Journal, these ads appeal to the traditionalists among advertising companies. “Marketers also like preroll, midroll, and postroll ads because they can take the TV ads they already have created and chop them up to fit the Web.” Other strategies include “bugs”, which are messages or logos that appear in the video or player, and “tickers”, which scroll messages along the bottom of the content, much like a news ticker on CNN or the BBC.

Companies who promote skin ads claim that they are more successful than other forms of web video advertising. The theory is that users are more likely to click on skin ads because of their non-intrusive nature. Because of the growing impatience with banner ads, skin ads are said to have a click-through rate of 1.68%, much higher than banners. Leading skin advertising firm InSkin Media claims, “The InSkin ad format invites users to engage with the advertisers’ content on their terms, whilst giving them a much longer window of opportunity to do so.” While the theory is interesting, many experts have pointed to content as the major factor to determine ad success. Simply put, if the video is entertaining, more people will see it and more people will click on the ad surrounding it.

Whether or not one web video advertising format will win over the others is something that we’ll find out with time. As each of these video ad formats is tested and vetted by various content providers, we’ll be seeing new and unique ways to get our attention and sell us a product.

A new website launched Wednesday that is bound to raise some eyebrows. Zillow and Expedia founder (and Microsoft alumnus) Rich Barton has created Glassdoor, a site devoted to providing salary and work environment information on Silicon Valley’s top companies. The brand new site will help tech workers and job hunters get a feel for the atmospheres and salary ranges at the industry’s major players.

Glassdoor was founded on the following premise: “What would happen if someone left the unedited employee survey for the whole company on the printer and it got posted to the Web?” The idea is to have current Google/Yahoo!/Microsoft/Cisco/etc. employees provide outsiders with an insider’s look at a company (hence the name). Users who share information about their own company and position can then access other user’s reviews. It’s all free, and users are assured that their information will be posted anonymously.

The salary information already out on the site is eye-opening. An Account Manager at Google can expect to make roughly $97,000, while the same position at Microsoft was listed at $58,000. A Yahoo! software engineer submitted a salary of $99,653 while his or her counterpart at Cisco makes $89,000. The site also shows how employees rate their CEO’s job performance:

Without posting your own employment information, you can still see a sampling of what others are saying about their CEOs, salary levels, and satisfaction. Google’s reviews, for example, are almost universally positive, though one user wrote a line that evokes a vivid image: “Google pushes a highly “googley” atmosphere, which is something akin to what the Brady Bunch would be like if they lived in communist Russia.” This type of post that would get you in trouble with management if they knew who had written it, but it gives a unique perspective on the company to potential employees.

Cisco Systems’ reviews are also available without writing a review. One former employee complains about the behavior of colleagues during a training program. “The dynamics of the training program were worse than high-school. We were provided with subsidized housing through Cisco…Some were even kicked out of their leases. There were people skinny dipping in the apartment complex’s pools, people egging other people’s vehicles. It is the farthest thing from a professional behavior you can imagine.” While this may be an attractive atmosphere for some job seekers, it certainly reflects poorly on Cisco’s ability to provide a professional work environment.

Glassdoor will definitely make some waves in the Silicon Valley business community. These reviews could be very harmful to a company’s reputation, and the fact that users can submit them anonymously opens up the possibility for slander and inaccurate information. Barton is certainly aware of the dangerous line he’s walking, and the site features a “For Employers” section to quell some fears. The page explains, “With Glassdoor.com, your employees — as well as prospective recruits, investors, media, analysts and even customers — can see real-time feedback on employee satisfaction, compensation, and leadership. Although this might feel a bit uncomfortable at first, we think offering more transparency will have far-reaching benefits for everyone involved.”

My guess is the transparency is exactly what worries companies. Nobody would want the media, their clients, and potential employees to know about drunken frat-boy behavior at internal training programs. While Glassdoor tries to spin their offering to be a way for companies to monitor and act on employee suggestions for improvement, it’s more likely to devolve into a gossip forum for Silicon Valley’s disaffected layoff victims. Barton’s team is experienced enough to fight this trend, and I hope they are able to do so. If they can maintain a professional review/survey atmosphere, they may have hit on the next-big thing. If they can’t, they might be looking at libel lawsuits.

Just when you thought no other universal human experiences could be translated to the web, a new trend is hitting offices around the country. Coworkers are discussing last night’s episode of Lost and their weekend plans on internal social networks, rather than around the watercooler. With many companies experiencing the strain of multiple office locations around the world, these networks are helping people bond with their associates near and far. These networks can serve as virtual business cards and resumes, a personal profile like those on Facebook or MySpace, and a means of communication without the formality of email.

One company embracing the “virtual watercooler” tool is IBM. IBM employees log on to Beehive, a web-based portal that functions as an internal Facebook. As a recent CNN article points out, “The 27,000 IBMers using Beehive can post pictures, video and one-sentence updates about themselves. They can share lists of ‘things I can’t live without.’” Not only that, but IBM’s workforce can use their Beehive profiles to highlight their expertise and past experience, giving others a chance to learn from them without the red tape that a large corporation can bring.

Beehive has been successful so far because of its possibilities beyond simply socializing. As IBM’s Watson Research Center website points out, “Beehive can also come in handy for upcoming conference calls. If users don’t know the people on the call, they can go to their Beehive profiles beforehand and find out if they have common interests — either work-related or recreational — or if they have colleagues in common. Beehive is a quick way to figure out who a person is and what they spend their time doing. If users are hosting an event, they can create an event page in Beehive and invite people to attend. The page can be a place to spread the buzz about the event and get people talking about it through the comments feature. It’s also a handy place to keep track of who is invited and who’s RSVPed.” It not only helps to stay in contact with close friends at the office, but also helps break the ice when working with new people.

Another example of this type of social networking can be found in the product offerings of Triple Creek Associates, a SaaS company which offers software to businesses. Their product Open Mentoring allows employees to sign up to mentor/be mentored by others with different experience-levels or skills. This is especially useful to multi-nationals with collaborative teams from around the world. A product developer in London could supervise a manufacturing engineer in Shenzen through the mentoring service, giving him not only the specific knowledge related to the product, but also help practicing English and cultural cues which could apply to any organization.

In addition to sharing knowledge and skills, virtual watercoolers are coming in handy for business meetings. IBM is also employing technology for this purpose, using Activeworlds software to build online meeting spaces for their employees. Others are using Second Life, a virtual 3D world, to conduct business, hold “mixers”, and meeting with colleagues overseas. As CNN notes, “When CDC Software recently staged parts of an annual sales kickoff event in a virtual world created by Unisfair Inc., it included an online version of the golf outings that commonly accompany such affairs. It held tournaments in baseball and golf video games — and gave real trophies to the champions.” This kind of competitive activity, often labeled as “teambuilding”, can help employees get to know each other and work more closely when the fun is over, even if the game was online.

As businesses feel the strain of multi-national growth and employees embrace technological advances, it’s likely that more and more office communication will relocate to the web. While there’s no substitute for a good face-to-face meeting or brainstorming session, internal social networks and virtual environments can help employees bond and learn from each other.