Internal social networking platforms potentially more valuable to organizations

When implementing initiatives around online social networking, insurers that create internal networking platforms have the potential to extract far more value than those that create external communities for the public at large, a Celent report suggests.
The popularity of online social networks is growing, with North Americans spending roughly 16% of their time online participating in online communities, says the report, Reaping the Benefits of Web 2.0.
But what’s less obvious is how insurers can leverage online communities to create value for its organization. The report described an internal social network created by DAK, a German health insurance agency with roughly 13,000 employees. DAK recently launched a ‘knowledge management project,’ created with Clearspace, an off-the-shelf product. The project was aimed at keeping knowledge inside the company after employees retire, and at better structuring internal information through an improved content management system.
According to Celent, DAK’s online community was able to:
•    Promote a modern information infrastructure through the use of blogging facilities, rich media support, wikis and different widgets. “These modern tools allow for enhanced search, custom dashboard creation, and activity streaming… that promote information transparency through a modern and open environment.”
•    Improve knowledge management by capturing and maintaining the data and knowledge generated by employees, even after they leave or retire.
•    Adapt to changes and promote employees’ openness to changes and working together.
“Celent recommends that insurers carefully analyse the pros and cons of such a strategy [internal social networking and community] and consider a wide range of methodologies to capture the strategic impact of such initiatives.”