Influence: Socializing the Enterprise – my presentation at Dreamforce 2011

Salesforce.com's CEO Marc Benioff is excited that there are 45,000 delegates registed for this week's Dreamforce conference in San Francisco. It sure is one helluva a show (and I particularly appreciated the Metallica and Will.i.am gig last night!)

The theme for this year's conference is the socialization of the enterprise and the reason for my invitation to present to the Executive Summit yesterday and delegates at large today. [Disclosure: Salesforce.com is paying me to be here.]

There can be no doubt that Salesforce.com is on a mission to help its customers make the social transition with as much emphasis placed on increasing the social exchange with employees and partners as customers and prospects, and this mission entailed the acquisition of Radian6 earlier this year.

When I spoke at the Radian6 Social2011 conference in April, I felt the excitement at the opportunity to meld the Radian6 and Salesforce.com worlds, but I hadn't appreciated how fast this integration would take place. Simply gobsmacking.

My book's main thrusts inform the main theme of my presentation as you might expect, and I have been particular in emphasising that 'socializing the enterprise' isn't easy and cannot be achieved simply by buying in some tools and some in-house skills. It demands a top-down review of the entire structure and culture of the organisation; its policies and processes; its human, information and organizational assets.

Today's typical organization has been shaped by 20th Century technologies, media, and appreciation for strategy development and execution. But all three of these are transformed beyond recognition in 2011. We've heard this week how companies such as Salesforce.com, Facebook and Google have grown up with social 'built-in', but also how longer-established companies like Burberry, Coca-Cola, Kelly Services, Avon and Verizon are making the transition.

I've embedded my presentation above. My stacks are increasingly text-light as I seek to encourage conversation over presentation, but if you'd like me to add more context please just get in touch.

I've met some fantastic people this week and I thank Salesforce.com for putting us all under one (very big) roof. To quote the one word I've heard uttered most often from the North American delegates here this week... AWESOME.