Working smart with the latest IT crowd

Microsoft chairman Bill Gates gives his Consumer Electronics Show keynote address. Photo / Reuters

The big socialisers

You've heard of Facebook.com, the website that became the poster child for the social media revolution that took hold last year. From a small office in Palo Alto, California, Facebook has in four years attracted 60 million users, many of whom spend time on the site every day messaging friends and browsing photo albums.

Many businesses are now tapping into the networking potential of Facebook, creating customer forums for product feedback and fostering online communities of users.

Late last year, Microsoft acquired a 1.6 per cent stake in Facebook for US$240 million ($310 million), valuing the website at US$15 billion.

Of course it's not worth that much, but the willingness of Microsoft to part with such a large amount of money shows the business potential it sees in social networking. Facebook opened its platform last May to allow software developers to create widgets that plug into it and while Beacon, its marketing initiative, got off to a rocky start in November, raising privacy concerns among members, Facebook's potential as an advertising money-spinner is huge. The social media trend will only strengthen this year as Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn, Bebo and new players like PlayStation Home look to squeeze revenue from their users.

Collaboration

That social networking theme is also being applied to how businesses are run. Companies increasingly consist of teams spread out across the city, if not the country or the world. To keep productivity up, they're investing in collaboration tools that offer shared digital workspaces, web conferencing and project management software.

Basecamp from 37 Signals and Central Desktop are Web 2.0 type collaboration platforms that don't cost the earth and make online collaboration easier. The Skype instant messaging, file sharing, phone and video conferencing is a useful free tool to better network with your colleagues.

At a corporate level, the notion of "unified communications" really took off last year.

Internet spend-up

Last year was the year that online retailing really gained some momentum as the process of e-commerce became simple enough for the masses. According to Neilsen Online, 1.3 million Kiwi web users spent $585 million online in November on new and used goods and services - that's around $450 each. A large chunk of the spending is on aeroplane tickets - Air New Zealand alone booked $1 billion in travel through its website in its last financial period, though accommodation, electronics, books, music and clothing are popular categories. So far online marketplaces such as Ferrit.co.nz have failed to fire, though Trade Me forges on with its auctions and classified listings. This year expect more online channels for web-savvy businesses to emerge, both in the business-to-business space and in the consumer domain. Selling online lets businesses cut costs, learn more about their customers and reach a global audience more easily.