Dlogs.brors Moving from Transaction to Engagement 12:90 PM Thursday October 20, 2011 bby R “Ray” Wang | Comments 0 Mobile enterprise social business, cloud computing, advanced analytics, and unified communications are converging. Armed with the art of the possible, innovators are sccking to apply disruptive consumer technologies to enterprise class uses — calli the consumerizaton of 1T in the enterprise. The likely results include new methods of furthering relationships, rafting longer term engagement, and creating, transformational business models. It's part ofa shift fom transactional systems to engagement systems. ‘These transactional systems have been around since the 19508. You know them as ERP, finance and accounting systems, oF even payroll “These systems are designed for massive computational scale; users ind them rigid and techie. Meanwhile, we've moved to new engagement systems such as Facebook and Twitter inthe consumer word. The rch usability and intuitive design reflect how users want to work ~ and ‘ow umes are coming to expec the sume paradigm and desis ia their entmrwian wed Engagement systems share nine common traits {Afew thought leaders have helped drive the thinking on systems of engagement. Geoffrey Moore has discussed how systems of engagement will drive knowledge worker effectiveness and productivity. Dion Hinchelfe of Dachis group details the transition from systems af record to systems of engagement in how the social web and open intemet are changing busines. As with the shift tothe Internet, organizations that miss this shift rom transactional systems to engagement systems will face dre consequences, (ue initial research identifies nine characterises of engagement systems that difer fom the transactional systems of yesteryear (oe the table below for ahistorical view): 4. Design for sense and response. Engagement systems Tsten” to asses status, sentiment, and context. For example, detection of| negative sentiment could lead toa discount on your next purchase ora proactive phone call to address an issue. These systems go beyond transactional systems that focus on reliably, stability, and continuous improvement. 2. Address massive social seale. Engagement systems seckto master social networks, Socal sele requires constant feedback from networks of pople and objects, Linkedin isan example of how we connect, collaborate, and sare with each other in a career aligned social network. Transactional systems foeus on adcressing massive computing sale. 3. Foster conversation. Engagement systems support two-way conversations, Chat, video, and sharing features enable conversations ‘mong individuals, teams, and even machines, Transactional systems push one-way communications ina dictatorial approach 4. Utilize a multitude of media styles for user experience. Engagement systems embrace the multi-media, scial-ed us Media channels include Twitter, vidoo, text, and "kes." Transactional systems limit themselves to machine bused interfaces. 5. Deliver speed in real time. Engagement systems focus on real-time speed, Users ean see activity streams, real-time alerts and notifications on all their devices. Transactional systems aim for just-in-time delivery. 6. Reach to multi-channel networks. Engagement systems touch corporate, persona, and machine based networks, A Skype ell oF instant message reaches out to both the corporate directory and your own personal network. Transactional systems narrowly focus on departmental and corporate networks. 7. Factor in new types of information management, Engagement systems embrace loosely structured knowledge flows. Comments, audio files, videos, and chats dont fit neatly into corporate relational tables, Transactional systems ensure reliability of highly structured records and data 8. Apply a richer social orientation. Engagement systems by nature rely on heavy social orientation. The design natively incorporates social media tols such as RSS feeds, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Transactional systems express «tangential or ust pin awkward social orientation 9. Rely on smarter intelligence. Engagement systems are powered by business rules and complex event processing engines, Users can change the low ofa task using visual tools. Transaetional systems remain ins hard coded, rigid structured approach, Experiential and personal fulfilment systems will power the next waves of innovation ‘The evolution to engagement systems from transactional systems will usher in an era of experiential systems which apply context to deliver sglity and flexibility. Early categories in thie space include gemification platforms, context aware services, and decision support systems As we envision the future, we see personal fulfillment systems playing a key roe in breaking dow the corporate and consumer walls. Thesepeople-to-people networks embrace an intention-driven design pont to meet the challenge of delivering on a massive inlvidual sale, Pottern-based| modes wll dive the inteligence ofthese systems. Barly examples include the work that Doc Searls began in 2006 on what he's dubbed vendor relationship management. VRM provides customers with the means to bear their side ofthe relationship burden. ‘Organizations that fal to make the leap to engagement systems wil all behind, Those that sek to drive innovation will move to experiential systems and push the envelope to build out personal fulfllment systems. 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