Enterprise 2.0: Honeywell Explores Value Of Intranet Tagging

A short summary of how Honeywell is using a tagging/social bookmark platform from ConnectBeam. Other options for tagging and social bookmark systems that will be available later this year include: BEA Pathways and Lotus Connections. Cogenz and Jive Software as well as the Scuttle open source project are other options. There is also a tagging and social bookmark add-on for Microsoft Windows SharePoint available from WSSsearch.

One important aspect that is worth calling out is the integration between tagging and social bookmark systems and enterprise search (in this case, Honeywell is taking advantage of Connectbeam's integration with Google's enterprise search solution). This example reinforces a point I've made multiple times that tagging and search trends are very synergistic and are not in conflict with each other. The social networking and community-building aspects are also something important to consider when considering these types of social software solutions.

Connectbeam Offers Social Search and More to Honeywell

The key to social search in an enterprise context is identifying and connecting each enterprise worker with colleagues whose interests and knowledge enhances their own.
Privately held Connectbeam, located in California's Silicon Valley, has mastered this. Its Social Bookmarking & Networking Appliance, a pre-configured appliance server deployed behind the enterprise firewall, highlight information from colleagues' searches, especially the information that they have found most useful.
So it is very fitting that Connectbeam was chosen this month by global technology company Honeywell to provide social bookmarking and tagging, expertise location, and enterprise social networking capabilities to Honeywell employees.

Using Connectbeam software – not only its Social Bookmarking & Networking Appliance but also its Application Connector for Google Enterprise Search – Honeywell knowledge workers will be able to locate and manage information together while easily networking with each other's knowledge, interests and skills in a secure, behind the firewall implementation. 

Source: Connectbeam Offers Social Search and More to Honeywell (SocialComputingMagazine.com)

And from the blog of Honeywell's Rich Hoeg:

Tagging Inside the Firewall

... this application is inside our firewall and will allow our engineers to perform knowledge discovery, research and sharing across the miles ... even if they don't know each other! ConnectBeam works in tandem with our internal Google search appliance. Over the next few weeks we will conduct our final tests before rolling out our application later this Spring. Here are three screenshots from our beta test:

1. Some of my personal tags, and tag cloud
2. An internal search, including external results, tags, & names
3. My profile (i.e. a typical employee ... well, maybe a typical nerd!)

Click upon any thumbnail to enlarge (some of my prior posts on this topic)
.

Source: eContent: Tagging Inside the Firewall

Comments

[Puneet Gupta]

Mike:
The genesis of Connectbeam was based on our emphatic belief that Social Bookmarking will manifest itself in different (and more fascinating and impactful) ways inside the enterprise than what we have seen in the consumer realm.

Integration with enterprise search, and extension into social networking are natural fits. We are seeing some great validation of this. Expect to see more from Connectbeam along the same lines.