Using social media to drive metadata optimisation

Abstract

At their core, all enterprise collaboration systems, web content management systems and social networks serve the same fundamental purpose: the sharing of information between teams and of providing new ways for them to connect. A key failure of most organisations is in the ongoing management of metadata taxonomies after deployment. Many companies treat taxonomy creation as a static activity, building out their platform and related taxonomy once, deploying it to the organisation and then moving on to the next project. What happens is that the organisation is slow to adopt the new tools and processes. They cut corners around the application of metadata. They do not implement governance policies. As a result, the relevance of the original taxonomy diminishes, making the system more difficult to use. In the evolution of the enterprise application, social computing is quickly becoming the de facto method for search. The most difficult part of building any social computing strategy is translating end user requirements into achievable and measurable actions that help to meet business objectives. End users want the technology to fit the way they work. The trick is to deliver what they want in a way that makes sense to the business and can be tracked and measured. The key to making social computing work — and for helping end users collaborate, connect with each other and, ultimately, find the content they need to be successful — is managing the metadata.