How social media can make your intranet a money-saver

Internal networking tools are enabling colleagues to solve one another’s problems—and benefit their company’s bottom line.

The question came up on Sabre Holding’s internal social networking platform: an employee was about to spend $3,000 for Italian translation services. Did anyone know of an alternative?

Another employee who spoke Italian fluently spoke up and offered to help, costing Sabre nothing. Collaboration like this has been saving the company $150,000 a year, says Sarah Kennedy, Sabre’s manager of social solutions.

“By embracing social technology, global organizations can put the collective knowledge of its entire workforce at the fingertips of every employee,” she says.

Such stories explain why internal social media—wikis, social networks, blogs, and mashups—is the hottest new topic among experts who study intranets. Employees can collaborate and reach out directly to one another for advice using tools like IGLOO Software, Sabre’s Cubeless, Socialtext and scores of others.

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