OKI Delivers its Crossba® Social Networking Service to DIC
Enterprise information- and knowledge-sharing with a focus on human connections
TOKYO, March 18, 2010 -- OKI Electric Industry(TSE: 6703) today announced the delivery of its Crossba® social networking service (SNS)(*1) to DIC. Crossba is a platform for organizations that allows individuals within the organization to share information and knowledge. DIC has already introduced Crossba among its employees as a virtual meeting place where they can socialize and as a tool they can use to share information based on social interconnections.
DIC has established a basic policy whose goal is the thorough implementation of its medium-term management plan announced in November 2009. This plan is a step toward the ultimate goals of Color and Comfort by Chemistry, the management vision established in 2007. The company is currently seeking to create high-added value products by applying the company's management resources to the challenge of new markets. To this end, it had been considering a shared company-wide tool for sharing information across the entire organization that will help realize its vision.
Improving internal information-sharing had been a major company challenge for various reasons, including traditional departmental boundaries. According to the company, since the organization is also divided hierarchically, employees tend to be reluctant to collaborate or share information unless they know each other. In response, the company considered deploying an internal SNS that promotes both information-sharing and communication and breaks down the barriers that divide departments and positions.
DIC had previously launched an initiative to determine what tool to adopt as their SNS. Based on DIC's high regard for OKI's previous work in implementing OKI's own enterprise SNS, it chose OKI to be the SNS vendor and selected Crossba as the SNS platform.
Conceptually, OKI's Crossba SNS was developed as a place for the exchange of fresh ideas and information-sharing. In addition to basic SNS functions, Crossba offers typical socialware features such as ichimoudajin (consolidated)(*2) search, social bookmarking(*3), file attachments, questionnaires, Q&As, and functions allowing users to set up wikis(*4), among others. It is already widely deployed at other major enterprises.
The number of Crossba users has grown steadily since its installation at DIC, and the company expects it to become a place where employees can stop by to exchange information in a casual atmosphere.
"We hope Crossba will strengthen employee interconnections and help catalyze new products and businesses in a manner transcending departments and assigned roles", says Yuichiro Hiranuma, General Manager of System Platform Center at OKI. "Viewing Crossba as a tool that helps organizations succeed in various challenges, OKI will continue to provide the platform to promote communication, knowledge application, and networking among organizational members."
About CoCoT, DIC's corporate SNS
- Number of participants: Approximately 900 (as of February 2010. The company projects that the number of users will eventually increase to about 5,000.)
- Deployment date: November 2009
- Number of communities: Approximately 80 (as of February 2010)
- Name: CoCoT ("Communication & Collaboration Tool"). The abbreviation has the same initials as Color & Comfort by Chemistry, the company's management vision.
About OKI's Crossba SNS, an information- and knowledge-sharing platform for organizations
The Crossba software package creates a virtual place that promotes communications among organizational staff to help organizations meet the challenges of communication, information-sharing, knowledge application, and networking among people. As socialware supporting knowledge management, the Crossba framework offers SNS, social bookmarking, wiki creation, and search functions. In addition to basic features such as community setup, blogging software, integration with the employee database, Q&A for all, and file attachments, it offers an ichimoudajin (consolidated) search function and people search as part of the standard package. Crossba presents an ideal balance of functions that organizations can use internally.
Main Characteristics
- Crossba offers features that reflect know-how gathered while operating an SNS within the OKI Group since 2007.
- As socialware for real-world organizations, Crossba offers powerful capabilities that promote the Enterprise 2.0 (*5) ideal.
- Crossba is widely deployed among major enterprises and is backed by a proven track record.
Glossary
- *1 :SNS
social networking service. An interactive community website that promotes and supports networking among individuals. These services are increasingly being deployed on corporate intranets.
- *2 :Ichimoudajin search: consolidated search
A term for "all text search" in Crossba. It consists of two search types: consolidated search among multiple domains within Crossba and people search for people who create the contents matching the keywords entered.
- *3 :Social bookmarking
A service that stores browser bookmarks (frequently accessed websites) and favorites on a network for sharing with other users.
- *4 :Wiki
A collaboration tool that allows anyone to post an article through a web browser. The pages created can be revised by multiple individuals, and new pages can be added.
- *5 :Enterprise 2.0
Information applications or software platforms incorporating Web 2.0 concepts and technologies to help organizations create, share, apply, and refine knowledge.
About Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd.
Founded in 1881, Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd. is Japan's first telecommunications manufacturer Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, OKI provides top-quality products, technologies, and solutions to customers through its info-telecom system and printer operations. Its various businesses function synergistically to provide exciting new products and technologies that meet a wide range of customer needs in various markets. Visit OKI's global web site at http://www.oki.com/.
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- Press Contact:
- Public Relations Division
Phone: +81-3-5403-1247
- * Information in the press releases is current on the date of the press announcement, but is subject to change without prior notice.
- * On March 19, we have revised the announcement time of DIC's medium-term management plan from September to November 2009.