Worldwide enterprise social software revenue is projected to reach $664.4m in 2010, a 14.9% increase from 2009 revenue of $578.2m, according to information technology research and advisory company Gartner.
The research house predicts that the enterprise software market will continue to grow at 15.7% in 2011 with revenue forecast to reach $769.2m.
The IT advisory firm estimates that social software technologies can create business value by: driving changes in interpersonal interactions; improving operational efficiency and effectiveness; raising organisational performance; and leveraging internal and external social networks.
Cloud-based and software as a service (SaaS) are expected to continue to be key adoption factors, with more than 80 vendors that Gartner tracks for this marketplace, more than 50 provide social software through cloud-based and SaaS delivery.
In addition, cloud-based and SaaS models have many potential advantages for social software deployments as buyers of these services tend to be business executives with specific marketing, R&D or HR budgets.
Gartner said that cloud-based and SaaS offerings have also opened up access to collaboration and social software technology to SMBs that would not otherwise consider on-premises deployments.
Gartner research vice president Tom Eid said the social software market is evolving in response to the demand for flexible environments in which participants can connect, create, share, and find people and information relevant to their work.
"Social software excels in business contexts that leave room for individuals to interact informally, brainstorm, explore ideas, and encourage or challenge peers," Eid said.
The research firm opined that in all scenarios, social software improves the connectedness of workers, promotes collaboration and helps capture informal knowledge.
