NewsGator Delivers Corporate Social Computing Platform for Universal McCann
Global Media Agency Deploying NewsGator Social Sites and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 to Facilitate Collaboration, Improve Productivity & Lower IT Support Costs
BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - June 9, 2008) - Enterprise 2.0 Conference -- NewsGator
Technologies, Inc. announced today that Universal McCann, a global media
communications agency, is deploying a full-service internal social
computing platform based on NewsGator
Social Sites and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007. The project's
mission is to take advantage of innovative
Enterprise 2.0 technologies to greatly improve communication and the
flow of information across Universal McCann's 90 offices in 66 countries.
Working jointly with Microsoft and NewsGator, Universal McCann has
implemented a secure social
networking solution that improves productivity by allowing employees to
better communicate and
collaborate.
"The fast-changing media environment in which Universal McCann works
demands that our employees have a finger on the pulse of what's going on,
not just in their respective markets and account groups, but globally
across the industry," said Quentin George, worldwide officer for digital
strategy & market innovation for Universal McCann. "In order to deliver
our clients the 'Next Thing Now' we must share and learn from our
collective knowledge and experience. We found NewsGator and Microsoft's
social networking tools to be the ideal way to facilitate communication and
knowledge sharing across geographic and division boundaries -- leading to
improved productivity and increased innovation."
"We considered a variety of social computing solutions, including
consumer-based social networking products, but they fell short on
business-specific features, internal systems integration, and security
capabilities," said Jason Harrison, worldwide chief information officer for
Universal McCann. "Microsoft and NewsGator offered us an enterprise-class
social
computing solution that delivers the social networking features we need
today while providing us with a platform that can easily evolve as our
needs grow and change. In addition, their solution integrates seamlessly
with our technology infrastructure and security protocols, helping to lower
our support costs."
The combined Social Sites and Office SharePoint Server 2007 solution
provides Universal McCann with an online destination that facilitates
collaboration and content sharing across the global Universal McCann
network. The social
computing platform integrates Web 2.0 concepts such as social
networking, communities, RSS, and blogging in an intuitive, easy-to-use
interface. With the interface, Universal McCann employees can now quickly
browse through the company's intranet and find the latest content
headlines, view the most relevant/popular portal content and easily learn
about other employees at any office in the world. The social computing
platform also enables employees to discover colleagues and subject matter
experts, form social networks, and build communities based on areas of
interest, rather than geography or project teams. Universal McCann's
social computing platform enhances each person's effectiveness with the
collective wisdom of the worldwide organization -- driving innovation and
improved client service.
"Businesses are experiencing firsthand the value of social computing in the
enterprise," said Deb Bannon, senior product manager for Microsoft's
SharePoint Server Partner Group. "As Universal McCann shows, SharePoint
Server 2007 lets companies turn their portal into a customizable social
computing hub that can change the way the company works. The combination of
Social Sites and SharePoint is an example of what enterprise social
networking is all about -- delivering positive business results with a
behind-the-firewall, flexible, and extensible platform."
"More and more companies are looking for ways to connect their employees,
using Web 2.0, social networking and information as a bridge," said J.B.
Holston, NewsGator CEO. "Social Sites and SharePoint Server 2007 give
companies a way to introduce global social networking strategies that offer
the ease-of-use of tools like Facebook or MySpace, but with
enterprise-strength security and business-specific features. Social Sites
allows companies to roll out a dynamic platform that makes information and
knowledge a common currency among its employees and collaboration a common
companywide practice."
About Social Sites
NewsGator Social Sites provides behind-the-firewall social computing and
enterprise RSS capabilities that lower IT support costs, improve
productivity, and increase knowledge sharing. Social Sites integrates
seamlessly with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 to enable
enterprises to build communities and internal social networks while
leveraging existing investments and maintaining appropriate security.
Social Sites drives portal adoption by keeping content fresh and relevant,
enhancing usability, simplifying content and expertise discovery and
bringing users back through precision notifications. Social Sites features
include tacitly built profiles; social network graphs; communities;
advanced tagging and tag clouds; RSS feeds, subscriptions and management;
notifications; and colleague tracking capabilities. For more information,
please visit: www.newsgator.com/Business/SocialSites/Default.aspx.
About NewsGator Technologies, Inc.
NewsGator Technologies helps enterprises and media companies leverage
social computing solutions to deliver real business value. The company's
enterprise social networking and widget services are in use by hundreds of
the world's most recognized brands, including Bank of America, Biogen Idec,
CBS, CNN, Discovery, National Geographic, Procter & Gamble and USA Today.
NewsGator Social Sites and Enterprise Server give enterprises better ways
to collaborate, share content, expand employee knowledge and improve
productivity. NewsGator Widget Services enable media and brand companies to
better engage their audiences and extend the value of their brands through
viral syndication of content. NewsGator also offers free, award-winning RSS
aggregators for the Web, desktop, mobile devices and e-mail clients. For
more information, visit www.newsgator.com.
About Universal McCann
Universal McCann (UM) is a global media communications agency providing
Next Thing Now solutions for the world's leading marketers and strategic
thinkers including Coca-Cola, ExxonMobil, Johnson & Johnson, Mastercard,
Microsoft, Sony, Bacardi, L'oreal and UPS. Part of the Interpublic Group of
Companies (IPG), UM has 90 offices in 66 countries and over 2,800 employees
with headquarters in New York. UM provides a full spectrum of media
services including media and communications planning, digital strategy
consultation, analytics and economic modeling and research and consumer
insight. The company's mission is to deliver marketing innovation through
media excellence. For more information, visit www.universalmccann.com.
All products and company names herein may be trademarks of their registered
owners.
Contact Information: Contact Information
Laura Farrelly
NewsGator
303-552-2046
lauraf(at)newsgator(dot)com
Kris Sharbaugh
Universal McCann
646-865-5000
Kris.Sharbaugh(at)umww(dot)com
Corey Lewis or Jennifer Gazin
LaunchSquad
415.625.8555
newsgator(at)launchsquad(dot)com