The News

Capgemini Consulting and blueKiwi to work together to help organizations build the 2.0 enterprise

01/02/2010

Paris, February 1, 2010 – Capgemini Consulting, the global strategy and transformation consulting organization of the Capgemini Group, and blueKiwi Software, the leading provider of enterprise social software, have today announced that they will work together to help major companies use professional social networks to accelerate the transformation of their organizations. As businesses everywhere feel the increasing effects of globalization, coupled with the worldwide economic downturn, this collaboration will help companies achieve the benefits of enterprise social software, from increased collaboration across organizations and geographical boundaries to better interaction with customers, partners and suppliers. Social networks are becoming an increasingly significant business driver for companies.

�� A survey of large European companies conducted by Dynamic Markets (UK-based independent market research consultancy) on behalf of AT&T found that 74% of those surveyed think there are benefits from the use of social networks and online communities.1
�� The market is still at an early stage in its potential, but according to estimates from leading analyst firm Gartner, worldwide enterprise social software revenue will grow at a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 30.6% between 2007-2012.2

This collaboration brings together the broad management consulting capability of Capgemini Consulting with the deep enterprise social software expertise of blueKiwi. For Capgemini Consulting, it underpins the company’s mission to explore innovative ways to help clients create business value and to use technology to accelerate their transformation. These include such high-tech methodologies as Accelerated Solution Environments (ASE)3; the use of visualization techniques (3D design in particular); and rapid innovation centers, which are used to accelerate the redesign of businesses by challenging clients with business scenarios in real-time.

1 “Corporate Social Networking in Europe”, Dynamic Markets, 2008.
2 Gartner Inc.: The Gartner Collaboration and Social Software Vendor Guide, 2009, Carol Rozwell, Nikos Drakos, David Mario Smith, Jeffrey Mann, Matthew W. Cain, James Lundy, Tom Eid, 19 Feb 2009
3 Accelerated Solution Environments (ASE) : facilitated group sessions that deliver innovation, breakthrough solutions and action plans in days rather than months

“In a downturn, organizations should not only focus on short-term crisis response, but also how they can emerge from the downturn stronger and well-prepared for when the economic climate improves. The current rise of web 2.0 based business applications offers an historic opportunity for innovative companies to reengineer the way they work. We will work with our clients to help them deliver significant transformational change from the use of social networks,” said Pierre-Yves Cros, Global head of Capgemini Consulting. “We will also use this approach to drive change in the consulting industry and the traditional consulting role – making much greater use of technology, opening up the consulting profession to more diverse profiles, and using opensource ‘ecosystems’ to find the best expertise for clients.”

Capgemini Consulting is currently running blueKiwi internally, which will become the central hub of the entity, extending a network of collaboration across and outside the organization. Networking in this innovative way will allow Capgemini Consulting to unearth the best expertise and ideas for its clients through virtual communities and provide a stimulating environment for the best talents.
“By employing our enterprise social software expertise with Capgemini Consulting’s trusted leadership in organizational transformation, we are better able to meet the changing needs of our clients. Together we can help companies move toward a new enterprise that can achieve success even in these changing times”, said Carlos Diaz, CEO and co-founder of blueKiwi Software.

Note to editor:
blueKiwi is enteprise social business platform enabling companies to create secure external communities and lasting conversations through the use of familiar Web 2.0 technologies such as blogs, wikis, comments, microblogging, RSS, polls and tagging to create a social ecosystem that users can control, listen to and leverage on an ongoing basis. By leveraging blueKiwi community members have a detailed profile where they can describe their expertise and share their interests or experience working on specific topics. User profiles can also be enriched by others in the community. These dynamic profiles automatically build personal networks and expertise based on what people actually do and how others appreciate their contributions. Through these vibrant communities companies can creating lasting, ongoing conversations with employees, partners and customers in order to gain insight on critical business drivers and decision with a collaborative process. blueKiwi Software has recently been positioned by Gartner in t e “visionaries” quadrant for social software in the workplace. 4

About Capgemini
Capgemini, one of the world's foremost providers of consulting, technology and outsourcing services, enables its clients to transform and perform through technologies. Capgemini provides its clients with insights and capabilities that boost their freedom to achieve superior results through a unique way of working, the 4 “Magic Quadrant* for Social Software in the Workplace”; Gartner; Nikos Drakos, Carol Rozwell, Anthony Bradley, Jeffrey Mann; 22 October 2009.

Collaborative Business ExperienceTM. The Group relies on its global delivery model called Rightshore®, which aims to get the right balance of the best talent from multiple locations, working as one team to create and deliver the optimum solution for clients. Present in more than 30 countries, Capgemini reported 2008 global revenues of EUR 8.7 billion and employs 90,000 people worldwide. More information is available at www.capgemini.com.

Capgemini Consulting is the Global Strategy and Transformation Consulting brand of the Capgemini Group, specializing in advising and supporting organizations in transforming their business, from the development of innovative strategy through to execution, with a consistent focus on sustainable results. Capgemini Consulting proposes to leading companies and governments a fresh approach which uses innovative methods, technology and the talents of over 4,000 consultants world-wide.
For more information: www.capgemini.com/consulting Rightshore ® is a trademark belonging to Capgemini

About blueKiwi
blueKiwi is the Global Conversation Company. Founded in 2006, our mission is to teach companies to engage the collective voices of the Web, in conversation, in order to make better decisions about products, services, and business strategies. Our flagship product the blueKiwi Social Business Platform enables marketers and community managers to easily build, monitor and manage external communities and bring the best conversations internally into an actionable process. Our customers and partners include leading global brands Alcatel-Lucent, BNP Paribas, Cap Gemini, Dassault Systemes, Nokia, Microsoft and Rainmaker. So join the conversation and turn fruitful conversations into real business actions at www.bluekiwi-software.com

* Magic Quadrant Disclaimer The Magic Quadrant is copyrighted October 22, 2009 by Gartner, Inc. and is reused with permission. The Magic Quadrant is a graphical representation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period. It depicts Gartner's analysis of how certain vendors measure against criteria for that marketplace, as defined by Gartner. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in the Magic Quadrant, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors placed in the
"Leaders" quadrant. The Magic Quadrant is intended solely as a research tool, and is not meant to be a specific guide to action. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.