Jive’s IPO: Social isn’t a Fad Anymore

By Jim Lundy
Jive Software went public today and it is a significant milestone for them and for the Enterprise Social Software market. To see how far things have come, all one needs to do is look back two years ago to 2009. Jive had been through some rough times in 2008 (layoffs). However, there was something happening with the category called Social Software. Customers were buying (from Jive and many others), but not in big numbers.

In October 2009, the week that Jive got the draft of the 2009 Gartner Social Software Magic Quadrant (they were named a leader), they also got a decent round of VC funding and the rest is history. I was managing the Social Software team at the time and in 2009, it was a fair assessment of what was going on, even though others, such as IBM, had a broader story to tell. Lots of things ended up changing at Jive as the VCs invested and put their team in place.

Now that Jive is public, they are in the preverbal Fish Bowl. Lots of stuff to report, lots of regulations to live by. Some firms thrive after an IPO, some firms struggle. We’ll watch and see what happens at Jive.

The bigger news is that Social isn’t just a fad anymore, it is changing the way people interact with coworkers, customers and partners. That is one of the reasons we’ve decided that our first Aragon Globe will be on Enterprise Social Networking. We think it is a better way to evaluate markets, since we have three axis, not just two. Stay tuned for more and look for our Aragon Globe on Enterprise Social Networking in Q1 2012.

For those that are trying to figure out what to do, and where to start with Social, that is where Aragon Research comes into play. We’re experts in this area and can help you navigate this fast changing market.