I had a demo today with a social network vendor: Leverage Software. They offer SAAS (software as a service) hosting to provide community and social networking software for some fairly large websites: InfoWorld, Saleforce.com, Reuters, The New York Times, to name just a few. Most of their features are fairly standard: profiles, blogs, forums, polling, chats, file uploads (photo, video, etc.). An open API provides widgets to integrate network content onto your website, web services or cookies for single sign-on, and integration with analytics and ad serving programs. Visual Targeted Matchmaking is a unique visual representation of the network and relationships, allowing datamining and filtering for specific niches.
Technically, the platform is written on .NET, which doesn’t thrill me, but the application seemed well designed and quick. Of more concern is the cost. The $299/month pricetag touted on their homepage is only for the smallest network of 100 users and does not include the upfront startup fee of $7450/network. Pricing for just 5000 users jumps to around $2400/month. These costs quite easily push them beyond most B2B websites. If you’re just venturing into social networking, have a small website, or are unsure of the ROI, I’d recommend trying a free service such as Ning to start with – look to upgrade if the community works out.
I’ll be continuing my evaluation of social networking companies with Community Server, Prospero, Small World Labs, and Pluck.
Technorati Tags: social networks, B2B social networks, B2B, internet consulting, B2B internet consulting
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hi Sarah,
Thanks for having a look – we appreciate it!
mike
Sarah – have you looked into introNetworks – built on AdobeFlex has visuals and business analystics and can also manage events. I’m looking for social networking software that also manages events. introNetworks and CrowdVine are two. Possibly LeverageSoftware but that’s less likely as the event management part doesn’t seem there. Also just heard of beta EventVue.
Mary Fallon
Hi Mary,
Thanks for reading. I’ve looked briefly at both introNetworks and CrowdVine. introNetworks seems to be geared more towards events or as a simple networking tool for an existing website or community. AdobeFlex has a lot of potential, but it seemed to run a little slow for me and I’m on a fast machine.
CrowdVine has more potential as a full blown community, especially for small businesses who need to try something for free to start with. I think I may actually look more indepth at CrowdVine to investigate their offerings.
What do you think?
My current fore-runner for social networks (non-free) is Small World Labs, which also has events functionality. My review of them is here:
http://sazbean.com/2008/01/29/b2b-social-networks-small-world-labs/
Feel free to contact me directly if you’d like more information.
Thanks again!