IDC revealed its predictions for social business in 2015. “The basic building blocks of social business, content, and community are still creating opportunity for change and disruption, but the picture of how and in what business areas is much clearer today,” said Michael Fauscette, group vice president of IDC’s Software Business Solutions, speaking about the predictions.

According to IDC:

1. Online communities will continue to grow in support of business innovation across all enterprise functions, increasing by $200 million in 2015, a 30% increase over 2014.
2. Organizations will increase their internal product and service innovation efforts by 15% over the next 18 months.
3. Integration, consolidation, and rationalization in marketing technology will make up an average of 35% of total Marketing Technology budgets by 2015.
4. With the rise in spending shifts from IT to line of business (LoB) executives, the chief marketing officer (CMO) will hold 10% of the overall technology budget by the end of 2015.
5. By the end of 2015, only one in ten organizations will have structured and goal-oriented customer experience strategies in place.
6. Beyond employee engagement, one in five organizations in 2015 will aim to measure employee experience as a direct impact on customer experience.
7. Due to the rise in wearable technology, one in five of all workers will be involved in company-sponsored wellness programs or wellness specific gamification by the end of 2015.
8. Due to negative customer feedback and bad press, at least one major ISV will change their policy around tracking of consumer transaction and mobile user activity in 2015.
9. By 2017, partner organizations will have consolidated 30% of their online interaction interfaces to provide a more proactive and individualized offering.
10. The number of marketplaces that support business networks by connecting suppliers, partners and customers in a single entity will increase by 100% through 2017.

[Image courtesy: IDC]