Traditional business models have focused on a process and interaction model that hasn't changed for more than 100 years. This traditional model involves a hierarchical approach where there is an expectation that all good ideas come from the leaders at the top of the organization. This model creates barriers for fully utilizing the core knowledge and experiences of each and every individual within the enterprise. However, with the injection of some fundamental Web 2.0 technologies such as social networks, businesses can finally tap into the knowledge of all their employees, partners, and customers. This notion of collective intelligence is critical for businesses to understand, so they can map these new Web 2.0 technologies into their organizations.

Enterprise Social Networks are made of people who are linked together in some fashion. These links can be formal and well defined like an organizational structure, partner network, or a team workspace membership. The social network may also be informal and more fluid in nature based on shared goals, objectives, expertise, or projects. In this case, it is the information and meta-data (or description of the information) that logically links individuals together. Because of their diversity, social networks have broad requirements, and the technologies required to fully deliver on the promise of enterprise knowledge sharing must be comprehensive yet very simple to use.