Why do we need Yammer when we already use email & IM?

Email and IM are great technologies, but they are the previous generation of communication tools.

Yammer is better than email because itʼs:

• Discoverable - Information that would otherwise be buried in people's email inboxes is in a central searchable feed. Furthermore, because Yammer threads are hosted, everyone is kept on the same page, and nobody is left out of the loop.

• Faster - Yammer is real-time, and messages are shorter and less formal than email.

• More Powerful - Rapidly disseminate information to large groups and get answers to questions even when you don't know who to ask - without spamming others. Yammer becomes more powerful as more people join, letting you tap into the collective mind of your organization.

• Unaffected by Spam - Unlike email, you can't be spammed by external sources.

• More Controllable - Messages canʼt be forwarded outside your Yammer network. Only employees can access them. When employees leave the company, they are immediately unable to access your companyʼs Yammer network - but their previous contributions remain for the benefit of others.

Yammer is better than IM because itʼs:

• Discoverable - Conversations are centralized where everyone can see them, and others are encouraged to participate. With IM, on the other hand, only the people who were directly involved are aware that the conversation ever took place.

• Persistent & Searchable - Yammer threads are automatically archived and searchable. By contrast, IM conversations are ephemeral, and arenʼt searchable by others in your organization.

• Always On - You can receive Yammer messages even when youʼre offline, and theyʼll be instantly delivered to you the next time you check your feed (from any Internet-capable device).

• More Convenient - A member directory and profiles make finding and contacting people easy. Unlike IM, thereʼs no need to remember screen names or maintain multiple buddy lists. Yammerʼs member directory can also be synced with your companyʼs existing Active Directory / LDAP service.

• More Powerful - Hold real-time private conversations - just like you can with IM - but also have group and inter-company conversations that spread ideas and engage all members of your team.

• Under Your Control - Company admins control membership, security settings, look-and-feel, the usage policy, and can monitor keywords as well as export all the data for e-Discovery and backup.

While technologies like Yammer will eventually replace email and IM, we realize that this shift wonʼt happen overnight. Thatʼs why Yammer integrates with these technologies - you can consume and create Yammer messages via email as well as through IM technologies like Google Talk or Jabber.