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Embracing Social Media in the IT world

So this domain name was purchased in April 2014, and the blog created at the same time.

I used to teach CompTIA courses, and therefore my main idea, which I haven’t forgotten about, is to create materials (E-books) which are affordable and accessible for those who are getting into the world of IT.

Until I can part ways with my some of my work schedule and other commitments, I have decided to write more technical posts, based around the issues I hit during my working days, and anything else interesting I find.

I think engaging in Social Media is one of the key things to keep up to date with the ever-changing world of IT. And fantastically, you usually get answers quicker on twitter than emailing a support/sales desk!!! Making the engagement from companies who have been embracing social media, using this platform as defacto component that sets them apart from the competition.

Engaging in Social Media

So back to my point, at the same  time as starting all this, I decided to start using Twitter and LinkedIn, properly. I had a twitter account, but only because dropbox gave me extra space if I tweeted about them, and no LinkedIn account.

The idea in my head is simple, Facebook is for my friends, Twitter and LinkedIn is for the technology world. Giving me an entry point to start giving back to the community.

So I started to follow people on twitter suggested by one of my friends, based around VMware, which is the technology I am most engaged in, and took it from there.

LinkedIn, I created my account, inputed all my information, and started to connect with people I’m interested in keeping in touch with, that I’ve met or worked with over the years. I also joined various groups, and have been posting links to my relevant blog posts in them. I.e in the Veeam User Group, about Veeam v8.

The power of Social Media (with an example)

So I’m struggling to explain why you should engage into Social Media for work, so hopefully this will sum it up.

I’m really interested the PernixData FVP product, which I found out about first on twitter. So after some careful considerations for a customer design, I decided to use PernixData to enhance the infrastructure.

My Account manager was unable to get hold of pricing for PernixData, and emailed their support desk, but after 2 hours, we had no response, and we needed to get the final pricing back to the customer ASAP,

So I tweeted @PernixData, asking for some help, and below are the responses, but needless to say, I had a contact at PernixData to talk to very quickly. They even offered me access to one of their Senior Engineers to review my design to ensure I had picked the correct product and it was technically the correct solution for the job!

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Summary

Had it not been for twitter, I may have got a response via the Sales email address by the end of the day, but instead, I was connected to the right person at the right time. Within an hour we had spoken over the phone, discussed the customer requirements, discussed the business commercials, and now ready to take things forward.

This is just a small example of what I’ve gained from social media, others include been made a member of the Cisco Champions program for 2014, and also engaging with vendors regarding a VMware CBT issue and how it affects their products!!!

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The possibilities are endless, to take an over used saying, but what we need to realise, is that within business, Social Media has become an acceptable form of communication, outside of calling or emailing Sales/Support.

 

Regards

 

Dean

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