Gartner: Fifth of businesses to use social networks over email

The distinction between social networks and email will "erode," according to a report from Gartner.

The analyst firm predicted that social networking services will "replace e-mail as the primary vehicle for interpersonal communications" for some 20 per cent of business users by 2014.

That doesn't mean Twitter and Facebook will overtake Outlook, however. Gartner said internal social networks and business networks will be built, while email will take on more "social aspects".

"The rigid distinction between email and social networks will erode. Email will take on many social attributes, such as contact brokering while social networks will develop richer email capabilities," said Matt Cain, research vice president at Gartner, in a statement.

"While email is already almost fully penetrated in the corporate space, we expect to see steep growth rates for sales of premises- and cloud-based social networking services," he added.

Microblogging

Microblogging services - such as Twitter - will increasingly be considered by businesses, but only as part of other social networking activities, Gartner predicted.

Many are looking for an enterprise version of Twitter, with more security functions, but even then, it will likely be part of another network, the analyst firm said.

"However, it will be very difficult for microblogging as a stand-alone function to achieve widespread adoption within the organisation. Twitter's scale is one of the reasons for its popularity," said Jeffrey Mann, research vice president for Gartner.

"When limited to a single organisation, that same scale is unachievable, reducing the number of users who will find it valuable. Mainstream organisations are unlikely to adopt standalone, single-purpose microblogging products."

Gartner warned against rushing into social systems, noting that 70 per cent will fail over the next few years. However, the analyst firm noted that business-led plans will succeed more than twice as often as IT-led initiatives.

Gartner also predicted that PC collaboration will increasingly resemble smartphone versions, much in the same way the iPhone affected that market.

Click here for our guide to using Twitter for business.