Trendwatch SNA "Profit potential laid bare in e-mail links"

Mark Newman from Morphix pointed me towards an article in The Times

Leaving aside for a moment the peculiar tone of this article (mostly stick with few carrots) it does point out several advantages for email as a basis for SNA/ONA.

• E-mail is objective. Using email as a data source provides a reliable and statistically significant estimate of the way information is flowing through an organization. Moreover it avoids the biggest problems associated with traditional interview methods where results tend to reflect a "relationship" network rather than a "communication" network. Although both are important it is ultimately collaboration, communication, and information re-use that creates value.
• E-mail is topic specific. Email creates real opportunities to isolate communication networks based on specific topics - for example, by product or activity. How often do we communicate between departments when we introduce a new product? Who are the main contributors with respect to the creation of the annual report?
• Results are almost instantaneous. Here the advantage of email-based SNA is as a diagnostic. Imagine your group has just merged with another organization. Take a snap shot of the network during the first few weeks of collaboration, make some organizational changes, as seem necessary, and reexamine the network again in a few months time. This way you'll be able to gauge the relative level of improvement and look for areas for further improvement.

I expect to see a lot of email-based offerings enter this space in the near future.