Four years ago, I saw a market opportunity and left Forrester Research to start Dachis Group. We outlined that opportunity for the world and gave it a name: social business. Dion Hinchcliffe and I co-authored a book that endcaps what we've seen so far.

Today, the social business market has matured. Companies are devoting budget and staff to social business efforts and their partners are becoming increasingly specialized. For example, Dachis Group has been building up its SaaS product offering and now offers six data products under the banner of "Engagement @ Scale": Campaign Performance Monitor, Employee Insight, Advocate Insight, Social Performance Monitor, Social Portfolio Insight, and the Social Business Index.

Sounds pretty good, right?

I think now's a perfect time to switch to a new s-curve.

The season of value creation in the social business market is over; it's time for value capture. We've been seeing this primarily in the technology segment of the market, with acquisitions including Buddy Media, Involver, and Yammer and initial public offerings of Jive, Bazaarvoice, and others. Internally, companies are organizing for social business and focusing on operationalizing programs for tens and hundreds of thousands of employees. Service providers have also seen movement here - Big Fuel was acquired last summer and more social shops will follow.

To prepare for this next industry shift, I've separated from Dachis Group leaving the firm in great shape and focused on executing the same strategy announced over four years ago. I have some thoughts on what's coming next, for example needing to own the experience to own the future.

For now, I'll be writing here and available as an independent analyst for speaking and advisory work. As for what's next...

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