Enterprise class Facebook comes to UK

WorkLight said that the application would allow employees to use Facebook to find colleagues by name, location, department, project and area of expertise, while allowing them to collaborate securely with peers using familiar Facebook capabilities. According to the company, WorkBook would also allow users see general and personalized company news direct from a Facebook news feed, and lets users create groups around shared interest areas and work-related projects.

More importantly, WorkBook provides compliance with existing security policies - enterprise security integration authenticates WorkBook users via corporate authentication facilities, enforces access control policies and supports Single Sign-On (SSO).

"The United Kingdom is host to over 8 million Facebook users, and user adoption is growing at a rapid pace," said Shahar Kaminitz, CEO and founder of WorkLight. "As we have seen with the introduction of WorkBook in the US, there is a significant advantage to using this consumer tool at work, as long as it is safeguarded. Companies are particularly interested in leveraging employee expertise and mindshare to increase productivity with consumer tools, without hampering employee-driven initiatives. Facebook is a perfect example of how we are seeing this trend is impacting the corporate world."

WorkBook is part of the WorkLight platform, which supports various consumer Web 2.0 technologies such as iGoogle, Netvibes, RSS, desktop gadgets and widgets, among others. The WorkLight server is licensed to enterprises by yearly subscription. Pricing starts at €10 (US$14) per user per month, with volume discount pricing available.