World’s number one social media company is trialing a new social network for the workplace, which would pit it against enterprise-savvy competitors such as Microsoft and LinkedIn. But Will “Facebook at Work” work, or is it too late to the office?

Psst. Yes, you. You use Facebook at work, don’t you? Whether it is for that quick birthday wish or to trawl your friends’ timelines unendingly on a Tuesday afternoon, Facebook is as much a part of the workplace as Word and PowerPoint. Yet, most folks wouldn’t want to be caught at work with Facebook open on their computers.

But this may change soon. Facebook is trialing a new social network for the workplace, called “Facebook at Work”, which would pit it against enterprise-savvy competitors such as Microsoft and LinkedIn, in a bid to monopolise more of your work time online. And, possibly, legitimise what you already do anyway: spend all your time at work on Facebook! Will “Facebook at Work” work, or is it too late to the office?

BUT, I ALREADY FB AT WORK…

Yes, you do, so maybe a quick primer on “Facebook at Work” is in order. The new portal, launched recently to a clutch of trial partners ahead of its full-blown launch later this year, works pretty much like the regular Facebook you’re used to, except you use it to connect with colleagues (who may or may not be friends). According to Facebook’s description of the service: “Facebook at Work lets you create a work account that is separate from your personal Facebook account. With a Facebook at Work account, you can use Facebook tools to interact with co-workers. Things you share using your work account will only be visible to other people at your company.”

What does this mean for you, as business owners and employees? First, you login with your usual FB username and password, easing the business past the first barrier for adoption — a new credential. The interface will be already familiar to the staff, but without the normal distractions associated with the network. It’ll run a different colour scheme, so it’s clear to over-shoulder-peeping-bosses that while you’re on Facebook, you’re still working! Second, almost all controls lie in the hands of the business owner — name, job titles and contact information are provided by the employer, and associated to individual user accounts.

Users can personalise their profile with pictures and other information. From there on, the “Work” component of your FB profile works within an exclusive network, visible only to your co-workers. Next, access will be via desktop sites or Android/iOS apps, but only if your business/employer has requested for access to the “Facebook at Work” programme. The endgame, of course, is to foster collaboration between the office, and so sharing (photos, videos and other files), messaging, events and engaging in discussions will be central to the experience. Plus, there will be additional tools for managers to review progress, view collaborative activities and so on.

SO, WILL IT WORK?

It just might, if Facebook leverages some of the strengths inherent to the brand. Without a doubt, Facebook is where the world already is, including many (if not all) employees of businesses, considering the programme. The user experience, of using activity streams and news feedbacks and engaging in groups, is already familiar, which saves employers time and money in training and onboarding costs. Mobile use of Facebook via smartphones and tablets is already prevalent, so Facebook at Work would lend itself well to organisations that need employees to have anywhere/anytime to their collaboration capabilities. The Groups feature, in particular, could replace endless back and forth of email with more immediate messaging capabilities.

If you really start to think about it, the potential for the program is immense. It could start with smaller use cases, such as polls/surveys, internal communications and virtual meetings, and extend to activities that involve alumni, partners and contractors. With the massive ecosystem of developers who already know Facebook’s API (Application Program Interface, a set of routines, protocols, and tools for building software applications), extending your business’ Facebook at Work experience to bring in add-on tools for your other enterprise applications, be it from SAP/Salesforce/Oracle, isn’t an altogether distant possibility either.

And best of all, the service is going to be subscription-based for businesses, so there’ll be no ads to support the service. Yep, no borderline-embarrassing ads for lingerie when you’re in the middle of work (I’m looking at you, Facebook!)

SOUNDS INTERESTING, BUT IS IT ENOUGH?

The road to enterprise dominance is different from the consumer landscape. As their peers at firms such as Google, Amazon and Microsoft can attest, being a giant player with a history of past wins is no guarantee of dominance in a new playing field. Enterprise software is not consumer software, and the requirements of businesses are vastly different from that of individuals, even if the same folks end up using FB’s consumer and enterprise offerings. Enterprise software needs a strong focus on compliance, auditing and security, and Facebook will have to show it’s up to the task before businesses trust it for work.

I mean, it’s one thing sharing cat photos or those from your last weekend escapades, but when Facebook goes down, your life doesn’t come to a grinding halt, does it? Okay, maybe it does a little bit, but there’s no business impact, right? With Facebook at Work, it will, so availability and accessibility will be critical before Facebook makes the pitches to CIOs-at-large.

Remember, this doesn’t even begin to address the elephant in the room — Facebook and its dubious track record on privacy. Whether you side with the social giant on this or not, most people have their concerns about what Facebook does with their information, and the company has a less-than-stellar reputation for making the privacy of its users a high priority. Now, while your corporate and individual accounts are kept cleanly separate when you’re using Facebook at Work, Facebook has an uphill task of convincing organisations that their sensitive and confidential company data will be safe on Facebook’s servers. Imagine the horror if employees accidentally posted something externally that they thought was being posted on the “internal Facebook” (and vice versa, from the employee’s perspective).

There are other issues, such as Facebook’s one-size-fits-all approach to all industries, which doesn’t cater to specific needs of the industries such as healthcare or financial services, and may probably cause enough friction for FB to be left out of the consideration set when enterprises in these sectors make IT collaboration decisions. And it’s not like there are no options — plenty, in fact — which could make companies already using other tools such as Slack, Evernote, Yammer or Trello reluctant to add or switch to Facebook’s offering.