PALO ALTO, Calif., Dec. 2, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Jive Software, Inc. (Nasdaq: JIVE), the world's leading provider of modern communication and collaboration solutions for business, today announced that the 2014 IDC MarketScape report named Jive a Leader(i). The IDC MarketScape report, which evaluates the top thirteen vendors in the worldwide enterprise social networks market, places vendors in the Leaders category according to current capabilities and future strategy. This marks the sixth major independent research firm to name Jive a Leader in the enterprise communication and collaboration market in 2014.

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"Jive placed in the Leader category because it excelled in optimizing the core components of functionality including mobile extensibility, breadth of analytics, and integration and exposure of API's to enable mission-focused collaboration," said Vanessa Thompson, research director, Enterprise Social Networks and Collaborative Technologies at IDC. "A particular strength of the Jive solution is its analytics and reporting capabilities, which help companies measure the strategic alignment of the business and the impact of communications across their workforce and other stakeholders."

Says the IDC MarketScape report, "As organizations focus on communicating with customers, there is a greater need to align internal conversations, content, and decisions toward meeting customer needs. Communities offer a place to capture the broader influence of a customer and/or partner community and enable organizations to consolidate the customer experience through a single point of entry." This finding emphasizes the business imperative for companies to build digitally connected communities that foster participation across internal and external audiences, a need supported by Jive's continual enhancements to both the Jive and JiveX platforms.

In addition, the IDC MarketScape report highlights the importance of an open approach to enterprise collaboration and communications, a requirement Jive meets with seamless integrations into applications such as Microsoft Office 365® and Google Docs(TM). The IDC MarketScape notes, "A broad transition has occurred from a focus on standalone solutions to a situation where social workflow is becoming embedded across enterprise systems as well as productivity applications. Open and extensible solutions can support a broader business transformation by enabling access to other business systems and content sources."

"The recognition we've received from six leading analyst firms this year is a reflection of the impressive business success our customers have realized with Jive. Whether it's driving strategic alignment across globally dispersed workforces, or driving new and repeat business by building brand loyalty, Jive is the hub to help people better connect, communicate and collaborate," said Elisa Steele, president of Jive. "We appreciate this latest distinction from IDC as we continue to accelerate innovations across our product portfolio, in line with our mission to truly help people work better together with employees, partners and customers."

Jive's leadership positioning in the IDC MarketScape follows several other independent research reports on enterprise collaboration that placed Jive in the Leader category this year, including the Gartner Magic Quadrant for social software in the workplace, the Forrester Wave for enterprise social platforms, the Ovum enterprise social networking guide, the Aragon Research Globe for social software, and the Neuralytix NeuraScope for enterprise social networks and internal collaboration. A complimentary excerpt of the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Enterprise Social Networks 2014 can be downloaded on Jive's website.

About IDC MarketScape

IDC MarketScape vendor analysis model is designed to provide an overview of the competitive fitness of ICT (information and communications technology) suppliers in a given market. The research methodology utilizes a rigorous scoring methodology based on both qualitative and quantitative criteria that results in a single graphical illustration of each vendor's position within a given market. IDC MarketScape provides a clear framework in which the product and service offerings, capabilities and strategies, and current and future market success factors of IT and telecommunications vendors can be meaningfully compared. The framework also provides technology buyers with a 360-degree assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of current and prospective vendors.

About Jive Software

Jive (NASDAQ: JIVE) is the leading provider of modern communication and collaboration solutions for business. Recognized as a leader by the industry's top analyst firms in multiple categories, Jive enables employees, partners and customers to work better together. More information can be found at www.jivesoftware.com.

(i) IDC, IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Enterprise Social Networks 2014 Vendor Assessment (Doc #252332), November 2014

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SOURCE Jive Software