This is a question I get frequently asked and it is a very valid question. I'm a radical. [:D]. If I am not offering something of value to you and you are a happy camper on LinkedIn, then I can only blame myself for EITHER not offering you something better OR not explaining it properly. So here is the gist of why the SDL Community is the right deal for you. At least to also join. Don't ditch your LinkedIn Account for me :-)

Designed to make you successful

A community is group of people with something in common. Our online platform is there to support you in a modern way and it augments the events that have across the globe for all products and regions. The big change, the shape shifter, that is happening inside SDL is that every department and every employee inside that department is turning its head towards you with a very simple assignment: "Learn, Meet and Share". Get to know your audience, find out what it is that they are looking for and make sure that you share this. This requires first of all a conversation in which mutual trust is built. Once established, new insights (content) can turn into value. Since this is new to all of us and grass doesn't grow by pulling on it, it will take some time. But SDL is convinced and committed to tear down the boundaries and to redefine the "WE" as everybody in our ecosystem.

Just imagine that happening in your own company. It may already be happening. We're not unique. Any which way you turn this, it is a tall order and it NEEDS YOU. Our programs have been designed to measure whether or not you are successful. So, that is different to your average social platform like LinkedIn. This also means that we look to improve together and that we will ask you over time: "Did we really add value to you?" It will help us all to innovate faster.

The SDL Community success is measured on 2 goals:

• Did we contribute to the success of a person that is performing a role (any role!) in that customer journey? 
• Did we facilitate faster learning and adaptation? Were you able to adapt to your business faster than before staying ahead of your competition?

Pointless shipping software that no one understands

We don't sell software. We sell Intellectual Property. Our collective of know-how, including what we learn from you. Put that into machine readable code and we call it software. Put that into human readable code and we call it knowledge. The big endgame is to make sure that knowledge and network of people is at your fingertips at the moment you need it. 

It is pretty pointless to install software if you can't turn it into value. In order to do that you need to have the knowledge and the trusted network. SDL is committed to organizing both the knowledge as well as the network and bring that relevant knowledge to the place where you work.

Trust Foundation: We do not sell you

Everybody knows that nothing in life is free and especially not on the internet. So, if you are not buying something "you" usually are the product. We do not share your information with anybody. Period. I'll post an article soon about what we do with information that you provide us. On a personal note, I am the LinkedIn moderator of the dutch digital civil rights movement called Bits of Freedom. My personal stance is to use information that you have provided ONLY if there is a clear benefit for you and ONLY inside SDL and preferably with your consent. In Europe we have much stricter privacy laws than elsewhere and I fully subscribe to them. Sometimes we even go more tight. Or in Google's terms : "Don't be evil".  A freely translated dutch saying is: "Trust arrives on foot and leaves on a horse". If you do not trust the basics, then forget about all the other efforts that rely on that basic trust. So, for us it is pretty logical to be really serious about the information you trust us with.

You call the shots

Our basic functionality that we offer is already very rich. The standards are Forums, Blogs/News, Wiki, Events, File Share. In the short term future we will be adding Ideation and Chat to the platform. We moderate our groups starting with the lead Product Manager, Support Engineer and Product Engineer. As you grow in your engagement, the impact and value can increase. A good example is for instance our Most Valuable Professional (MVP) program that gives exclusive advantages over the standard engagement. Furthermore, you can have you own collaboration groups and can work from either completely public to completely private and secluded.

Future Plans

The immediate future is to stay at par with the latest releases of the Telligent platform as we too are part of their community and have a say in what needs to happen in the product. Next to that our 2016 plans are to expand into more personalized experience and integrate with other systems that you are already engaged with SDL, like the Support and Knowledge Base systems. Ultimately we are looking to provide you that ONE personal page on the device and the location that you are working that will contain community content as well as your support tickets, licensing info, cloud environments, the works. You can imagine that that is a major revamp of the inner workings of SDL in all facets: systems, processes and people. It won't happen overnight but that is the plan.