A quiet revolution is underway. It started with new ways of creating and sharing information on the Internet. It continued with the emergence of smart phones that enabled anytime, anywhere mobile communications. Now, the revolution is linking people in social networks that enrich how they connect, share and live. Welcome to the Collaboration Revolution. The idea isn’t new. Collaboration is, after all, at the heart of community, society and business. What is new is building a culture of collaboration from the ground up. By using new technologies and adopting new ways to communicate, the Collaboration Revolution is already at work, at home and on the go.

CEMEX has joined the Collaboration Revolution by introducing an internal collaboration platform called Shift, designed to innovate and help make the company more efficient and agile by letting employees or groups of employees with similar objectives share opinions, thoughts, information, experience, knowledge and best practices.

Shift combines some of the best elements from popular social networking platforms, but it is far more than a mashup of Wikipedia and a corporate portal, content aggregator, and document repository. CEMEX designed Shift as a social network with a business focus. When employees use Shift, ideas, suggestions, and recommendations bubble up across the network. Communities of interest are formed to tackle challenges common to their locations, markets and skill sets. Projects can move forward without the barriers posed by traditional hurdles, such as over-reliance on e-mail and live meetings. The payoff is lower cycle times, faster time to market, and real-time process improvement. Shift is ultimately designed for a new kind of workforce, one that is mobile, global, and empowered.

By building a collaboration platform accessible to employees throughout the company and around the world, CEMEX is empowering employees in new and important ways that go beyond traditional titles and roles. With Shift, CEMEX creates a global platform for a global company and a global workforce. When the promise is collaboration, the benefit for employees is greater satisfaction in the work they do and the value they provide.