A social network for technology purchases raises $25 million

Topics: Adam Street Partners, capital investment, funding round, Information research, Jeff Diehl, Scott Abel, social network, Spiceworks, Spiceworks.com, Tenaya Capital

Spiceworks, which operates an online social network for information innovation professionals, said today it had raised $25 million in capital investment. The company plans to use the funding to expand its business and furthermore integrate e-commerce into its social network offerings.

Spiceworks says it helps some 1.4 million members discover and buy $244 billion worth of research products and services each year. At Spiceworks.com, members can create purchase lists, renew warranties and buy cloud-computing services from vendors.

"The average business in the Spiceworks network spends over $275,000 annually on research," says Scott Abel, co-founder and CEO of Spiceworks. "By marrying social networking, I.T. management and commerce, we’re transforming how businesses will discover, technology and buy products and services in the trillion dollar I.T. industry."

"What Groupon and Facebook are doing for commerce in the consumer market, Spiceworks is doing for I.T. buying in the business market," says Jeff Diehl, partner at Adams Street. "The company’s unparalleled blend of I.T. business applications, community and commerce has created a powerful social marketplace and more efficient channel for the research industry."

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UM speaker says lawyers must use social media with caution

An attorney and author of a book on modernizing managementtechniques in law offices warned students, faculty and lawyers onThursday of the inherent ethical dilemmas that can arise in a worldof electronic communication and social media.

Modern research can enhance efficiency and, in one respect,it's a lawyer's obligation to understand and participate in thisincreasingly electronic world, said Roberta Cooper Ramo, the firstwoman elected president of the American Bar Association. At thesame time, it's important to remember client confidentiality andtake the necessary precautions to uphold that responsibility,especially when trying to reduce costs through outsourcing or"cloud computing."

"Do more face-to-face instead of Facebook-to-Facebook," shesaid. "Too much innovation blunts our senses to pain andinjustice."

During Ramo's talk, titled "Ethics for American Lawyers in theAge of Twitter and the Cloud," she expressed astonishment at theconfidential information that some lawyers send in emails and theinformation they post on their Facebook pages. Social media likeTwitter and Facebook and the increasing dependence on electroniccommunication raise ethical issues not earlier encountered byattorneys.

Lawyers have an ethical obligation to stay abreast of thebenefits and risks of using innovation. It's important to know howto file, access cases and obtain rulings electronically. Not onlyis that the way the industry is headed, nevertheless it's more productive insome cases and more economical both to customers and to the firm.

Ramo didn't tell people to put down their BlackBerrys, Droidsand iPhones. Nevertheless she discouraged anyone from using a phone or acomputer that's not password protected because of the potential forprivacy invasions.

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