It's a question that inevitably comes up in every conversation we have with businesses looking to use RSS for streamlining communications. We think there are three big, compelling reasons to use a managed system for integrating RSS in your enterprise communications mix: synchronization, analytics and security.

Synchronization is the key to getting the content you want, where you want it. Attensa provides a synchronized reading experience on the desktop, in the browser, in IM and on the phone. Channeling the feeds you want, to the devices you want, without slogging through duplicates requires a sophisticated approach to synchronization that keeps feeds updated at every access point. Subscriptions are up to date. Articles read are marked read. Articles deleted are deleted. Everywhere. Subsets of feeds can be channeled to different access points and no matter where the content is consumed it will be up to date.

Analytics are essential to what one of our key customers aptly described as "Closed Loop Communications." Attensa's managed RSS ecosystem gives you the ability to see how content is being consumed and to determine the inherent value of specific communication streams. Providing metrics on how content is being consumed in your organization shines a bright light on the quality and relevance of internal communications. Publishers can can see how many people are actively reading their content versus the number of people subscribed. Attensa's AttentionStream reporting can be used to identify the most efficient channels for getting specific content to targeted users and groups. And, it can help identify (and hopefully reduce) occupational spam and be a driver for improving the quality of internal communications. This only works in a managed environment with synchronized AttentionStream technology. Attensa's AttentionStream works for users by intelligently prioritizing content and bringing the most important information to the forefront of the user's attention while it relays analytics to the server that can be used to create meaningful reports on content consumption.

When it comes to security fundamentals, Google Reader can't handle authenticated feeds. But more importantly, no enterprise should want their confidential data stored in the cloud outside of their control. With a managed RSS ecosystem, content and metrics are stored securely. Your data. Your hardware. Your policies. Your compliance. If the researchers, engineers, marketing and other key contributors in your organization are using Google Reader (which is a terrific reader for individuals) you need to think about the risk of Google's ability to connect your domain to the feeds and the details on the articles being read by your employees.