This presentation will go beyond the superficial applications of social computing to show real pragmatic value, cost reduction, and increased efficiencies gained by those deploying Liferay's open source social computing platform. We will highlight several successful case studies, including Cisco Systems' new developer network and Liferay's own social platform running on Liferay.com, and contrast the benefits and drawbacks of using a complete Liferay solution (including CMS, collaboration, and social) vs. integrating with best of breed products such as Atlassian or Jive.