Consumers know HootSuite, enterprises know Socialcast – now, the two have combined, as the latter became the newest addition to the former’s extensive App Directory. Today, it was revealed that HootSuite added support for Socialcast, the enterprise social network equivalent powered by VMWare that specifically targets highly regulated industries such as finance and health.

HootSuite promises to “enhance your social media management” as the most used social media dashboard, as described on its official site. Meanwhile, Socialcast is touted as “the social network built for the enterprise” that “connects people to the knowledge, ideas and resources they need to work better together,” as explained on its site.

Enterprises’ paths to and perception of social media integration have understandably been a little bumpy. When it comes to such regulated industries as finance and healthcare, it can be hard to leverage social technology, but Socialcast exists to meet the unique needs of these customers. SocialTimes explains how by allowing its software to run behind corporate firewalls, Socialcast enables admins to optimally monitor for potential compliance issues, as well as allows them to determine their own data retention practices. Now, the enterprise social network is only further strengthened by its HootSuite support.

HootSuite’s unique ability to connect users to multiple networks through one single, unified platform has certainly not lost its appeal. Now, Socialcast joins the long list of social networks HootSuite hosts, including Twitter, Facebook and Google+ by means of HootSuite’s App Directory, which allows users to connect to more specialized sites like Socialcast as an add-on, SocialTimes reported today.

By connecting one’s Socialcast account to HootSuite, users can do such things as drag content from public social networks (ie. Twitter, Facebook) into their company’s private social interface, the report continued.

AllFacebook, self-described as “The Unofficial Facebook Blog,” lists some other actions Socialcast app users for HootSuite can do, including:

• Publishing and monitoring updates
• Creating polls
• Sending private messages
• Liking and commenting on updates
• Viewing and adding attachments

“The HootSuite integration will allow the most relevant conversations from external social channels to be brought into the internal network, where customer ideas, product feedback and relevant messages can be privately and securely discussed in the same social way,” Dan Wire, a spokesman for VMWare, said.

Check it out in more detail by watching the video below:

Needless to say, this integration will allow enterprises to ride the social media wave much more smoothly.