Yes you've correctly identified a problem. It's sad that I have to "know a guy" to sometimes get stuff done.

Unfortunately, no one with purchasing power cares.

You can try promoting "social" and "collaboration", and you might get some sales out of that since those buzzwords are hot. However, you won't fundamentally change anything because ultimately someone bought your software to fluff up their annual review, and then it gets dropped like a hot rock after the coast is clear.

You're probably better off with IT self-service, it's a hot enterprise area right now.