Adapting consumer Web 2.0 for use in the enterprise

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When I spoke at KMWorld07 in Silicon Valley last month, I sat in on the presentation made by Charles Armstrong of Trampoline Systems. One of the interesting points he made is that Web 2.0 is the first set of technologies that have been developed in the consumer space before being taken into enterprise use. All other major information technologies have first been developed and used in large organizations before being adapted for consumer use, not least by becoming accessible on price.

I’ve often observed that Enterprise 2.0 initiatives largely stem from executives seeing their children using sites like Facebook, Wikipedia, del.icio.us, Digg, YouTube or Remember the Milk, and thinking, “Hmm, I can see that kind of tool being useful inside my organization.”

It is very useful to think of it specifically as that issue: adapting consumer tools and software to be useful inside organizations.

One obvious issue is that of scale. As I point out in my Web 2.0 Framework, one of the key aspects of Web 2.0 is that it “collectively transforms mass participation into valuable outcomes.” In the case of the open consumer web, that mass participation can amount to literally hundreds of millions of people. Organizations at the most have hundreds of thousands, and often far fewer people. This means there are a range of issues in effectively scaling Web 2.0 applications to be valuable inside organizations. However the other side of that is that far more detailed information is available on workers inside companies, including their current projects, training background, work objectives and more, all of which means that aggregating information can be far more usefully applied than in the open web.

Building on the theme of adapting Web 2.0 technologies to be valuable inside organizations, Network Computing has recently published a very good piece titled Can Web 2.0 evolve into an Enterprise Technology? It’s well worth a read. Some of the points it raises:

* Since Web 2.0 gives power to users, it can reduce IT staffing levels. Nutritional products firm Shaklee has reduced IT staff by 20%. It is a significant change issue to have IT staff support these shifts.

* The lower costs and simpler administration of Web 2.0 tools over traditional enterprise software mean they will often be used in preference existing technologies.

* A key issue is integrating with existing IT architecture. For example, enterprise wikis can be far more valuable if they can readily integrate with current applications.

* Most organizations see wikis as the most useful Web 2.0 application to begin implementing these technologies.

* Some specific applications for social networks that are particularly valuable include recruiting, sales, alumni networks, and education. Corporate social network offerings are proliferating.

* Since enterprise search cannot draw on a world of participants to filter information, tagging and social bookmarking can greatly enhance search inside organizations.

* Mashups let users develop their own applications, cutting out the “middleman” of the IT department.

* Inside organizations, the term Web 2.0 is often perceived as hype more than substance (compounded by every vendor using the term in their brochures), yet many early adopters are getting significant business value.

Thanks to Mike Zimmerman for pointing me to the article!