Jun08
10
What Is Enterprise 2.0? (Or Enterprise 2.0 For Beginners)
Some time back I wrote a post on this blog titled What Is Web 2.0? (Or Web 2.0 For Beginners) which was my humble stab at defining some of the (then most significant) drivers of the Web 2.0 movement / phenomenon / ethos. This post will attempt to do the same for the much-hyped and bandied about phrase, Enterprise 2.0.
This month’s Cerebra Newsletter deals primarily with the subject of Enterprise 2.0 because it forms a big part of the service we offer many of our corporate clients. Wikipedia defines Enterprise 2.0 as “social software used in ‘enterprise’ (business) contexts. It includes social and networked modifications to company intranets and other classic software platforms used by large companies to organize their communication. In contrast to traditional enterprise software, which imposes structure prior to use, this generation of software tends to encourage use prior to providing structure”. Social software refers to a range of Web-based software programs.
So let’s do that in English then. As you should have realised by now, the Web has changed in the last few years. It is more interactive and feature-rich than ever before. Broadband connectivity, improved technologies and great ideas have produced sites like YouTube and Facebook. These sites are driven by users - users that contribute content and make connections to give the platform some substance. So, these applications (Web 2.0 applications) are made valuable by their users.
Now, let’s take that principle behind the corporate firewall. Companies are made up of people. Whether it’s three staff members or 300,000, people inevitably form networks. These networks contain value, and how well that value is ‘mined’ and retained is often up to the internal platforms companies create for their staff to communicate and collaborate on. Traditional ERP (enterprise resource planning) software like that provided by SAP is very good at running every aspect of business from accounting to HR to logistics, but generally lacks the ability to connect human beings effectively and extract meaningful data, or generate meaningful results, from those connections. Enteprise 2.0 aims to fill that gap by augmenting existing software, rather than replacing it.
Even corporate intranets, bar a few exceptions, fail to do more than evolve into glorified telephone directories. They lack the interactivity and instant gratification that sites like Facebook offer users. Now, I’m not saying every corporate intranet must emulate Facebook, I’m simply implying that there may be something behind the overwhelming adoption and use of Facebook (and Twitter, YouTube, etc.) that goes beyond cool software, usability and design and to the fundamental needs staff will have to connect efficiently and communicate immediately with their peers.
Many companies have already begun to employ the use of social tools like blogs, wikis and social bookmarking and already the likes of Microsoft and IBM are integrating social functionality into Sharepoint and Connections. This obviously makes it easier for companies to ‘become more social’ while trusting a big established vendor at the same time.
At this early stage the rules for Enterprise 2.0 are still being written but we simply have to be aware of the trends driving Web 2.0 and what lessons they hold for business. Tracking valuable resources helps us do so. I can highly recommend the work of Dion Hinchcliffe and the valuable IP contained in publications like Release 2.0.
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[...] Mike Stopforth » What Is Enterprise 2.0? (Or Enterprise 2.0 For Beginners) This post will attempt to do the same for the much-hyped and bandied about phrase, Enterprise 2.0. (tags: enterprise20 web20 toread) [...]
[...] Mike Stopforth » What Is Enterprise 2.0? (Or Enterprise 2.0 For Beginners) This post will attempt to do the same for the much-hyped and bandied about phrase, Enterprise 2.0. (tags: enterprise20 web20 toread) [...]
Whilst working for a ridiculously large research company I took it upon myself to extend their intranet. They’d used something similar to what you described, a telephone book. The frustration it caused me that I couldn’t pool resources when I wanted to brainstorm a particular idea propelled me to implement a full communicative portal; much like the http://www.moralfibre.co.za site now it had a blog, forum, private messaging system etc.
As a pilot it worked really well, it inspired everyone to interact and to shift their focus from facebook to the internal social network. Nevertheless when we launched it nationally, it was incredible how poor the up take was. The average age of the employee was thirty plus, predominantly married and most senior players were with child. The idea that I pitched to them didn’t even closely resemble their current usage of the internet, nor did they have time to really investigate how relevant the application might be to their core business entity.
We had a few witty contributors, some great innovations as a result but it never really caught on as a social network. My big question then can an internal online social network be successfully integrated into a business when hierarchies are cast in stone, competition results in high-turn-overs and innovations are closely guarded as they’re your ticket to success?
Tell me your secrets, yoda.
Super comment Vincent and you couldn’t be more right - social networking platforms don’t just work by virtue or their potential value or innate sexiness (despite what we enthusiasts hope or sell).
In my limited experience one has to ‘launch’ the site with a small community that can spread the word and grow the network virally and organically throughout the business, as would happen in the Web space. Secondly it helps to reward social participation. On all our platforms CONSTRUCTIVE participation is rewarded through a simple points system that the user can see and share in. It’s not a guaranteed way to ensure adoption but it does help.
Ah good points; the incentivisation or reward scheme was something I’d actually hoped to have implemented.
We had a substantial innovation - budget, so I was going to ensure that innovate “thought-leaders” were going to be rewarded for their ideas..Sadly the company didn’t have the foresight to see the merit in pushing money into the “blog” which they thought was far too social to be of value in the corporate environment..
That archaic view of the business model has ensured that company has one of the highest turn - overs in staff in the research industry. ..
serves the buggers right !!
Thank you for being frank about those “enthusiasts” some of whom I think belong on the starship enterprise because only there would they be able to implement their hair brained schemes for marketing & I’m assuming world domination.