From Web 2.0 to Enterprise 2.0
BusinessWeek has written a guide for CEOs who don’t know what Web 2.0 is, telling them it’s time for Enterprise 2.0. Like yourself, I like good buzzwords, but do we really need another one? After all, what is Web 2.0? Nothing more than a bunch of interactive applications not residing on your servers. I know, it’s a little bit more complex than this, so read Robert Hof’s excellent — but long — article to discover his thoughts. Or read below for selected excerpts and comments.
Hof starts with what are Web 2.0 sites.
Web 2.0 sites are not online places to visit so much as services to get something done — usually with other people. From Yahoo!’s photo-sharing site Flickr and the group-edited online reference source Wikipedia to the teen hangout MySpace, and even search giant Google, they all virtually demand active participation and social interaction. If these Web 2.0 folks weren’t so geeky, they might call it the Live Web.
And why is it a live Web? Because the concept of social networks is more and more present and is starting to enter corporations.
Companies are starting to take a page from MySpace, Facebook, and other social-networking services. The reason: As appealing as that social aspect is for teens and anyone else who wants to stay in closer touch with friends, it’s even more useful in business. After all, businesses in one sense are social networks formed to make or sell something.
So it’s no surprise that corporate-oriented social networks are gaining a toehold. LinkedIn, an online service for people to post career profiles and find prospective employees, is the recruiting tool of choice for a number of companies.
Hof also points out that young people entering big — and small — companies are using communication tools that executives may not know — or use.
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Where to start? Watch what kids are doing. If they use e-mail at all, it’s a distant fourth to instant messaging, personal blogs, and the social networking sites, because they’re much easier to use for what matters to them: staying in touch with friends. Companies need to provide more compelling ways for this highly connected bunch as they move into the workforce, bringing their valuable contacts in tow. “Young people are not going to go to companies where they can’t use these new tools,” says [Ray Lane, former Oracle president.] “They’ll say, ‘Why would I want to work here?’”
And here is a last quote about blogs.
Then there’s blogging. It’s worthwhile to spend considerable time reading some popular blogs, which you can find at Technorati.com, to get a feel for how online conversation works. Only then should execs try their hand at blogging — and perhaps first inside their companies before going public. Thick skin is a requirement, since the “blogosphere” can be brutal on anything that sounds like spin.
I’ll develop this “thick skin” concept in the weeks to come. But in the mean time — and even if you’re not a CEO — you also should read Hof’s CEO Guide to Technology, a list of things to do and to avoid when dealing with so-called Web 2.0 technology.
Source: Robert Hof, BusinessWeek Online, June 5, 2006
