How CIOs Can Introduce Web 2.0 Technologies into the Enterprise
Opening up corporate systems to new user-driven tools like blogs, message boards, and wikis requires both technology and culture changes, a leading proponent argues.
1. Sell the benefits of Enterprise 2.0 to management. Opposition to Enterprise 2.0 will most likely come from the most senior and influential people in the organization, and Enterprise 2.0 strategy must address this group. Start small with a project that solves a current business problem; for example, look for improvements to current processes or ways to boost productivity through information sharing. Also, reduce the aura of risk surrounding Enterprise 2.0 proposing to start within the confines of the business, rather than with external and less controllable offerings. For example, Dell implemented internal blogs, which allowed the company to address Web 2.0 fears and issues, before creating IdeaStorm, which is offered to external customers.
2. Understand how IT can benefit from Enterprise 2.0. Much has been made about the so-called shadow IT or rogue IT, in which users pose security risks by bringing in unauthorized technology into the workplace. But IT can be a key enabler of Enterprise 2.0, for example, by creating consistent security and creating effective search tools.
3. Do your homework on tools and platforms. WikiMatrix.org and Weblogmatrix.org allow users to compare products feature by feature. Hinchcliffe recommends MediaWiki, which is used by Wikipedia and is open-source, and Confluence, which is a commercial product that is widely used in enterprises. As for blogs, he recommends WorkPress, one of the most popular and richest-looking blog platforms.
Since many Enterprise 2.0 products originated in the consumer space and do not address corporate needs such as single sign-on, Enterprise 2.0 suites are entering the market (currently there are just a few, but Hinchcliffe says more are coming soon). These products are developed around requirements such as security and manageability. SuiteTwo is one such product being offered today.
Enterprise 2.0 takes up the same principles of collaboration, openness and bottom-up empowerment as Web 2.0 applications—though in corporate environments these applications must address issues such as compatibility with legacy systems, enterprise security and system access. Enterprise 2.0 is a term coined by Harvard Business School Professor Andrew McAfee who defined it as emergent, freeform, social applications for use within an enterprise, which are primarily used to foster collaboration.
4. Make sure you’ve covered your bases. Harvard Business School Professor Andre McAfee, who coined the term Enterprise 2.0, created a checklist—described with the acronym SLATES—that describes the necessary capabilities for getting the most out of Web 2.0 applications in the enterprise. SLATES stands for: Search (information must be searchable), Linking (links must connect and cross-reference blog posts, wikis and such into an interactive and interdependent community), Authoring (simple tools must be provided to allow everyone to contribute and edit content), Tagging (users must be able to assign their own terms and descriptions, which allows contents to be structured and organized in a way that is meaningful for users), Extensions (applications should include a suggestion and recommendation system such as that found on Amazon or StumbleUpon (the “If you like X, you’ll like Y feature), and Signals (technology, such as RSS, that tells users when new content of interest appears).
