Web 2.0 for Enterprise

McKinsey released a report on web 2.0, and one of my favorite bloggers at Forrester summarized it pretty well. I have the survey if anyone wants it. Here are Peter Kim’s thoughts. There is more on his site. 

1) Social technologies are bigger than just marketing and PR campaigns.  They're helping to reinvent the organization.  Companies satisfied with their experience with Web 2.0 technologies are applying them within change management practices and organizational structures.  Companies are using new tools to reconnect with customers for co-creation and collaboration.  "Reconnecting," you ask?  Yes, the way businesses started and survived long before advertising as we hate it existed.

2) It's what's on the inside that counts.  94% of respondents report internal use of web 2.0 technologies vs. 87% for customer interfaces and 75% for channel relationships.  In fact, internal use increased from 2007 while customer and channel uses declined.  Using web 2.0 applications internally are like picking low-hanging fruit.  Technology operates on standards, communities are pre-formed, and processes have low variation.

3) Success starts at the top.  Web 2.0 may be all about power to the people, but in an enterprise setting it needs a senior stamp of approval.  On average, only 1 in 4 employees use web 2.0 tools; in companies with higher usage, one key is "getting senior managers to act as role models for adoption." Conversely, among companies with low levels of satisfaction with web 2.0, a major barrier to success is seen as "my company's leadership team doesn't encourage the use of web 2.0 technologies."

4) IT needs to get aligned with the business.  How do businesses dissatisfied with web 2.0 experiences start using these things in the first place?  Most often, IT selects the technology and brings it to the business.  That's like having a builder decide how big your house is going to be, what appliances and fixtures you'll get, while you can decide what color to paint the walls.  Businesses that are satisfied with web 2.0 determine a business need, then find a solution to help.

Anu Gandhi

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