By Rob Gray, Product and Marketing Manager - Google Enterprise
April 08, 2010 - 4:55 PM
It seems like a fair amount of time has passed since the buzzmasters started using the term "Web 2.0" and it wasn't long before the enterprisey types followed with "enterprise 2.0" - but what does all this mean in practical terms for business?
Version numbers are a legacy from the old world of software, where a team of programmers would develop a software package, ship it as version 1.0, and then iterate from there onwards with new versions; minor releases being numbers on the right of the decimal point and major versions to the left. For example version 1.1 would look much the same as 1.0 but have some improvements, but 2.0 would be a new and much improved version, so probably look different to version 1.0.
The mere notion that you can give a version number to something as self-morphing and rapidly-evolving as the World Wide Web is ridiculous, yet we feel some level of comfort in thinking that we have an element of control over the Web, and since we observe a new type of behaviour emerging, we decide that it is radical enough to give the Web a new version number such as Web 2.0 (even if we forgot to name the first one Web 1.0)
So, what does this new version of the Web look like? Quite similar to how it looked before, actually, but the WAY that it is used is different. The single most important change for me is that this new Web is the collaborative Web, where it's easy for anybody to contribute. What do I mean by that? Well, I mean that the Web used to be one way (most people consuming information), but is now two-way (many people producing information) and three way (people re-sharing information with each other)... let me illustrate by example:
1995: you want to buy a book, so you go to a book store and buy it
1999: you want to buy a book, but you can now go to amazon.com and buy it online. It feels quite risky giving your credit card details over the Web to this weird online book company with a rather ironic name since it sells things made from rain forests.
2004: you want to buy a book, so you go to amazon.com the most trusted online bookseller. You make your decision based on reviews from other customers, which you trust more than the general Amazon blurb.
2010: you're on the train to work, reading your Twitter updates, and a friend (who you've never actually met) says something about an awesome book they just finished. You go to amazon.com on your iPhone, search for it, and buy it with the click of a button. No need to give your credit card details since you trust these Amazon people to keep them for you. Five minutes after reading the tweet from your "friend," you've bought the book and immediately shared this fascinating fact with your online Twitter and Facebook networks. A week later once you're done with the book, you write a blog post about it, review it on Amazon, and if you don't have a job are an independent social media consultant, you probably also film a quick YouTube video telling the world about your amazing literary experience.
Most things that you can do in the "Web 2.0" world were possible in the "Web 1.0" world, it was just more difficult to do. All that has happened is that it is now easier for everyone to create and share content, without any technical knowledge. The barrier to entry for creating stuff has been eliminated. People are more open, they collaborate more, there is more transparency. This means that more stuff is now created, stuff that can appeal to the most bizarre and niche of tastes. There is more stuff than you could ever want, you can choose what to consume, but you do not have to consume everything.
So where does "Enterprise 2.0" come into this? Well, the name itself gives us a clue that business software now lags behind consumer software. People generally have access to better technology at home than at work. Your home PC is probably higher spec than your work PC, your Internet connection at home might even be faster than at work, you are allowed to use Facebook at home, your free Gmail/Hotmail /Yahoo email account has about 100 times the storage capacity of your work email.
For me, Enterprise 2.0 is following the principles of openness, transparency, and collaborative working that has been driven by the consumer Web. What does this mean in practice?
The new company intranet is no longer a one-way communication vehicle. Anyone can create a site in order to share information with their teams. People have profile pages where you can find out more information about them, and even see their picture. Some companies have internal social networks, which encourage the open sharing of information (versus the closed world of email) which means that more people know what's going on. Anyone in the company can share their ideas no matter how senior or junior. People can be recognized for their ideas and contributions.
Honestly a lot of these things I've mentioned seem idealistic, and it's still early days for this new world of business working... the technology is there and capable, but the cultural resistance to change is still fairly high, the practicalities of working in a new way are seen as a distraction, and some power-hungry middle management types have a vested interest in not being open and transparent.
So what can we do about this? Well we need to start changing our mind sets, we need to be open to new and better ways of working, we need to learn from the best practices of others. We need to be willing to be more open and transparent, yet at the same time retain some level of control. It's a fine balancing act that requires a little thought and planning but not too much. Be open to learning from the consumer Web, and think about how you can use these new behaviours in your business. When you think you have a good idea, just do it and learn from the experience... often doing something and failing is much more useful than doing nothing at all.
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