Secure Enterprise 2.0 Blog

IT and business executives are looking for the real business value behind Web 2.0.  In fact, a recently released Forrester survey of 262 enterprise IT professionals reveals that 63 % expect to see Web 2.0 technologies have a moderate or substantial impact on the business.

So what do tools such as Facebook, iGoogle, secure RSS, desktop gadgets, social bookmarking and tagging and other Web 2.0 services bring to the corporate table?

Simply put, they provide companies with the ability to engage customers, channels and partners where they spend their time online. Customers can manage accounts and transactions on their own personal online turf, customized as they see fit. Business channels and distributors can keep track of upcoming marketing activities and business opportunities by easily and securely tapping into corporate databases. Likewise, partners can exchange business-critical info through secure social networks that are intuitive and rife with new ideas and connections.

The Financial Times just published an interesting piece about the business potential in this approach, penned by WorkLight’s very own David Lavenda. -

Think about it this way – enterprise applications contain information that runs the business, while Web 2.0 tools provide the “looking glass” to see the information that is timely, relevant, and critical for business. The key lies in connecting these two worlds to drive more business, securely.

Read more here.

Gartner is reporting on how enterprise 2.0 solutions and social applications can actually drive business.

“The opportunity for social software in enterprise or “Enterprise 2.0 technologies” lies in capturing informal customer comments about products, said David Cearley, research fellow at Gartner.”

Socialprise, as it has also been called, is a catalyst for both internal and external innovation. Internally, Web 2.0 is lowering the fences between employees, business units, teams and organization branches, allowing some to jump right over to collaborate or seek advice and expertise. And when it comes to reaching consumers, the same corporate fences open up doorways for fruitful dialogue between businesses and customers.

Out of these discussions arise innovative thinking and novel solutions.

One pathway for this change is of course the social network, be it MySpace, Facebook, Hi5, or any other popular services. The appeal for these consumer technologies is growing rapidly, with IDC revealing a 191 percent growth rate for social networks in the US in 2007.

Of course, when such powerful social tools make their way to the enterprise, into the “walled garden”, security and privacy concerns often arise. Some organizations prefer to “lock out and lock down“, but social networks are a force that must be reckoned with inside the organization. People simply find ways around these policies - as Stephen Collins says - “If you want to find out what tools your staff are finding most useful at the moment, just go and see what your IT department is blocking.”

Companies need to establish secure environments for Web 2.0 tools in the workplace, and the industry needs to pull together some good minds to address security challenges. One initiative is already under way - The Secure Enterprise 2.0 Forum.

Just keep in mind that at the end of the day it all adds up -

“Enterprise 2.0/Web 2.0 tools aren’t about the technology,” Collins says. “These tools provide an easy-to-use platform for staff, clients and other stakeholders to engage with each other, to share information and collaborate. Failing to allow staff to do their jobs properly with the best tools can cost a big company millions of dollars.”

Think about it.

Yonni

6:00AM – Bzzzzz. My cell phone alarm clock throws me off the bed, subtly reminding me that I need to get myself in gear. I tune in online to the 101FM website for local news, and learn that today is going to be a nice, bright, sunny day. Yay, that means I can snap on my iPod and peddle to the office on my 10-speed.

6:35AM – Just got out of the shower, and couldn’t resist - going through my Facebook profile. Apparently a friend from the London office just changed his status to “Engaged”. I send him a quick Congrat’s… and throw a sheep at him. He is online, not happy about the sheep, and reminds me that today our group needs to send him the Momo Project presentation. I log into my company’s enterprise social network, WorkBook, and send him the latest draft just to calm him down.

7:30AM – After a nice ride through downtown, I lockup my bike near the sandwich place. Got to get some coffee. As I wait for the morning’s caffeine intake, I twitter a quick “anyone for coffee?” using my cell to see if anyone following me at the office is also craving some Java. Surprisingly enough, two people from the Java team respond with a resounding yes. I should have seen that one coming.

9:45AM - Just got out of the weekly meeting. There’s some good stuff happening and more to come in the pipeline. I get on my laptop, and see on SharePoint that someone from the New Delhi office had formed a new group on the secure WorkBook social network focused on Marketing Initiatives. That’s interesting, I don’t know him personally, but apparently he is looking into similar things. I join up and we brainstorm some new ideas on the upcoming product release. I need to show my boss some of this stuff.

10:30AM – My boss is excited my the del.icio.us bookmarks I shared with her, following my discussion with the New Delhi contact (aka @asiamarketman on twitter. From now on I follow him). She’s going to bring it up in the next management meeting. Cool.

12:10PM – I go down to the sandwich place for a quick bite. Nothing fancy, but worth a Facebook status update – “..is eating. This time no MSG.”

2:07PM – I log into LinkedIn and see that one of our competitors has posted a Q&A about SEO. I need to read up on it, so I open up my RSS reader and skim the techy blogs. ReadWriteWeb has some nice info that I share with some people at R&D, and quickly set up a specialized RSS feed on the topic. Immediately three people from R&D ask to get access to the feed, so I give them permission.

4:26PM – Just got off the phone with some potential partners. There is good chemistry there and I like their attitude. There is something to be said about setting up strategic partnerships at this stage of our company’s growth, and I plan to post a quick entry about it on my blog later tonight.

6:15PM – Kept busy writing up the new proposals on the wiki and finally posted them to our network. Sweet, I see that my buddy at the L.A. office just downloaded it through the secure Facebook overlay.

7:23PM – Before packing up, I remember I need to get approval for my business trip expenses, so I post a request on my iGoogle gadget. I see that my manager has already approved my upcoming vacation request. That was fast. I go downstairs, get on my bike and head home. Another good day at the office.

10:25PM – Changed Facebook status to “…Zzzzzzz :-)”

Merry Christmas, Facebookers!

Why, you may ask, am I just now waking up to share the holiday spirit?

Well, I suppose it has something to do with the recent news of Facebook’s holiday dip in user growth rates  – the most popular social network in the UK has experienced a drop in the numbers of unique visitors during December-January, according to a Nielsen report.

Sure, simple math reveals it is still being used by about 13% of the British population and has been attracting new Facebookers at a rate of 712%, but I suppose when you are valued at $15 billion, every sniffle can be the sign of a flu.

So remember back in December, when you were opening Christmas presents by the fireplace or lighting Hannukah candles with your family, did you not have the sudden urge to log in to your Facebook account? To everyone’s surprise, apparently some of you resisted.

In fact, the latest statistics are not that dramatic. Even if you measure the activity of Facebookers during the weekend, I am sure you will find that there is a slight drop in the updates, shared links and, yes, also Vampire bites. It’s simple, on the weekend the real world catches up with online interactions and the quick-to-click invites.

So I suppose the real conclusion here is that when Facebook stats are lower during the holiday season, it may actually be an indication that people are accessing the network more and more when they are online, presumably at work.

And that’s a good thing, ‘cause when we feel @home@work we can be using Facebook and other consumer tools to help us do our job better.

Think about it.

Yonni