Secure Enterprise 2.0 Blog

What does your bank have in common with Facebook? Nothing spectacular just yet, but if the latest analyst report from Celent is right on the money, then you will soon be able to pay that credit card bill or get a loan while chatting things up with your Facebook friends or checking out sports news on iGoogle.

That’s right, Web 2.0 is coming to your local bank, which makes a lot of sense for both banks and customers. Ever since the explosion of online retail banking, the market has been saturated with similar limited-capabilities websites. So much so, that there is really not much differentiation between the different websites out there.

Meanwhile, customers want full control of their personal finances - to be able to access account information when, how and wherever they want to.

And so, as banks try to find meaningful ways to engage customers, tools such as an iGoogle or MyYahoo personal banking gadget will soon be available at your fingertips.

In fact, financial research firm Celent has recently issued a report on the state of Banking with Web 2.0, reaching some very interesting conclusions -

• 12-18 months before Web 2.0 Banking is reality - banks are already trying to figure out the right technology to offer these tools to consumers, though there is still much work to be done especially as the banking industry continues to experience a downturn.
• Security is critical - an absolute prerogative for any financial institution implementing a new technology, which often brings with it emerging security issues. One industry forum that’s tackling this problem is the Secure Enterprise 2.0 Forum.
• Advanced banking web 2.0 tools to hit the market in late 2008 - which means that some vendors have already had a head start (shameless self-promotion).

(Get the full report here.)

So if Web 2.0 has anything to do with it, you’ll likely be reaching for your mouse, instead of your wallet, sooner than you know it.

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.

Just came back from the wonderful city of Varese, Italy, where the International Forum on Enterprise 2.0 tackled some of the major issues in the space.

It was great to see an interesting collection of people from across the world at the show - Thomas Vander Wal, Stewart Mader, Laurence Lock Lee, Luis Suarez, Norman Lewis, Ran Shribman and David Terrar. You can catch some of the tweets and off-beat discussion on Summize.

Even more interesting was the high turnout of top business professionals looking to learn how to utilize Web 2.0 tools for business benefit. The Italian business ecosystem is normally characterized by a traditional business culture. Yet, interestingly enough, at the event, the first of its kind in Italy, there were representatives of top companies across a range of industries (auto, pharma, etc). These are companies that typically have a very closed-conservative corporate culture, not your typical early-adopter types.

This may very well be a sign of good things to come.

If you are contemplating incorporating Web 2.0 into your workflow or corporate environment, you should have been yesterday at the Enterprise 2.0 Conference in Boston . In one of the more exciting sessions of the day, Andrew McAfee of Harvard Business School, tackled Web 2.0 issues in the enterprise together with people who have “been there, done it and doing it tomorrow”.

Besides driving home the general message behind the new technology, and how it is affecting business, each one of the panel members provided a simple tip to keep in mind, following their own successful implentation of Web 2.0 tools and solutions in the organization:

• “Follow the JFDI methodology - Just Fricking Do It. If you try Web 2.0 you’ll realize it’s not that scary after all” - Simon Revell, Manager of Enterprise 2.0 Technology Development, Pfizer Ltd.
• “Go big and audacious in Web 2.0 deployments beyond small targeted deployments of specific tools” - Pete Fields, Senior Vice President, eCommerce Division, Wachovia
• “Get the right people to develop the Web 2.0 tools you are planning on using” - Ned Lerner, Director of Tools and Technology, Sony Computer Entertainment
• “The hardest thing to do is give up control, but you should fight for your life against closed spaces” - Don Burke, Intellipedia Doyen, CIA
• “Social me first - pick up Web 2.0 tools to try on your own and then gradually people in the organization will start to see the light” - Sean Dennehy, Intellipedia Evangelist, CIA

Read more about the dialogue that ensued between these Web 2.0 mavericks in this InformationWeek article.

I just read a(nother) great post on ReadWriteWeb, where Sarah Perez says business adoption of web 2.0 is happening right now. Her conclusion echoes Forrester’s message - any business which has failed to get in line, will lose out.

Interestingly enough she points to a recent 60 Minutes story that focuses on how Millennials are changing the corporate culture –

It’s fascinating to watch, and bit quirky to see how “old media” tries to cover a “new-media” phenomenon. In my opinion, the report slightly exaggerates when describing parents’ involvement in their kids’ professional world. But the underlining message is spot-on – the Millennials are coming!

It’s great to finally see that businesses are coming to the same conclusion – in order to retain and attract the incoming tech savvy workforce, and encourage collaboration and increased productivity, Web 2.0 should be shown through the coveted corporate front doors.

In fact, Gartner has just announced the top ten disruptive technologies to affect business over the next five years, and guess what? Social software and social networking, which are just a couple of elements in Enterprise 2.0 toolbox, are on the list.

Like it or not, it’s primetime for Enterprise 2.0

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