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Information Technology News Web 2.0 finding favour in the corporate world
Information Technology News Web 2.0 finding favour in the corporate world | Web 2.0 finding favour in the corporate world |
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| by Ian Grayson | |
| Thursday, 26 July 2007 | |
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With companies constantly on the lookout for anything that might give them a competitive edge, growing numbers are turning to these Web 2.0 applications to see what they have to offer. Chief executive of Deloitte Digital, Peter Williams, says it’s surprising what kinds of things people are finding useful. “I know of two colleagues who completed a performance review while playing World of Warcraft,” he says. “They live in different areas of the state and bumped into each other inside the game. They decided it was as good a place as any to have the discussion.” Williams says his company is currently examining the popular Second Life virtual world to see whether there are any opportunities lurking inside. These could be anything from arranging staff gatherings for people around the country to interacting with potential new clients. “People have to realise that they can’t stop this stuff. They have to embrace it and figure out the best way to use it in a positive way.” Aside from games and virtual worlds, another web 2.0 application gaining momentum in many organisations is wikis. Cheap and easy to establish, they’re becoming a powerful way to gather and store information that may only exist inside people’s heads. However Williams says there are still large numbers of organisations that shun such approaches, afraid that they will somehow harm their operations. “There is a large lack of absorptive capacity – I call it wiki-phobia,” he says. “Organisations are scared of them, but they are the fastest way to aggregate tacit knowledge within an organisation. If you have a traditional intranet, it is a controlled process, but Wikis are more open and faster to use.” Other collaborative and network services such as the popular FaceBook are also finding favour within companies. Rather than constructing complex intranet applications to allow staff to exchange information and contact details, this can be done using such an online, hosted service. Many believe the evolution and increased use of web 2.0 applications will have a profound effect on the role of the traditional corporate IT department. Chief technology officer at consulting firm Capgemini, Peter Evans-Greenwood, says IT departments will change from being procurers of hardware and software to something akin to a service broker. “In a world where you have things like Salesforce.com, Google Apps and others, you need to ask the business what exactly it needs, and then go out and find it,” he says. For those companies waiting for the perfect time to embark on a web 2.0 strategy, experts say there’s no such thing. Rather, it’s a matter of trying things out and seeing what works for them. “My advice is rather than saying how can I stop it, take an explorative approach and just see what you can do with it inside your organisation,” says Deloitte’s Williams. “You just might be surprised how powerful this stuff can be.”
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