The future is here

Reinventing the Enterprise

Any movement or innovation in software development are driven by the tools and platforms that realise them. A persistent topic is how and when Enterprise 2.0 will be supported - can the tools and platforms currently in use be enhanced, or must new ones be developed, in order to effectively realise 2.0? The recent Reinventing Enterprise summit in Boston had Andrew McAfee, Michael Idinopulos and Rob Koplowitz ran a panel to discuss this question.

Enterprise 2.0 adoption

The three main conclusions brought out of the panel were that 1) The wrong tools are currently being used - users are accustomed to the tools they have been using for years, and neglecting the newer, better-suited tools that are available. It seems that providers need to introduce Enterprise 2.0 applications in a way with which most users are familiar. With a familiar platform they can use the skills they already know and enhance them with the new tools that Enterprise 2.0 can present to them. 2) Misuse of Enterprise 2.0 applications is a worry. The panel proposed that misuse is easier to identify and rectify if posted and distributed through platforms such as blogs. While application abuse is nothing new, all of the things that go on in the Web 2.0 applications can be monitored. Unlike conversations around the office, everything posted on the wiki is traceable, so misuse can be recognised and a specific party identified. 3) All information could turn into wikis - these could in turn be searched by organisation and all parties could then contribute to the discussion Any abuse of this system is far outstripped by the benefits of large amounts of knowledge and information pooled into one place.

The future is here

So can current applications be used to entertain the Web 2.0 platform? Dion Hinchcliffe feels Google Documents to be one of the best Web 2.0 applications based on everything that it offers. -Why not take advantage of this resource and prepare for future opportunities? I would add the future is here, with the work sone with AIR and Flex. Some of the developments with Buzzword well-illustrate this principle - as do AIR applications such the eBay Desktop, Kuler, MyMovieMatch, StudioCloud and others. Get ahead of the curve and start using these available applications.