Stating the obvious - "Enterprise 2.0"

The article "The Connected Generation" takes something most of us have known for years and brings it to the attention of the broader audience - business applications need to support instant and text messaging, the tool of choice for teen communications.

However, I see a more subtle message - Web 2.0 and Mashups which include the IM/SMS *paradigm* are the choice for new business applications. We have already seen this with BPM environments such as that from Vitria, Collaboration environments such as Adobe Connect, C2C systems as the eBay Desktop, and virtual/mobile CRMs as SalesForce. The ability to apply IM/SMS workflows to business applications - not speaking specifically to IM/SMS protocols - through feeds (e.g. Twitter, Pownce) - has been proved an essential collaboration capability.

In BPM, the ability to instantly communicate across roles in the development of business processes (Business analyst <-> Technical analyst <-> IT) while working on the same model (filtered through different perspectives) is an order of magnitude more efficient than what many businesses practice (whiteboard <-> visio diagramme <-> excel spreadsheet <-> word document, all in some non-electronic form, and with plenty of room for interpretation at each boundary).

The collaborative BPM environment is essentially a mashup of a 'chat' feed with other RIA components such as an unified modelling environment, policy and resource management, lifecycle management and MDA/EDA information architecture. Providing an unified model structure from which each role can analyse their particular focus in the process yet work with the same underlying artefacts and easily communicate amongst one another is a very powerful concept.

Similarly, we have had some time to digest power collaboration environments such as Adobe Connect, which provide the same IM/SMS workflows to Collaboration and eLearning. The ability to use 'chat' capabilities combined with bots which enable polling and decision taking, along with multiple parties to interact with the same content take the ability to collaborate to the next level. For aglilies, imagine being able to buddy review code as if you were right next to your buddy, without having to be there, since you both can control the shared environment.

I do suspect that it will take more of the "teen" presence in technology to drive this. The current generation of software professionals coming in from the universities will have enough experience with Web 2.0 communications to see their value. Together with technical leadership which is quite on top of Web 2.0, they can prompt the middle tier - the previous generation of engineers who are still fond of "sneakernet" - to take a second look at things. Change can be good. If outsourcing has proved anything, it is that with proper operating mechanisms, remote workforces can function efficiently. If you can rely on engineers working remotely at the other end of the earth, there's no reason you can't rely on engineers working remotely in the same time zone. And with "teen"s bred on network gaming, IM and SMS on a global, we can expect more of Web 2.0 driving a more adaptable and flexible workforce.