TamTamy Blog

This presentation shows very simply and clearly the fundamental aspects that characterize the new companies and how they are different from the previous model. In few words, what enterprise 2.0 is.

As we have already seen, the elimination of geographical barriers, seen as a complete freedom to collaborate together on a project also from different continents, is one of the aspects that have revolutionized the way people work in 2.0 companies.
Similarly, also wikis and the correct use of tags, of RSS feeds and of bookmarks are reproposed in these slides, and their importance is underlined once more adding an elements which we have not talked about yet, but which we are soon going to discuss: the use of podcasts.

Finally, among the other aspects highlighted, a very significant one is the value added that every single employee can use to his or her advantage working in a company based on enterprise 2.0. A good knowledge in information technology and the “social” opening towards the outside world through 2.0 channels such as social media and communities become part of the know-how of everybody, who will at the same time enrich himself and the company he works for.

Definitely radical, but surely with an impact and to be taken into account, is the move recently made by Skittles.com, the site of the coloured, fruit-flavoured candies.

Instead of using the social media on the market in a marginal way, or mildly integrating them into its pages, it has literally replaced its homepage with the interface of some social networks.

In the past days we discovered with surprise that, when you accessed the site, you found the stream of the messages on Twitter.

Now the skin has changed again, getting more similar to Facebook’s style and – just as it is on the most successful social network now – it is possible for all subscribers to become a fan, add Skittles to your favourites or suggest it to your contacts, sharing the information.

But this is not over. Through a control tool which appears in the front, it is possible to pass to the Twitter mode clicking on “chatter“; selecting “media” you can choose if you want to watch the photos on Flickr or the videos on YouTube; the “product” section refers to the pages on Wikipedia regarding the five types of candies on the market; finally, clicking on “friends“, you go back to the Facebook-like visualization.

Not bad, really, as a step forward in the path of the evolution of enterprise 2.0, which looks more and more to the final user and its potential customers.

It is a further confirmation that the integration between “social web” and “enterprise” is getting subtler day after day. What was reserved before only to consumers, now is contaminated by the presence of the companies, which merge and mix with the rest of the community, becoming part of its world and, in their turn, involving people, consumers and partners in a universe that used to be a long way off.

In few words: if you fall behind, you are lost.

Andrew McAfee, associate professor at Harvard Business School and expert in the field, interviewed by Tiburton TV at the conference “Talk the Future” of Krems in Austria, once more explains what enterprise 2.0 is and how it can help companies make their business easier, acquiring information and redistributing it in a quicker way.
McAfee looks to the future and describes what is important to go on developing a web 2.0 technology that can penetrate more and more into companies, considering that it is already very powerful in its present state. As there are no longer any geographical or temporal limitations, that had in part already decreased with the first-generation web and that now web 2.0 has cut even more, becoming part of a global world is extremely easy for any company which is present on the net. Information moves quickly from one side of the continent to the other, from company to consumer and vice versa, generating a continuous exchange between companies and the surrounding world.

These external incentives, the information cycle available online and everything which surrounds us are the elements that lead companies towards the creation of a winning competitive strategy, as the video above explains more in detail, together with other interesting themes.

Before concluding, I would like to underline once more how tools that are often wrongly considered only for an audience of consumers are on the contrary useful also in enterprises. Answering the final question on which social network he uses more frequently, McAfee says without any hesitation: “Twitter, thanks to which, when I have a question about almost anything, I just put up a ‘tweet’ about it and within half an hour I get back five or six answers.”

We have verified that blocking the access to social networks and 2.0 consumer services is not an appropriate solution, because it creates discontent among employees, who will look for alternative solutions and use them without permission. So, you can consider introducing enterprise 2.0 solutions to renew and improve your company, but also to focus your workforce’s attention using their same tools.

We have seen how companies were in a way forced to modify their technological structure introducing social media of different kinds, as the generational change of the workers involved required it, more or less explicitly.

As a company decides to adopt the very tools that its employees have been using only for their personal interest, it makes a profitable use of a new form of collaboration in which people will take part more willingly and with less effort.

The language becomes more familiar and workers, besides being more encouraged and reactive in concentrating with tools they are familiar with, will hardly look for further recreation with other social networks.

Of course, the form of entertainment that communities such as Facebook or MySpace offer is very different from the one offered by companies, aimed at social collaboration in the work environment and not allowing any waste of time. As a consequence, it is unthinkable that there can be a total replacement. But no doubt, a decrease in the use of the mentioned consumer communities can increase the productivity of the individual workers without creating too much stress.

We have already seen how RSS feeds can be very effective if you want to find news about your company, understand who is talking about it and, above all, keep informed on the evolution of the market.

This presentation highlights how the combined use of RSS feeds and social media can be a perfect mix. Monitoring the conversations on a specific subject and being “social” are easily performed activities that, with the least effort, can help companies widen their horizons and make themselves known among customers and partners.

Paul Bradshaw, journalist and blogger for Online Journalism Blog, lays stress on the new types of information and journalist, which are no more connected only to press and websites, but are rather extended over different media and different characteristics of these media, which should not be overlooked if we want to have a more complete view of what is happening around us, in real time.