Enterprise 2.0 Tools Will See Price Drop

Forrester analyst G. Oliver Young, in a new study, has indicated that the cost for business web 2.0 tools will decrease over the next five years. Price drops will be seen across the board for "blogs, wikis, social networking tools, and enterprise RSS." The sole exception is mashups, which Young predicts the cost will double. As quoted from the study, and reported in this article, the reason for the trend is that:

"Traditional software vendors have moved aggressively in the direction of web 2.0 software; however, few are offering standalone products. Instead, most, like Microsoft and SAP, are rolling web 2.0 features into existing software packages; in many cases, they are providing the technology at no extra cost...many will make use of them and offset another purchase in the process."

Building the Web 2.0 Enterprise

The McKinsey Quarterly recently surveyed executives on the business use of web 2.0 technology within the enterprise in their second annual survey Building the Web 2.0 Enterprise. An interesting notion that this survey brings up is the fact that use of web 2.0 technology is changing. The survey details that users are stepping away from web services and mashups from the previous year, and they are instead focusing on social networks, podcasts, blogs, RSS, and wikis altogether. Another important finding the survey brings is that the majority of employees are satisfied with the way companies are adopting web 2.0 technologies, whether it be to develop new products and services, internal recruiting, enhancing company culture, training, or managing knowledge. Browse through this revealing article, and see how your compare how your company stands with the results given in this latest enterprise survey.

Enterprise 2.0 Still Growing

Enterprise 2.0 technologies are certainly still growing within companies, however, not without concerns of the managers or IT personnel. According to this article at EWeek, security and liability are still the most common concerns when implementing web 2.0.

Of those who have increased the use of Web 2.0 tools in their companies, 71% of those surveyed cited that they’ve started using Web 2.0 tools because of the increased and improved collaboration and communication between their staff. In addition, 46% of the users cited increased collaboration and communication with their consumers.

What are the most used tools according to this study? It’s still the common ones we’ve been addressing here at E3, which are: blogs (49% usage), wikis (48% usage), and in third place are the RSS feeds (at 43% usage). Falling farther behind was social networking, as there is a 27% usage rage.

Security concerns rank as one of the biggest problems with implementing Web 2.0 tools, as 41% of managers are worried about the security risk that the tools can bring in. The other major concern among managers was the tools would result in the leaking of sensitive information, 35% of those surveyed were concerned about that.

Innovation is another concern for those participating in the implementation process. The article takes time to point out that many of these applications can be put together quickly, and often times without the knowledge of IT. This can create issues as the tools are not fully integrated within the IT environment and increase IT managements concerns for security.

Enterprise 2.0 a growing business

In an study released at Forrester this week, they say the Web 2.0 business is growing so rapidly, it’ll be worth $4.6 billion by 2013. Details of the report can be found here at Read Write Web.

What’s included in this growing industry? Some of the key parts are social networks, mashups and RSS feeds. They also point out the blogs are not a part of enterprise 2.0. Neither is Facebook, Netvibes or Twitter. Why? These are ad supported. So, this growing is going to come from the money companies spend on web 2.0 tools such as Net Vibes, Microsoft and IBM. Also included in this Enterprise 2.0 category is tools that allow companies to collaborate on certain projects.

Are you in need of some new RSS feeds?

In a recent post at ReadWrite Web, they review the new site Toluu. This new sites is a feed aggregator, but also provides some community as well as some recommendations of posts you might like. ReadWrite Web recently listed the top ten reasons you’re going to love it, I’ll share a few with you.

2. It’s Easy. All you have to do once you’ve uploaded your RSS feeds is read. Then you can begin reading.

3. Collaborative filtering helps Toluu learn. As you begin to read your RSS feeds through Toluu and mark your favorites, the engine will begin to pull in other feeds that fit your preferences.

7. It’s not trying to replace your RSS reader. It’s trying to find new feeds that it believes you would be interested in.

8. The Feeds – There are tons of blogs out there with information you’re looking for. Why not make it easier on yourself and have another search engine do it for you?

Have you had experience with Toluu? What has your impression been? RSS feeds have quickly risen to a place of importance in the Enterprise 2.0 world. I think constantly having new recommended blogs that give new perspectives can be very valuable.

We Need RSS

I could not survive a day in the enterprise without access to my RSS feeds, yet why do so many organizations still not know what it is, or restrict access to it? The latest post in Adventures in Knowledge discusses how companies still do not see the business value in RSS.

Truth of the matter is that RSS feeds simplify our means of communication and learning. Not only can I subscribe to my boss’s feed to know exactly what’s on his mind on a project, but I can subscribe to thousands of blogs that will keep me in the know and further enrich my understanding on the subject matter. Web 2.0 tools like RSS can help make the enterprise a smaller place, helping to connect people all over the world. Let us take a step towards that path and start reaping the benefits today…

Let’s Get Corporate Blogging Up and Running!

Enterprise blogging is an effective way to collaborate between teams and share vital information. There are though, some pre-requisites organizations must take before firing up a blogging platform. I came across an interesting post on The Content Economy which highlights essential aspects that a blogging platform must adhere to. Here are a few:


1. The blogs and blog tools like RSS feeds must be easy to access from any computer as well as any mobile device.
2. The blogging platform should be easy to use; there should be huge buttons for editing, creating, and publishing posts. Employees should have no trouble on the blog site.
3. Employees should be able to administer all of their blogs from one single point.
4. There must be freedom of choice when it comes to selecting a RSS reader. If an internal RSS reader is used, it must allow subscription to an external RSS reader.
5. Since most employees are always on the go, they must be able to publish and create posts via e-mail and text messaging from their mobile devices.
6. Lastly, tagging is essential for employees to manage their blog posts and allow users to search by interest areas.