What is Enterprise 2.0?

Web 2.0 has revolutionized the usage of the Internet over the last years, releasing among Internet users a thirst for participation which was, to this day, hampered by the technological means available. For the first time in the history of computing, the public at large is ahead of the corporate world in terms of usage and organization.

These new participatory practices ave made possible a new form of collective intelligence thanks to the three major concepts that are :

  • User-generated content
  • Mass collaboration
  • Cloud computing

Applying the Web 2.0 principles and tools to the companies can sometimes seem contradictory in view of the oppressive top-heavy management we can often meet there and which are contrary to the participatory mind. Now, over the last years, many companies have took that step and made radically evolved their information systems and their daily practices by adopting these principles and tools from the Web 2.0 for business and by transforming their organization and their management.

This is what we call the Enterprise 2.0.

For drastic productivity gains

The new generations already live with these tools and use them daily. When they arrive within a few months or years in companies, the shock will be major (the process ,in fact, is already initiated with the generation Y). Similarly, many corporate employees are themselves bloggers or participate in communities in their private lives, and realize they can achieve things previously impossible in their companies and could effectively transpose it in their daily work if that was possible.

The company and its organization have to enter into this new universe, because in the same way as it has been a huge vector of growth for the Internet, it is an steep vector of growth for the company releasing the creative energy of its staff and allowing them to move to higher levels of productivity and competitiveness, which are impossible to reach with the current tools (e-mail, shared files, traditional office, etc …).

This might seem like a gamble for management. But the real risk is something altogether different; the risk of being overtaken by any competitor who has managed the transition, as it has happened many times in recent years

Obviously, such a transformation can not happen overnight in a company, it must therefore be accompanied, lead , with the head office and the management as stakeholders, while promoting practices dissemination upward.

The challenges are therefore multiple and concern almost all corporate fields. Nevertheless, they can be progressively carried out through strategies of viral dissemination, on condition of being accompanied by use transformation experts.