Does Enterprise 2.0 Pass the “VRIN” Test?
by Joe McKendrick
Speaking at the FASTforward conference in San Diego this week, Harvard’s Andrew McAfee described how he and his colleagues vet new technology developments through the “VRIN” set of criteria (valuable? rare? inimitable? non-substitutable?).
Ultimately, very few resources pass the VRIN test, which would demonstrate that they have high strategic value to organizations. As McAfee puts it, oil wells and diamond mines are perhaps the ultimate strategic resources.
Most information systems don’t pass the VRIN test, McAfee said. Does Enterprise 2.0 cut the VRIN mustard? He looked at how E2.0 addresses each of the four attributes:
Valuable: Yes. E2.0 is an emergent technology, in that it doesn’t dictate terms or structure in advance.
Rare: Yes. E2.0 technology is easily accessible, but few people are incented to make use of it.
Inimitable: Yes. Best practices can be openly published, but difficult to achieve by others.
Non-substitutable: Yes. It costs nothing to replicate information and distribute it, but it can’t be done without technology.
According to McAfee, E2.0 has the ingredients that could advance it as a strategic resource in the long run. McAfee provided additional insights on the VRIN criteria here at his blogsite.
