Is Enterprise 2.0 inevitable, or will it face a long, winding road of adoption in the enterprise?

In a new blog post, Andrew McAfee speculates that despite the unbridled enthusiasm we saw at the recent FastForward conference in San Diego, Enterprise 2.0 is not necessarily a sure thing. Since McAfee is is one of the most well-regarded proponents of E2.0 — and indeed, the one who coined the term — his cautious words around adoption issues need to be heeded.

He relates what he told attendees at an interactive roundtable session:

“There were plenty of conferences devoted to knowledge management (KM) systems and approaches in past years, and that these events had almost certainly featured rooms full of enthusiasts wondering exactly what the future was going to look like, and probably paying very little attention to the possibility that the future would be KM-free.”

Does Enterprise 2.0 risk becoming the next KM — a great idea with low, slow rates of implementation?

McAfee states that enterprises have to be convinced that the technologies are iron-clad secure and scalable. Plus, once the decision is made to adopt, there’s the risk of “heavy-handed” adoption approaches by the enterprise. Plus, managers have to be convinced that time spent adopting and learning the new technologies will make a difference — a big difference — in their jobs.

McAfee cites the recent InformationWeek survey (also cited here in this blogsite) that shows plenty of curiosity, but also a healthy degree of skepticism about the promises around E2.0. The problem is enterprises have seen it all before over the years — the promises, the hype cycles, the money poured into technologies that never lived up to their promise.

Thus, Enterprise 2.0 is likely to be a set of capabilities that proves itself both inside and outside enterprise walls in a gradual manner. Enterprises should facilitate the growth of these technologies, but not attempt to dictate E2.0 adoption in a top-down fashion.
Still, McAfee makes a point that he sees the potential productivity and efficiency E2.0 technologies can deliver:

“I want to state very clearly that I still believe E2.0 to be a better mousetrap. Platforms for freeform collaboration capture both the practices and the outputs of knowledge work so that they can be consulted by current, future, and prospective colleagues. These platforms also enable emergence.”

As is the case with service-oriented architecture (also meeting plenty of organizational resistance), Enterprise 2.0 invokes a transformation in organizational corporate culture. Many organizations have hidebound cultures that resist changes that bring about greater openness and level the hierarchy.

A paradox I have pointed out in my ZDNet SOA blog is that the organizations could use SOA the most are the ones least likely to adopt it; while well-run and forward-looking organizations are most likely to adopt, even though they could thrive without SOA. This paradox may well hold true for Enterprise 2.0 as well.