Comments on: Enterprise 2.0 is already happening, you’re just missing it http://www.fastforwardblog.com/2007/05/02/enterprise-20-is-already-happening-youre-just-missing-it/ Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:29:35 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Carlos Caballero http://www.fastforwardblog.com/2007/05/02/enterprise-20-is-already-happening-youre-just-missing-it/comment-page-1/#comment-169460 Carlos Caballero Thu, 31 Jul 2008 17:07:39 +0000 http://fastforwardblog.com/2007/05/02/enterprise-20-is-already-happening-youre-just-missing-it/#comment-169460 The positioning of anything 2.0 as "replacement" of old, bad practices is in itself self-defeating: those old practices are there because of things that are very crucial to corporations, such as liability, intellectual property, and compliance (which in themselves are intertwined with the realities of capitalism). Assuming that E2.0 can eliminate those constraints just creates false expectations, and ultimately will throw E2.0 into the "through of disillusion" faster. Generational issues are not new (they are there since I was young :) and the 'consumerization of IT' is old enough to be extensively covered by Forrester. Thus, liberally distributing 2.0 tags for everything we want to highlight doesn't seem to make much sense. Sure, there are consumer level technologies that are exposing new ways of interaction and collaboration. and also surely, those new memes and channels are making it into the enterprise. But Office won't go away (you may say that' s because it's too heavy to move), at least for quite a few years. Neither will SharePoint, or Exchange (perhaps for the same reasons). They won't go away at least not until the '2.0' thingy proves that it can manage liabilities, compliance, IP, security threats, and all of those pesky things produced by... reality. Not truly 2.anything, but rather a long series of minor releases. :) The positioning of anything 2.0 as “replacement” of old, bad practices is in itself self-defeating: those old practices are there because of things that are very crucial to corporations, such as liability, intellectual property, and compliance (which in themselves are intertwined with the realities of capitalism). Assuming that E2.0 can eliminate those constraints just creates false expectations, and ultimately will throw E2.0 into the “through of disillusion” faster.

Generational issues are not new (they are there since I was young :) and the ‘consumerization of IT’ is old enough to be extensively covered by Forrester. Thus, liberally distributing 2.0 tags for everything we want to highlight doesn’t seem to make much sense.

Sure, there are consumer level technologies that are exposing new ways of interaction and collaboration. and also surely, those new memes and channels are making it into the enterprise. But Office won’t go away (you may say that’
s because it’s too heavy to move), at least for quite a few years. Neither will SharePoint, or Exchange (perhaps for the same reasons).

They won’t go away at least not until the ‘2.0′ thingy proves that it can manage liabilities, compliance, IP, security threats, and all of those pesky things produced by… reality. Not truly 2.anything, but rather a long series of minor releases. :)

]]> By: Simon Carswell http://www.fastforwardblog.com/2007/05/02/enterprise-20-is-already-happening-youre-just-missing-it/comment-page-1/#comment-8616 Simon Carswell Fri, 04 May 2007 10:03:10 +0000 http://fastforwardblog.com/2007/05/02/enterprise-20-is-already-happening-youre-just-missing-it/#comment-8616 Some large organisations block webmail and (public) instant messenger sites, not because they do not want email or IM to be used, but because they are highly regulated firms and must keep control over communications for regulatory reasons. No doubt they will do the same for social networking sites, blogs or whatever the next threat seems to be. They would, of course, be wise to make all this possible within the firewall. Some large organisations block webmail and (public) instant messenger sites, not because they do not want email or IM to be used, but because they are highly regulated firms and must keep control over communications for regulatory reasons. No doubt they will do the same for social networking sites, blogs or whatever the next threat seems to be. They would, of course, be wise to make all this possible within the firewall.

]]> By: Oscar Berg http://www.fastforwardblog.com/2007/05/02/enterprise-20-is-already-happening-youre-just-missing-it/comment-page-1/#comment-8603 Oscar Berg Fri, 04 May 2007 05:55:00 +0000 http://fastforwardblog.com/2007/05/02/enterprise-20-is-already-happening-youre-just-missing-it/#comment-8603 Jevon, I agree with you that things are really starting to happen. The most important thing is not advances in technology, but that people is starting to believe in web apps as a serious alternative and ultimately a replacement for desktop apps. But for most organizations, today, it will still be a good strategy to wait things out a bit. I don't really see what they will miss by doing so, as long as they follow how things are developing. As always, users (early adopters) will adopt things earlier than organizations. But I am sure that most of the users who start using, for example, Google Docs & Spreadsheets do not abandon their equivalent desktop apps. Or even plan to do so. Yet. They see a use for web apps for certain tasks and information and use if for those specific purposes. Jevon, I agree with you that things are really starting to happen. The most important thing is not advances in technology, but that people is starting to believe in web apps as a serious alternative and ultimately a replacement for desktop apps. But for most organizations, today, it will still be a good strategy to wait things out a bit. I don’t really see what they will miss by doing so, as long as they follow how things are developing. As always, users (early adopters) will adopt things earlier than organizations. But I am sure that most of the users who start using, for example, Google Docs & Spreadsheets do not abandon their equivalent desktop apps. Or even plan to do so. Yet. They see a use for web apps for certain tasks and information and use if for those specific purposes.

]]> By: Jevon MacDonald http://www.fastforwardblog.com/2007/05/02/enterprise-20-is-already-happening-youre-just-missing-it/comment-page-1/#comment-8550 Jevon MacDonald Thu, 03 May 2007 17:33:36 +0000 http://fastforwardblog.com/2007/05/02/enterprise-20-is-already-happening-youre-just-missing-it/#comment-8550 Oscar: I agree with everything you say re: the issues around those applications, but what I was trying to say in this post was that in fact, as much as we tell ourselves that we have a better way of doing something, or that there isn't enough functionality in one product or the others, it is still up to the users to really decide what gets used. Before, they had no choice but use MS Office, because that is what IT installed for them, now -- they can make the choice on their own. What I have seen for myself is that the slide is starting to happen, and users are starting to go to places like Google Docs, whether IT or anyone else likes it or not. That's just reality. Oscar: I agree with everything you say re: the issues around those applications, but what I was trying to say in this post was that in fact, as much as we tell ourselves that we have a better way of doing something, or that there isn’t enough functionality in one product or the others, it is still up to the users to really decide what gets used. Before, they had no choice but use MS Office, because that is what IT installed for them, now — they can make the choice on their own.

What I have seen for myself is that the slide is starting to happen, and users are starting to go to places like Google Docs, whether IT or anyone else likes it or not. That’s just reality.

]]> By: Oscar Berg http://www.fastforwardblog.com/2007/05/02/enterprise-20-is-already-happening-youre-just-missing-it/comment-page-1/#comment-8537 Oscar Berg Thu, 03 May 2007 14:21:05 +0000 http://fastforwardblog.com/2007/05/02/enterprise-20-is-already-happening-youre-just-missing-it/#comment-8537 You write that, for example, Google Docs will replace expensive desktop apps such as the ones in Microsoft Office. I very strongly disagree on this. Google Docs & Spreadsheets is a nice initiative, but are is extremely far from becoming a real threat to MS Office apps and similar apps. First of all, you need to be sure of 100% availability / reliability for productivity tools. I don't believe this will happen in a VERY long time. Secondly, the interactivity and functionality of a desktop app is superior to web 2.0 apps. The only good thing about Google Docs & Spreadsheets is that it is free. If I had to pay for it, I would not even think about using it. I have used if since over 6 months and am impressed that it is free and you can collaborate on documents, but the editor is really bad. You write that, for example, Google Docs will replace expensive desktop apps such as the ones in Microsoft Office. I very strongly disagree on this. Google Docs & Spreadsheets is a nice initiative, but are is extremely far from becoming a real threat to MS Office apps and similar apps. First of all, you need to be sure of 100% availability / reliability for productivity tools. I don’t believe this will happen in a VERY long time. Secondly, the interactivity and functionality of a desktop app is superior to web 2.0 apps. The only good thing about Google Docs & Spreadsheets is that it is free. If I had to pay for it, I would not even think about using it. I have used if since over 6 months and am impressed that it is free and you can collaborate on documents, but the editor is really bad.

]]> By: Euan Semple http://www.fastforwardblog.com/2007/05/02/enterprise-20-is-already-happening-youre-just-missing-it/comment-page-1/#comment-8505 Euan Semple Thu, 03 May 2007 06:10:34 +0000 http://fastforwardblog.com/2007/05/02/enterprise-20-is-already-happening-youre-just-missing-it/#comment-8505 Like <a href="http://theobvious.typepad.com/blog/2007/03/the_100_guarant.html" rel="nofollow">I said</a> - they don't even have to do anything. Shame they have lost the ability to influence what is happening in the process ..... Like I said – they don’t even have to do anything. Shame they have lost the ability to influence what is happening in the process …..

]]>