Enterprise 2.0 - Good news for business

Enterprise 2.0 is set to be the biggest thing on the horizon where workforce collaboration is concerned and there is definitely something in Enterprise 2.0 that gives it a distinct USP compared to existing enterprise systems.

Collaboration and communication have always been the whole point of enterprise systems, but the difference with Enterprise 2.0 is that according to the models, it's 'agile, emergent and integrated.' Personally I prefer 'simple, familiar and economical' to sum up the overriding benefits of this new way of working.

Enterprise 2.0 social technologies breathe enormous benefits into business processes, whether they are internal or external. Everything from knowledge sharing and ideas development within a company to marketing; customer relationship management; brand development and communication with business associates, referrers and partners outside a company is about to be transformed using processes that are quick, easy and economical and eliminate the need for expensive systems management specialists or consultants to install or manage the process.

The need for training also becomes a thing of the past, because these processes are now being conducted courtesy of the very thing that everyone who is anyone is familiar with - social networking tools.

Forums, wikis, blogs, RSS feeds, bookmarks and tagging - all used outside work - so why not utilise their benefits inside the workplace?

Organic Discovery

If a company can find out just what their customers want, need, like and dislike without having to employ expensive research agencies then it is clear how quickly they will storm ahead of their competitors using Enterprise 2.0 web tools.

Within the company environment, sharing the bright ideas, experience and knowledge of key employees and forming natural working teams based on user group habits can really spur a business on and make it stand miles apart.

Customers can offer advice to each other through blogs and wikis, something that would have been time consuming, costly and difficult to manage using pre-Enterprise 2 web tools.

Free flow of ideas

Enterprise 2.0 tools enable the distribution of information throughout an organization and beyond its boundaries into the public domain, eliminating the barriers that in the past put a halt to efficient communication and the smooth flow of information which could easily disjoint an organization.

The upcoming generation of key personnel is net-orientated. We're all using and demanding the latest ways of communicating and putting our hands on information - quickly. We have ideas that we want to share and advice we want to impart, and we need a fast and simple way of doing that in the workplace.

Enterprise 2.0 social technologies will allow us to do just that, and employers in enterprise organizations are going to reap the benefits; big time.