Who will be the new king of CRM?
By Geoff Nairn
Published: September 15 2008 14:29 | Last updated: September 15 2008 14:29
While the debate about hosted or on-premise customer relationship management software rages, Oracle claims to offer the best of both worlds. Its Oracle CRM On Demand Integration to Siebel CRM product synchronises customer data held in Oracle CRM On Demand – Oracle’s home-grown on-demand CRM offering – with Siebel CRM, which Oracle owns after acquiring Siebel Systems in 2005.
Siebel remains the undisputed king for traditional on-premises CRM but most of the growth in the CRM industry now comes from newer on-demand CRM providers such as Salesforce.com.
Improved world view
IBM has unveiled new software to help businesses make sense of their product data. InfoSphere Master Data Management Server for Product Information Server aims to provide a “single view” of all the information held on a product across geographic locations. Big Blue also added a global name recognition module for InfoSphere Information Server to improve name matching for businesses that operate in many countries.
Small and affordable
Dell is targeting small businesses in emerging markets with the four latest additions to its Vostro range of PCs launched in Beijing.
Affordability is the key selling point of the Vostro A860 and A840, two laptops that come with 15.6-inch or 14.1-inch HD screens, Celeron or Core 2 Duo processors and a choice of operating system – Ubuntu Linux or Windows Vista. There are also two desktop mini-towers, the Vostro 180 and A100 – interestingly the latter only comes with Ubuntu.
Virtual security gates
Internet security firm Check Software Technologies has introduced a virtual security gateway aimed at the growing number of businesses with virtualised IT environments.
VPN-1 Virtual Edition is optimised for VMware environments and provides similar levels of security for virtualised applications to those located on separate servers, the company claims. Pricing starts at $7,500 for five virtual machines.
Aid to compliance
Microsoft has teamed up with BearingPoint – KPMG Consulting as was – to offer a compliance product based on Microsoft’s SharePoint Server 2007. BearingPoint Enterprise Governance, Risk and Compliance helps organisations manage risk and compliance using alerts and analytical tools.
For example, if a key risk indicator is exceeded, e-mail alerts are triggered and employees guided through the necessary steps.
Red flag for danger
EMC aims to address the growing problem of identity theft with a solution comprising software and services. The catalyst for the new offering is the Facta regulations in the US which require organisations to put in place policies and procedures to address the risk of identity theft in a systematic fashion by detecting warning signs or “red flags”. EMC’s Facta Red Flags product is designed to help financial institutions and creditors meet the November 1 Facta deadline.
“Powered by Google”
Google has announced a new version of the Google Search Appliance, which integrates hardware and software is aimed at organisations that want to add a “powered by Google” sticker to their corporate intranet or website.
The appliance can index all of an organisation’s content, up to 10m documents, in a single box. It can also search the information held on leading content management systems such as EMC Documentum, IBM FileNet, OpenText Livelink and Microsoft SharePoint.
Siren call of open source
System management is the latest part of the software business to succumb to the advances of the open source movement. Fujitsu Siemens has announced that its Primergy servers can now be managed and monitored with the Nagios open source software suite.
Specialist outfit Netways has developed a downloadable plug-in that allows Nagios to monitor Fujitsu Siemens’ hardware for a wide range of variables such as network services, server resources and system temperature.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
The next generation gap: IT and Web 2.0 (FT.com)
The next generation gap: IT and Web 2.0
By Gerhard Eschelbeck, chief technology officer for Webroot
Published: September 12 2008 17:15 | Last updated: September 12 2008 17:15
Once, if you were “twittering” you would be nervous, and a “face book” was a catalogue of known criminals. Now, Twitter and Facebook are two of the fastest growing Web 2.0 collaboration applications. Until recently they merely kept a younger generation of technology-fluent “Generation Ys” up late at night; now they are causing sleepless nights for IT management because of the security holes they represent.
Over the past decade, many fundamental business activities – marketing, advertising, customer support, sales transactions – have become web dependent. At the same time, the web is now considered the number one delivery mechanism for malware. This poses a significant security challenge to companies due to adoption of Web 2.0 technology (blogs, video, wikis, internet messaging, social networking sites, RSS feeds and similar elements) – the communication tools of choice for Gen Y.
In the next 10 years 71m Gen Y (18-30 year-olds) will enter the workforce with their favored tools for communication, researching and collaborating. Gen Y thrives on flexibility and is used to having information a click away using Web 2.0 technology. In a recent survey by Blessingwhite of employees in the UK and Ireland, 23 per cent of Gen Y employees felt they were fully engaged and taking pride in helping the organisation achieve its goals when they felt it was aligned with their own values, goals and aspirations. This alignment is the best method for achieving sustainable employee engagement.
Even though there are a number of social software tools that IT managers can comfortably deploy within their enterprise network, such Microsoft SharePoint and IBM Lotus Connections, they don’t compare with Web 2.0 sites such as Facebook. The latest ComScore data show that Facebook’s 90m user network grew 153 per cent last year globally and by more than 303 per cent in Europe where the site recorded 37m unique visitors in June alone. Gen Y youngsters depend on social-networking to organise their lives and interact with colleagues. Blocking access or using URL filtering alone is not the answer because they don’t fully answer the problem and a restrictive corporate environment will not be appealing to these bright college graduates.
And, with 85 per cent of all threats coming from the web, and with at least 5 per cent of heavily trafficked “trusted” web sites now harbouring malware, URL filtering systems and blocking alone can’t begin to protect a network since they can’t detect or stop malware or phishing attacks.
In a recent exploit, Facebook users received a post on their “wall” to view a video. Viewers were then redirected to a fake Google site with a message telling them to download a viewer. The payload was actually a Trojan Horse that downloaded spyware and keyloggers. According to Gartner, almost 50 per cent of companies do not block access or monitor this type of activity on social networking sites. With this type of web threat, it’s no wonder that IT departments are struggling to clean up malware pouring through these gaping security holes, let alone preventing data breaches, monitoring policy and employee productivity, and minimizing corporate liability to objectionable content.
What IT managers can do:
•Only block social-networking or websites after careful review (from legal and HR departments) where there is significant corporate risk that can’t be mitigated any other way
•Employ a dynamic, perimeter web security solution that can filter inbound pages for spyware and viruses; provides URL filtering for known inappropriate sites (sexual content, violence, etc); supports outbound data leak prevention by content scanning; and, can respond instantly to changing threats
•Work with HR and Legal to update employee guidelines to support acceptable Internet use policies and guidelines
•Train users on the hazards of indiscriminate use of social-networking and web sites
•Protect mobile laptop users.
What employees should do
•When using personal web mail accounts, do not click on links in your e-mail
•When visiting social networking sites, do not download applications without checking on the vendor
•Don’t download videos without proper security against spyware and viruses
•Don’t post your profile on a public social networking site if it identifies your employer and it can have a negative impact on the company’s reputation.
•Always be sure your antispyware and antivirus protection is up to date and that your personal data is protected using a secure online backup system.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
By Gerhard Eschelbeck, chief technology officer for Webroot
Published: September 12 2008 17:15 | Last updated: September 12 2008 17:15
Once, if you were “twittering” you would be nervous, and a “face book” was a catalogue of known criminals. Now, Twitter and Facebook are two of the fastest growing Web 2.0 collaboration applications. Until recently they merely kept a younger generation of technology-fluent “Generation Ys” up late at night; now they are causing sleepless nights for IT management because of the security holes they represent.
Over the past decade, many fundamental business activities – marketing, advertising, customer support, sales transactions – have become web dependent. At the same time, the web is now considered the number one delivery mechanism for malware. This poses a significant security challenge to companies due to adoption of Web 2.0 technology (blogs, video, wikis, internet messaging, social networking sites, RSS feeds and similar elements) – the communication tools of choice for Gen Y.
In the next 10 years 71m Gen Y (18-30 year-olds) will enter the workforce with their favored tools for communication, researching and collaborating. Gen Y thrives on flexibility and is used to having information a click away using Web 2.0 technology. In a recent survey by Blessingwhite of employees in the UK and Ireland, 23 per cent of Gen Y employees felt they were fully engaged and taking pride in helping the organisation achieve its goals when they felt it was aligned with their own values, goals and aspirations. This alignment is the best method for achieving sustainable employee engagement.
Even though there are a number of social software tools that IT managers can comfortably deploy within their enterprise network, such Microsoft SharePoint and IBM Lotus Connections, they don’t compare with Web 2.0 sites such as Facebook. The latest ComScore data show that Facebook’s 90m user network grew 153 per cent last year globally and by more than 303 per cent in Europe where the site recorded 37m unique visitors in June alone. Gen Y youngsters depend on social-networking to organise their lives and interact with colleagues. Blocking access or using URL filtering alone is not the answer because they don’t fully answer the problem and a restrictive corporate environment will not be appealing to these bright college graduates.
And, with 85 per cent of all threats coming from the web, and with at least 5 per cent of heavily trafficked “trusted” web sites now harbouring malware, URL filtering systems and blocking alone can’t begin to protect a network since they can’t detect or stop malware or phishing attacks.
In a recent exploit, Facebook users received a post on their “wall” to view a video. Viewers were then redirected to a fake Google site with a message telling them to download a viewer. The payload was actually a Trojan Horse that downloaded spyware and keyloggers. According to Gartner, almost 50 per cent of companies do not block access or monitor this type of activity on social networking sites. With this type of web threat, it’s no wonder that IT departments are struggling to clean up malware pouring through these gaping security holes, let alone preventing data breaches, monitoring policy and employee productivity, and minimizing corporate liability to objectionable content.
What IT managers can do:
•Only block social-networking or websites after careful review (from legal and HR departments) where there is significant corporate risk that can’t be mitigated any other way
•Employ a dynamic, perimeter web security solution that can filter inbound pages for spyware and viruses; provides URL filtering for known inappropriate sites (sexual content, violence, etc); supports outbound data leak prevention by content scanning; and, can respond instantly to changing threats
•Work with HR and Legal to update employee guidelines to support acceptable Internet use policies and guidelines
•Train users on the hazards of indiscriminate use of social-networking and web sites
•Protect mobile laptop users.
What employees should do
•When using personal web mail accounts, do not click on links in your e-mail
•When visiting social networking sites, do not download applications without checking on the vendor
•Don’t download videos without proper security against spyware and viruses
•Don’t post your profile on a public social networking site if it identifies your employer and it can have a negative impact on the company’s reputation.
•Always be sure your antispyware and antivirus protection is up to date and that your personal data is protected using a secure online backup system.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
Magic Quadrant for Horizontal Portal Products
Magic Quadrant for Horizontal Portal Products
12 September 2008
David Gootzit, Gene Phifer, Ray Valdes
Gartner RAS Core Research Note G00160767
New entrants provide additional options for enterprises willing to consider open-source and software-as-a-service alternatives for horizontal portal functionality. To differentiate their offerings, horizontal portal vendors are incorporating support for enterprise mashups and social networking.
12 September 2008
David Gootzit, Gene Phifer, Ray Valdes
Gartner RAS Core Research Note G00160767
New entrants provide additional options for enterprises willing to consider open-source and software-as-a-service alternatives for horizontal portal functionality. To differentiate their offerings, horizontal portal vendors are incorporating support for enterprise mashups and social networking.
Friday, September 05, 2008
Microsoft SharePoint macht Enterprise 2.0 geschäftstüchtig
Microsoft SharePoint macht Enterprise 2.0 geschäftstüchtig
Microsoft liefert mit dem Office SharePoint Server 2007 in der Praxis bewährte Technologien für soziale Online-Netzwerke, Blogs, Wikis, Foto- und Video-Portale und andere Web-Dienste, die insbesondere von der Interaktion mit ihren Anwendern leben. Längst fragen sich immer mehr Unternehmen, wie sie Ideen und Anwendungen des Web 2.0 nutzen können, um ihre gesamten Informations- und Kommunikationsprozesse grundlegend zu modernisieren und zu verbessern. Genau diese Frage steht im Mittelpunkt des SharePointCommunityCamps 09.2008. Die Anwenderkonferenz findet in diesem Jahr am 15. und 16. September 2008 im NH-Hotel am Flughafen Stuttgart statt.
Microsoft liefert mit dem Office SharePoint Server 2007 in der Praxis bewährte Technologien für soziale Online-Netzwerke, Blogs, Wikis, Foto- und Video-Portale und andere Web-Dienste, die insbesondere von der Interaktion mit ihren Anwendern leben. Längst fragen sich immer mehr Unternehmen, wie sie Ideen und Anwendungen des Web 2.0 nutzen können, um ihre gesamten Informations- und Kommunikationsprozesse grundlegend zu modernisieren und zu verbessern. Genau diese Frage steht im Mittelpunkt des SharePointCommunityCamps 09.2008. Die Anwenderkonferenz findet in diesem Jahr am 15. und 16. September 2008 im NH-Hotel am Flughafen Stuttgart statt.
Friday, August 29, 2008
CMS-Spezialist e-Spirit setzt auf hochperformante Suchtechnologie von Exalead
CMS-Spezialist e-Spirit setzt auf hochperformante Suchtechnologie von Exalead
Exalead, Anbieter von Suchtechnologien für Unternehmen und das Internet, intensiviert seine Deutschlandpräsenz mit einer wichtigen Technologieallianz. Die Dortmunder e-Spirit AG erweitert ihre CMS-Suite FirstSpirit um die Exalead Intranet-Suchmaschine one:enterprise, Kunden bekommen damit einen deutlich schnelleren Zugriff auf im CMS hinterlegte Inhalte und zusätzliche Quellen wie Fileshares und Datenbanken. Mit der von Exalead bereitgestellten Enterprise-Search-Lösung begegnen beide Unternehmen den stetig steigenden Anforderungen moderner Informationsmanagement-Lösungen, die gerade bei global eingesetzten verteilten CMS-Redaktionen hohe Ansprüche an alle Software-Komponenten stellen - im Vordergrund steht dabei die einfache und effiziente Pflege aller wichtigen Redaktionsdaten sowie das schnelle Finden gewünschter Begriffe innerhalb der FirstSpirit-Inhalte.
Durch die Kopplung der Personalisierungsmodelle von Exalead und FirstSpirit können geschützte Dokumente und Seiten auch personalisiert durchsucht werden, d.h. jeder Kollege sieht auch nur die Suchtreffer, die er über seine Berechtigungsstufe auch sehen darf. Der Verkauf des Bundles erfolgt ausschließlich mit dem Produkt FirstSpirit bzw. auf dem Wege der Nachlizenzierung.
Hinweis für Journalisten: Exalead präsentiert auf der diesjährigen DMS vom 9. - 11. September in Köln auf dem Stand seines Partners e-Spirit AG in Halle 7, Stand B 019 / D018 seine umfassenden Enterprise-Lösungen. Bitte nehmen Sie bei Interesse über das beigefügte Faxback-Formular Kontakt mit uns auf.
Jörn Bodemann, Vorstand, e-Spirit AG zur neuen Partnerschaft: "Den hohen Ansprüchen unseres Unternehmens an die eigenen Produkte und auch die unserer Partner bietet die Suchtechnologie von Exalead eine perfekte Ergänzung unseres Content Management Systems. Die Integration mit FirstSpirit ist für uns von besonderem Mehrwert, da auch durch den gesamten im System eingestellten Content punktgenau zum gesuchten Ergebnis - bei Verwendung der bereits in FirstSpirit erstellten Kategorien - hindurch navigiert werden kann. Wie bei anderen Technologiepartnern auch, führt die Hinzunahme von Exalead also zu einer umfassenderen Lösung, wobei FirstSpirit den Kern darstellt und je nach Kundenwunsch weitere, so genannte "Module", hinzugefügt werden können."
Gerhard Hiller, Country Manager Exalead Deutschland, weiter: "Mit e-Spirit haben wir seit über einem Jahr einen starken Partner im für uns wichtigen CMS-Umfeld. Gerade bei großvolumigen CMS-Projekten, wie sie e-Spirit überwiegend abwickelt, kann unsere Suchtechnologie seine Stärken optimal ausspielen."
Exalead auf der DMS 2008
Im Mittelpunkt des Messeauftritts von Exalead steht one:enterprise, eine hochperformante Intranet-Suchmaschine, die in der aktuellen Version 4.6 die gerade im Unternehmensumfeld exponentiell steigenden Datenmengen leichter verwalten und vor allem schneller finden lässt. Ein weiterer Schwerpunkt des Exalead-Messeauftritts sind verfeinerte Internet-Suchtechnologien, die neben der Suche in Videos, weitreichenden Indizierungstechnologien auch Image-Search-Funktionalität mit Gesichtserkennung und vertikale Suche bietet. Speziell zur DMS 2008 werden darüber hinaus dedizierte Lösungen für Verlage (Intelligente Suche in Fachportalen), Knowledge-Management-Lösungen sowie integrierte eCommerce-Suiten gezeigt.
27.08.2008, Exalead Deutschland
Exalead, Anbieter von Suchtechnologien für Unternehmen und das Internet, intensiviert seine Deutschlandpräsenz mit einer wichtigen Technologieallianz. Die Dortmunder e-Spirit AG erweitert ihre CMS-Suite FirstSpirit um die Exalead Intranet-Suchmaschine one:enterprise, Kunden bekommen damit einen deutlich schnelleren Zugriff auf im CMS hinterlegte Inhalte und zusätzliche Quellen wie Fileshares und Datenbanken. Mit der von Exalead bereitgestellten Enterprise-Search-Lösung begegnen beide Unternehmen den stetig steigenden Anforderungen moderner Informationsmanagement-Lösungen, die gerade bei global eingesetzten verteilten CMS-Redaktionen hohe Ansprüche an alle Software-Komponenten stellen - im Vordergrund steht dabei die einfache und effiziente Pflege aller wichtigen Redaktionsdaten sowie das schnelle Finden gewünschter Begriffe innerhalb der FirstSpirit-Inhalte.
Durch die Kopplung der Personalisierungsmodelle von Exalead und FirstSpirit können geschützte Dokumente und Seiten auch personalisiert durchsucht werden, d.h. jeder Kollege sieht auch nur die Suchtreffer, die er über seine Berechtigungsstufe auch sehen darf. Der Verkauf des Bundles erfolgt ausschließlich mit dem Produkt FirstSpirit bzw. auf dem Wege der Nachlizenzierung.
Hinweis für Journalisten: Exalead präsentiert auf der diesjährigen DMS vom 9. - 11. September in Köln auf dem Stand seines Partners e-Spirit AG in Halle 7, Stand B 019 / D018 seine umfassenden Enterprise-Lösungen. Bitte nehmen Sie bei Interesse über das beigefügte Faxback-Formular Kontakt mit uns auf.
Jörn Bodemann, Vorstand, e-Spirit AG zur neuen Partnerschaft: "Den hohen Ansprüchen unseres Unternehmens an die eigenen Produkte und auch die unserer Partner bietet die Suchtechnologie von Exalead eine perfekte Ergänzung unseres Content Management Systems. Die Integration mit FirstSpirit ist für uns von besonderem Mehrwert, da auch durch den gesamten im System eingestellten Content punktgenau zum gesuchten Ergebnis - bei Verwendung der bereits in FirstSpirit erstellten Kategorien - hindurch navigiert werden kann. Wie bei anderen Technologiepartnern auch, führt die Hinzunahme von Exalead also zu einer umfassenderen Lösung, wobei FirstSpirit den Kern darstellt und je nach Kundenwunsch weitere, so genannte "Module", hinzugefügt werden können."
Gerhard Hiller, Country Manager Exalead Deutschland, weiter: "Mit e-Spirit haben wir seit über einem Jahr einen starken Partner im für uns wichtigen CMS-Umfeld. Gerade bei großvolumigen CMS-Projekten, wie sie e-Spirit überwiegend abwickelt, kann unsere Suchtechnologie seine Stärken optimal ausspielen."
Exalead auf der DMS 2008
Im Mittelpunkt des Messeauftritts von Exalead steht one:enterprise, eine hochperformante Intranet-Suchmaschine, die in der aktuellen Version 4.6 die gerade im Unternehmensumfeld exponentiell steigenden Datenmengen leichter verwalten und vor allem schneller finden lässt. Ein weiterer Schwerpunkt des Exalead-Messeauftritts sind verfeinerte Internet-Suchtechnologien, die neben der Suche in Videos, weitreichenden Indizierungstechnologien auch Image-Search-Funktionalität mit Gesichtserkennung und vertikale Suche bietet. Speziell zur DMS 2008 werden darüber hinaus dedizierte Lösungen für Verlage (Intelligente Suche in Fachportalen), Knowledge-Management-Lösungen sowie integrierte eCommerce-Suiten gezeigt.
27.08.2008, Exalead Deutschland
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Friday, August 22, 2008
CleverWorkarounds » Book Review - Essential SharePoint 2007
CleverWorkarounds » Book Review - Essential SharePoint 2007
One SharePoint book on my bookshelf is "Essential SharePoint 2007 - Delivering High Impact Collaboration", by Scott Jamison, Mauro Cardarelli and Susan Hanley.
One SharePoint book on my bookshelf is "Essential SharePoint 2007 - Delivering High Impact Collaboration", by Scott Jamison, Mauro Cardarelli and Susan Hanley.
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
FT.com / Digital Business / Web 2.0 - Web 2.0: The salvation of SMEs
FT.com / Digital Business / Web 2.0 - Web 2.0: The salvation of SMEs
Web 2.0: The salvation of SMEs
By Ivan Croxford, Head of BT Tradespace
Published: August 6 2008 12:59 | Last updated: August 6 2008 12:59
Web 2.0 offers an unparalleled opportunity for businesses to compete and thrive in a time of mounting economic difficulty – yet incredibly many have little idea of what it means.
Far too often, the concept is dismissed as a buzzword expression – and yet it could hold the key to the survival of thousands of SMEs as the slowdown kicks in.
Social media and networking sites provide the platform for companies to collaborate, share information and expertise and market their goods. Indeed, all over the web, communities of like-minded firms are supporting each other with advice, swapping internet links and trading together.
The interactivity of Web 2.0 also allows an authentic and direct line of communication between a company and its customers – invaluable any time, but essential in the light of the challenging business environment.
The tools of Web 2.0 - blogging, podcasting, photo and video sharing – have already been adopted by millions of consumers because they are simple and powerful communication methods. For that reason, they are ideal for small businesses to use in their marketing strategies.
A company that is prepared to engage in an open, honest conversation, whether it be through a blog or video, with its customers is being sensible and shrewd. In this day and age, very few consumers are prepared to just listen to announcements and one-way broadcasts without being able to give their feedback.
However, there are still far too many companies which have not tapped into the rich potential arising from the latest internet age because they either are not aware of it or feel it is irrelevant or too complicated.
This reticence may be in part explained by existing attitudes to the internet generally. The majority of SMEs are already struggling with online marketing and sales - 40 per cent do not have websites and less than 20 per cent sell online.
There are good reasons for this. Running a website can be a costly, complex business that often requires the support of third parties to build, maintain and market. The traditional net marketing strategy of larger businesses to use paid search and display ads supported by a comprehensive Search Engine Optimisation strategy to ensure a good Google rating is beyond the financial and technical reach of most SMEs.
If we put the problems of traditional online marketing alongside the growing importance of the internet as a research and purchasing medium for consumers, it becomes all too apparent that SMEs desperately need to find a better way to promote themselves online. This is where Web 2.0 is vital.
To attract customers, it is now necessary to participate in online “communities” relevant to your business whether it be a florist’s or a bespoke furniture maker. That also means engaging in an ongoing, meaningful dialogue with customers on interactive networking sites about products, prices and service.
The social web has changed the landscape of e-commerce forever. Audiences are fragmented and this means customers are harder to reach but they are surfing the web for information about goods in ever-growing numbers before buying. Some recent research from co-operative cashback website Quidco found that 62 per cent of shoppers consult online communities before making a purchase. Furthermore, only 27 per cent of consumers go directly to the retailer.
If these trends continue, then any company wishing to succeed has to embrace the interaction encapsulated by Web 2.0 to build strong, trusting relationships with its customers.
SMEs can benefit hugely from the power of social networking precisely because the tools of Web 2.0 are well suited to the personal and conversational marketing style that already works to their benefit offline.
The campaign to persuade companies to join business social networking sites has now become one of the biggest battlegrounds on the internet. Amazon, eBay, Facebook and BT are all targeting the 4.5 million SMEs in the UK to alert them to the global marketing opportunities afforded by these platforms which could transform their fortunes. There is a massive education exercise taking place to convince companies of the overwhelming merits of these sites.
The momentum is growing. Firms large and small have started to take part in social networks and internet communities but the results are mixed. Some are successfully attracting customers and boosting the bottom line, others are not. Of greater concern is that most have not taken the plunge at all with many approaching the internet in general with apprehension.
These businesses should realise that Web 2.0 offers relevant and powerful tools for them to promote themselves and build an online brand. They should stop hiding – and start using it to their advantage.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
Web 2.0: The salvation of SMEs
By Ivan Croxford, Head of BT Tradespace
Published: August 6 2008 12:59 | Last updated: August 6 2008 12:59
Web 2.0 offers an unparalleled opportunity for businesses to compete and thrive in a time of mounting economic difficulty – yet incredibly many have little idea of what it means.
Far too often, the concept is dismissed as a buzzword expression – and yet it could hold the key to the survival of thousands of SMEs as the slowdown kicks in.
Social media and networking sites provide the platform for companies to collaborate, share information and expertise and market their goods. Indeed, all over the web, communities of like-minded firms are supporting each other with advice, swapping internet links and trading together.
The interactivity of Web 2.0 also allows an authentic and direct line of communication between a company and its customers – invaluable any time, but essential in the light of the challenging business environment.
The tools of Web 2.0 - blogging, podcasting, photo and video sharing – have already been adopted by millions of consumers because they are simple and powerful communication methods. For that reason, they are ideal for small businesses to use in their marketing strategies.
A company that is prepared to engage in an open, honest conversation, whether it be through a blog or video, with its customers is being sensible and shrewd. In this day and age, very few consumers are prepared to just listen to announcements and one-way broadcasts without being able to give their feedback.
However, there are still far too many companies which have not tapped into the rich potential arising from the latest internet age because they either are not aware of it or feel it is irrelevant or too complicated.
This reticence may be in part explained by existing attitudes to the internet generally. The majority of SMEs are already struggling with online marketing and sales - 40 per cent do not have websites and less than 20 per cent sell online.
There are good reasons for this. Running a website can be a costly, complex business that often requires the support of third parties to build, maintain and market. The traditional net marketing strategy of larger businesses to use paid search and display ads supported by a comprehensive Search Engine Optimisation strategy to ensure a good Google rating is beyond the financial and technical reach of most SMEs.
If we put the problems of traditional online marketing alongside the growing importance of the internet as a research and purchasing medium for consumers, it becomes all too apparent that SMEs desperately need to find a better way to promote themselves online. This is where Web 2.0 is vital.
To attract customers, it is now necessary to participate in online “communities” relevant to your business whether it be a florist’s or a bespoke furniture maker. That also means engaging in an ongoing, meaningful dialogue with customers on interactive networking sites about products, prices and service.
The social web has changed the landscape of e-commerce forever. Audiences are fragmented and this means customers are harder to reach but they are surfing the web for information about goods in ever-growing numbers before buying. Some recent research from co-operative cashback website Quidco found that 62 per cent of shoppers consult online communities before making a purchase. Furthermore, only 27 per cent of consumers go directly to the retailer.
If these trends continue, then any company wishing to succeed has to embrace the interaction encapsulated by Web 2.0 to build strong, trusting relationships with its customers.
SMEs can benefit hugely from the power of social networking precisely because the tools of Web 2.0 are well suited to the personal and conversational marketing style that already works to their benefit offline.
The campaign to persuade companies to join business social networking sites has now become one of the biggest battlegrounds on the internet. Amazon, eBay, Facebook and BT are all targeting the 4.5 million SMEs in the UK to alert them to the global marketing opportunities afforded by these platforms which could transform their fortunes. There is a massive education exercise taking place to convince companies of the overwhelming merits of these sites.
The momentum is growing. Firms large and small have started to take part in social networks and internet communities but the results are mixed. Some are successfully attracting customers and boosting the bottom line, others are not. Of greater concern is that most have not taken the plunge at all with many approaching the internet in general with apprehension.
These businesses should realise that Web 2.0 offers relevant and powerful tools for them to promote themselves and build an online brand. They should stop hiding – and start using it to their advantage.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Alfresco Releases An Open Source SharePoint Compatible Alternative - Content Management Blog - InformationWeek
Alfresco Releases An Open Source SharePoint Compatible Alternative - Content Management Blog - InformationWeek
Alfresco, whose open source enterprise content management (ECM) software has earned it a significant following, is making more waves with the release this week of Alfresco Labs 3, an open source alternative to Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) SharePoint.
Alfresco, whose open source enterprise content management (ECM) software has earned it a significant following, is making more waves with the release this week of Alfresco Labs 3, an open source alternative to Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) SharePoint.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Bamboo Solution's Bundles Extend SharePoint Functionality - Content Management Blog - InformationWeek
Bamboo Solution's Bundles Extend SharePoint Functionality - Content Management Blog - InformationWeek
Bamboo Solutions is probably a familiar name to the IT staffs at enterprises running SharePoint. The company made headlines in couple of months ago when it released information on how to run SharePoint on a Vista box, but it's also one of the best known and most successful vendors of plug-in modules intended to enhance SharePoint's base functionality.
Bamboo Solutions is probably a familiar name to the IT staffs at enterprises running SharePoint. The company made headlines in couple of months ago when it released information on how to run SharePoint on a Vista box, but it's also one of the best known and most successful vendors of plug-in modules intended to enhance SharePoint's base functionality.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
The Forrester Blog For Information & Knowledge Management Professionals
The Forrester Blog For Information & Knowledge Management Professionals
Open Text Makes A DAM SaaS-y Move
By Stephen Powers
I'll give you five seconds to recover from your pun-induced groaning [5...4...3...2...1] Now, on to the news: Open Text announced late last week that it has acquired eMotion, a software-as-a-service digital asset management (DAM) product, from Corbis. Open Text plans to rebrand eMotion as Artesia on Demand for Marketing, complementing its full-featured, installed Artesia DAM product.
This move into SaaS DAM is a smart move by Open Text. The installed version of Artesia has a reputation as one of the top DAM solutions out there, but its functionality and price tag may be daunting for those organizations just starting to dip their toes into the DAM waters. Some enterprises don't have the need for some of the high-end functionality - management of broadcast-quality video, for example - that "Classic Artesia" offers. Instead, many enterprises exploring DAM want to use it to manage rich media assets for use in the online channel.
In addition, marketers are now driving some of the demand for DAM, and they're not excited about waiting in the IT queue for another installed content management implementation. While other components of ECM (like Web content management) may need customizations that don't lend always themselves to the SaaS model, marketing requirements for DAM tend to be more a bit more straightforward: repository, workflow, search, metadata, permissions, and hooks into delivery mechanisms.
Now, Open Text has a DAM solution that can meet mid-level needs, and customers who want SaaS - without worrying about the stability of some of the niche DAM vendors - get the benefit of the relative stability of Open Text. Plus, this acquisition has the possibility of being an effective answer to North Plains' recent release of a SaaS version of its TeleScope product. Time will tell how much tinkering Open Text needs to do with its new acquisition, but this is a good first step into the SaaS world.
Open Text Makes A DAM SaaS-y Move
By Stephen Powers
I'll give you five seconds to recover from your pun-induced groaning [5...4...3...2...1] Now, on to the news: Open Text announced late last week that it has acquired eMotion, a software-as-a-service digital asset management (DAM) product, from Corbis. Open Text plans to rebrand eMotion as Artesia on Demand for Marketing, complementing its full-featured, installed Artesia DAM product.
This move into SaaS DAM is a smart move by Open Text. The installed version of Artesia has a reputation as one of the top DAM solutions out there, but its functionality and price tag may be daunting for those organizations just starting to dip their toes into the DAM waters. Some enterprises don't have the need for some of the high-end functionality - management of broadcast-quality video, for example - that "Classic Artesia" offers. Instead, many enterprises exploring DAM want to use it to manage rich media assets for use in the online channel.
In addition, marketers are now driving some of the demand for DAM, and they're not excited about waiting in the IT queue for another installed content management implementation. While other components of ECM (like Web content management) may need customizations that don't lend always themselves to the SaaS model, marketing requirements for DAM tend to be more a bit more straightforward: repository, workflow, search, metadata, permissions, and hooks into delivery mechanisms.
Now, Open Text has a DAM solution that can meet mid-level needs, and customers who want SaaS - without worrying about the stability of some of the niche DAM vendors - get the benefit of the relative stability of Open Text. Plus, this acquisition has the possibility of being an effective answer to North Plains' recent release of a SaaS version of its TeleScope product. Time will tell how much tinkering Open Text needs to do with its new acquisition, but this is a good first step into the SaaS world.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Seize the skills and HR benefits of social networking
Seize the skills and HR benefits of social networking
By Patrice Barbedette of Jobpartners
Published: July 11 2008 10:20 | Last updated: July 11 2008 10:20
I don’t suppose that when Mark Zuckerberg invented Facebook he realised how huge it would become. Facebook and other social networking sites such as MySpace and LinkedIn have taken the world by storm.
But many of us aren’t chatting to friends and watching videos on sites such as Facebook at home during our free time – we’re doing it at work. This presents businesses with the challenge of dealing with the loss of productivity. Social networking sites also pose the potential problem of confidential information being exposed, or employees posting negative comments about their employers.
Some businesses have clamped down on the use of social networking sites by either banning them or restricting access to lunch hours. But this can stir up feelings of resentment among employees as recent cases have demonstrated. When faced with huge numbers of staff complaints, one organisation performed a U-turn after banning employees from using Facebook at work: it realised that rather than using the site for chatting with friends and downloading videos, many were also using it for work and business networking.
There are certainly many benefits that social networking sites can offer the corporate world and businesses need to be taking note. Rather than having a knee-jerk reaction to these sites, what can we learn from them and how can we use them to our advantage in the corporate world?
The technology now exists to enable organisations to create their own internal corporate social network. This provides the advantages of networking and knowledge sharing that is found on sites such as Facebook, but within the safe boundaries of the corporate environment. This means that the risk of embarrassing or confidential information reaching the public domain is greatly reduced. It also means that while employees will still spend some time chatting most of the discussion will be on company related issues.
So what can a corporate network bring to the business? As Dick Eve points out in his article, the opportunities for knowledge sharing are huge. A social network enables every employee at every level at every single office across the company to interact and share information. This means employees can operate as a community and feel involved in company decisions which helps to engage them and increase productivity. Corporate networks can also be used to get learning content to employees but more importantly, employees connected to the knowledge experts.
Improved communication is another great benefit of a corporate network especially when building a global workforce. Employees can interact more easily on a professional and personal level with staff from other offices whether they are UK based or international. They can also come into more direct contact with senior managers, the opportunity for which may not have been presented before.
Better talent management is a further significant benefit. A corporate network can enable employees to brand and market themselves within the company by posting information on their profile page about their career goals, experience and skills. This helps managers and HR to identify the skills and talent they need internally much more easily which can reduce the reliance on external recruitment. It also enables the identification of those who are hungry for new opportunities and challenges. The ability to develop a professional profile also helps the employee to take a more active role in their career development which can boost company loyalty.
As well as professional profiles, employees can create personal profiles detailing their favourite books, charitable organisations and activities. This can help employees to get to know one another outside of the confines of their job titles as well as build a broader sense of corporate social responsibility.
For new recruits, a corporate network is an excellent way of getting to know people more quickly and getting up to speed on company processes and culture. It can also be particularly effective at engaging generation Y and attracting young graduate talent.
In summary, social networks present an unforeseen way of improving communication and knowledge flow within organisations, and engaging employees. An engaged employee equals a more productive employee, which equals better business performance. And who can afford not to look at ways of boosting employee performance during these hard times?
Patrice Barbedette is founder of Jobpartners, a talent management company
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
By Patrice Barbedette of Jobpartners
Published: July 11 2008 10:20 | Last updated: July 11 2008 10:20
I don’t suppose that when Mark Zuckerberg invented Facebook he realised how huge it would become. Facebook and other social networking sites such as MySpace and LinkedIn have taken the world by storm.
But many of us aren’t chatting to friends and watching videos on sites such as Facebook at home during our free time – we’re doing it at work. This presents businesses with the challenge of dealing with the loss of productivity. Social networking sites also pose the potential problem of confidential information being exposed, or employees posting negative comments about their employers.
Some businesses have clamped down on the use of social networking sites by either banning them or restricting access to lunch hours. But this can stir up feelings of resentment among employees as recent cases have demonstrated. When faced with huge numbers of staff complaints, one organisation performed a U-turn after banning employees from using Facebook at work: it realised that rather than using the site for chatting with friends and downloading videos, many were also using it for work and business networking.
There are certainly many benefits that social networking sites can offer the corporate world and businesses need to be taking note. Rather than having a knee-jerk reaction to these sites, what can we learn from them and how can we use them to our advantage in the corporate world?
The technology now exists to enable organisations to create their own internal corporate social network. This provides the advantages of networking and knowledge sharing that is found on sites such as Facebook, but within the safe boundaries of the corporate environment. This means that the risk of embarrassing or confidential information reaching the public domain is greatly reduced. It also means that while employees will still spend some time chatting most of the discussion will be on company related issues.
So what can a corporate network bring to the business? As Dick Eve points out in his article, the opportunities for knowledge sharing are huge. A social network enables every employee at every level at every single office across the company to interact and share information. This means employees can operate as a community and feel involved in company decisions which helps to engage them and increase productivity. Corporate networks can also be used to get learning content to employees but more importantly, employees connected to the knowledge experts.
Improved communication is another great benefit of a corporate network especially when building a global workforce. Employees can interact more easily on a professional and personal level with staff from other offices whether they are UK based or international. They can also come into more direct contact with senior managers, the opportunity for which may not have been presented before.
Better talent management is a further significant benefit. A corporate network can enable employees to brand and market themselves within the company by posting information on their profile page about their career goals, experience and skills. This helps managers and HR to identify the skills and talent they need internally much more easily which can reduce the reliance on external recruitment. It also enables the identification of those who are hungry for new opportunities and challenges. The ability to develop a professional profile also helps the employee to take a more active role in their career development which can boost company loyalty.
As well as professional profiles, employees can create personal profiles detailing their favourite books, charitable organisations and activities. This can help employees to get to know one another outside of the confines of their job titles as well as build a broader sense of corporate social responsibility.
For new recruits, a corporate network is an excellent way of getting to know people more quickly and getting up to speed on company processes and culture. It can also be particularly effective at engaging generation Y and attracting young graduate talent.
In summary, social networks present an unforeseen way of improving communication and knowledge flow within organisations, and engaging employees. An engaged employee equals a more productive employee, which equals better business performance. And who can afford not to look at ways of boosting employee performance during these hard times?
Patrice Barbedette is founder of Jobpartners, a talent management company
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
How Web 2.0 is democratising innovation
How Web 2.0 is democratising innovation
By Georges Berzgal and Amal Johnson, of MarketTools
Published: July 11 2008 10:20 | Last updated: July 11 2008 10:20
Where do winning ideas come from? For most companies, the answer is from a select group of people in Research and Development, new product development (NPD), or marketing.
Today, however, a growing number of organisations are harnessing the power of the web to capitalise on the wealth of ideas among their customers and that often neglected source of inspiration, their rank and file employees. These companies are living the adage that there is “no monopoly on great ideas”, causing a shift in the direction of innovation while at the same time outsmarting the competition.
This shift could not have happened without the emergence of the internet and its evolution into what is commonly referred to as Web 2.0, a term that characterises the second wave of the internet where user-generated content and social networks drive significant activity.
The common practice in developing new products has been manufacturer-centric, highly process-driven, and limited to the domain of a small group of “experts” in the R&D and NPD departments. Companies usually start with trying to identify the “unmet needs” of their target audience. Those findings are subsequently translated by engineers and marketers into potentially new, or enhancements of existing, product concepts. These, in turn, are tested with consumers along several “stage gates” with the ultimate purpose of ending up with one or a limited number of “winning” products that can be launched in the marketplace.
Unfortunately, although this practice has been widely used for some time, its effectiveness at launching successful products has been dismal. Companies won’t openly discuss NPD failures but estimates range from 75-90 per cent depending on industry. Both direct and indirect costs, not to mention opportunity costs in terms of human capital and resources spent on failures, are substantial. An alternative model, the systematic use of broader origination of innovation, especially that involving end-customers, has been very limited and often haphazard. Until now.
The new model that is emerging is a more customer-centric model, or a variation thereof, and relies on the wisdom of crowds, rather than a handful of experts. This is a major shift in that companies are not just asking end-customers to identify their unmet needs, but they are also engaging them in helping invent new solutions to meet those needs; in essence, to be the outsourced R&D team.
This shift started, not surprisingly, in the technology industry with the open source movement that harnesses the power of hundreds (and in some cases thousands) of end-users to help develop or enhance software products. However, with the emergence and evolution of the internet to Web 2.0, and broad adoption and use of underlying technologies such as communities, chat, blogging etc by a mass market of internet users, this approach is increasingly being adopted by traditional multinationals such as Procter & Gamble, Phillips Electronics, Sara Lee, Del Monte, Lego, and Frito Lay, to mention a few.
We would suggest the pet foods division of Del Monte is a good example. The company used an online community to help develop and evolve a new product that took just six months to be launched into the trade. The community, called “I Love My Dog”, enabled Del Monte to tap into consumers’ own means of communication – blogs, chat rooms, message boards, podcasts, videos, and online groups – and bring together specific groups of people who share common interests or characteristics to create an ongoing, interactive dialogue.
The “I Love My Dog” community saves Del Monte a considerable amount of time by focusing on the ideas that their customers will most value which, in turn, gives the company a competitive edge.
Other companies, while not venturing as far afield as end-customers, are also dramatically changing the way they source, develop, and evolve new ideas by using internal crowds. PepsiCo’s snack food division, Frito Lay, has set up an employee community called an Idea Network and invited a broad swath of its employees (from marketing, finance, supply chain management and the factory floor) to join and participate in helping the company identify and develop new product ideas using, among other various tools, predictive market technology.
Frito Lay’s goal was to fill the development pipeline with great ideas. The company felt the best way to accomplish this was to rely on the collective wisdom of a crowd. Generating hundreds of innovative ideas, the company is now reviewing and refining them for strategic fit and consumer testing.
But does the democratisation of innovation mean the beginning of the end of R&D and NPD departments? Not any time soon. Despite earlier successes, there is still strong resistance from some companies to relax control of NPD, utilising end-customers, partners or employees to produce the next big idea. Additionally, there will still be a need for internal experts to drive new ideas through the development stages, and continue to apply their expertise.
However, the pioneers have come to realise that they are better served by embracing less control over the process (rather than fighting it) if it means faster innovation and the development of potentially more successful new products. The options are having 100 per cent control over an internal process that delivers a 75 per cent failure rate for new product development, or having some faith in the broader wisdom of a much larger audience.
Amal Johnson is CEO of MarketTools, an on-demand customer insight solutions provider, and Georges Berzgal is its managing director, Europe.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
By Georges Berzgal and Amal Johnson, of MarketTools
Published: July 11 2008 10:20 | Last updated: July 11 2008 10:20
Where do winning ideas come from? For most companies, the answer is from a select group of people in Research and Development, new product development (NPD), or marketing.
Today, however, a growing number of organisations are harnessing the power of the web to capitalise on the wealth of ideas among their customers and that often neglected source of inspiration, their rank and file employees. These companies are living the adage that there is “no monopoly on great ideas”, causing a shift in the direction of innovation while at the same time outsmarting the competition.
This shift could not have happened without the emergence of the internet and its evolution into what is commonly referred to as Web 2.0, a term that characterises the second wave of the internet where user-generated content and social networks drive significant activity.
The common practice in developing new products has been manufacturer-centric, highly process-driven, and limited to the domain of a small group of “experts” in the R&D and NPD departments. Companies usually start with trying to identify the “unmet needs” of their target audience. Those findings are subsequently translated by engineers and marketers into potentially new, or enhancements of existing, product concepts. These, in turn, are tested with consumers along several “stage gates” with the ultimate purpose of ending up with one or a limited number of “winning” products that can be launched in the marketplace.
Unfortunately, although this practice has been widely used for some time, its effectiveness at launching successful products has been dismal. Companies won’t openly discuss NPD failures but estimates range from 75-90 per cent depending on industry. Both direct and indirect costs, not to mention opportunity costs in terms of human capital and resources spent on failures, are substantial. An alternative model, the systematic use of broader origination of innovation, especially that involving end-customers, has been very limited and often haphazard. Until now.
The new model that is emerging is a more customer-centric model, or a variation thereof, and relies on the wisdom of crowds, rather than a handful of experts. This is a major shift in that companies are not just asking end-customers to identify their unmet needs, but they are also engaging them in helping invent new solutions to meet those needs; in essence, to be the outsourced R&D team.
This shift started, not surprisingly, in the technology industry with the open source movement that harnesses the power of hundreds (and in some cases thousands) of end-users to help develop or enhance software products. However, with the emergence and evolution of the internet to Web 2.0, and broad adoption and use of underlying technologies such as communities, chat, blogging etc by a mass market of internet users, this approach is increasingly being adopted by traditional multinationals such as Procter & Gamble, Phillips Electronics, Sara Lee, Del Monte, Lego, and Frito Lay, to mention a few.
We would suggest the pet foods division of Del Monte is a good example. The company used an online community to help develop and evolve a new product that took just six months to be launched into the trade. The community, called “I Love My Dog”, enabled Del Monte to tap into consumers’ own means of communication – blogs, chat rooms, message boards, podcasts, videos, and online groups – and bring together specific groups of people who share common interests or characteristics to create an ongoing, interactive dialogue.
The “I Love My Dog” community saves Del Monte a considerable amount of time by focusing on the ideas that their customers will most value which, in turn, gives the company a competitive edge.
Other companies, while not venturing as far afield as end-customers, are also dramatically changing the way they source, develop, and evolve new ideas by using internal crowds. PepsiCo’s snack food division, Frito Lay, has set up an employee community called an Idea Network and invited a broad swath of its employees (from marketing, finance, supply chain management and the factory floor) to join and participate in helping the company identify and develop new product ideas using, among other various tools, predictive market technology.
Frito Lay’s goal was to fill the development pipeline with great ideas. The company felt the best way to accomplish this was to rely on the collective wisdom of a crowd. Generating hundreds of innovative ideas, the company is now reviewing and refining them for strategic fit and consumer testing.
But does the democratisation of innovation mean the beginning of the end of R&D and NPD departments? Not any time soon. Despite earlier successes, there is still strong resistance from some companies to relax control of NPD, utilising end-customers, partners or employees to produce the next big idea. Additionally, there will still be a need for internal experts to drive new ideas through the development stages, and continue to apply their expertise.
However, the pioneers have come to realise that they are better served by embracing less control over the process (rather than fighting it) if it means faster innovation and the development of potentially more successful new products. The options are having 100 per cent control over an internal process that delivers a 75 per cent failure rate for new product development, or having some faith in the broader wisdom of a much larger audience.
Amal Johnson is CEO of MarketTools, an on-demand customer insight solutions provider, and Georges Berzgal is its managing director, Europe.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
FT.com / Digital Business / Web 2.0 - How Web 2.0 will change the face of business…
FT.com / Digital Business / Web 2.0 - How Web 2.0 will change the face of business…
How Web 2.0 will change the face of business…
By John Newton
Published: July 11 2008 10:20 | Last updated: July 11 2008 10:20
Technology research company Forrester predicts that by 2013, social software, the application of Web 2.0 for the enterprise, will grow at an annual rate of 43 per cent per year. This is quickly becoming the fastest growing sector in the enterprise software industry. However, many people are confused by what Web 2.0 is and its significance in the workplace and in culture, including those planning to adopt it.
Web 2.0 is best explained by defining the technologies that make it up. A collection of brands provide the metaphors for what is different in the way we use new web technologies – Google for search, YouTube for video, Flickr for photos, MySpace and Facebook for social networking and Wikipedia for wikis. These brands as metaphors become the nouns and verbs of describing Web 2.0 as a new way of socialising, communicating and sharing with each other in huge consumer-scale markets.
This is not so much a revolution in technology, more how people use technology and interact with each other as a result. The amazing technological innovations have really been happening behind the scenes with the huge build out of inter-networking and creation of new scalability technologies through open source. The open source sharing of code used to build these sites have made it possible to build and manage sites on a modest budget and deliver new content and services to anyone. This has allowed a whole new class of people to use technology that they would not previously have had access to. Consequently, websites reacted and evolved rapidly to adapt to these new users and realised that computers could be used as a medium of expression, sharing and revelation.
Users voted with their mouse for sites that appealed to their personal sense of expression. Sites that imposed constraints were quickly discarded. The ones that allowed individuals to write, edit or tag rose quickly up the internet charts of popularity. Web 2.0 became a democratic revolution with core principles of freedom of speech and freedom of assembly on the internet.
Social networking sites allow everyone to become a contributor by simply creating their home page and being compelled to enhance or adorn it in response to friends doing the same thing. Many large corporations that have skills or profile pages for their users, but even senior executives may be more likely to update their Facebook or LinkedIn profiles than corporate skills page.
Michael Lynch, CEO of Autonomy, suggested in these pages that Web 2.0 was something that needed to be tamed. Perhaps this is missing the point. Web 2.0 is not anarchic, nor is it necessarily bad for business. To try to control Web 2.0 is like trying to put one’s finger in the dyke. It is happening and there is nothing that business can do to prevent it. When companies try to restrict access, they either find that the roadblocks have been circumscribed or that potential employees go elsewhere.
Generation Y, the generation born between 1978 and now, has only known the empowerment of the internet and has become accustomed to have their vote counted. To try and control it can only disenfranchise them. To empower them yields an optimistic workforce, with conversation between stakeholders in enlightened collaboration. In addition, my generation, the Baby Boomers, are starting to retire, taking with them some of the most valuable knowledge ever accumulated. Knowledge management programs over the last two decades have failed to capture that knowledge, is Web 2.0 the last hope of retaining it?
Enterprise software vendors will get there, but only with coaxing and coaching of a new generation. Eventually they will figure out that Web 2.0 is not simply about collaboration features and interactive web technologies, but empowerment of their users and the ability to draw in a critical mass of users from outside the trusted circle.
Obviously care should be taken in what is opened up. However, rather than treating Web 2.0 content suspiciously, corporations should ring fence the information that must be controlled and open up the rest to participation. At the Enterprise 2.0 conference in June, Pfizer presented on how they were using open source technology to enable Web 2.0 collaboration. This is a brave move in the highly regulated world of pharmaceuticals, but they have clear boundaries in terms of what content needs to be regulated. They have created a vision and a reality that uses the same technology as Wikipedia to create Pfizerpedia, a wiki of process and ideas that feed into the main areas of research and manufacturing.
Change in the enterprise is likely to come from outside as well. If you are an information worker, you use Google more than any of your internal systems. These websites will set further expectations on the internal systems you use and a requirement to integrate information with these external sources of information. Web 2.0 has an answer for this with an integration technique known as “mash up”, the ability to mix information from multiple sources using the web browser itself as a point of integration. These external sources of information provide something that our internal information systems could never provide – a critical mass of opinion utilising the so-called “Wisdom of the Crowds”.
The most profound effect Web 2.0 will have is on the way we do business rather than just the technology we use. Employees will use this freedom of speech to provide valuable feedback to the business. Customers will become part of the decision-making process and allow us to design the most imaginative products and services.
As with any opportunity, there lies risk, and embracing Web 2.0 is not without its risks. However, smart businesses can already see the opportunities and are willing to take those risks.
John Newton is chief technology officer at Alfresco
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
How Web 2.0 will change the face of business…
By John Newton
Published: July 11 2008 10:20 | Last updated: July 11 2008 10:20
Technology research company Forrester predicts that by 2013, social software, the application of Web 2.0 for the enterprise, will grow at an annual rate of 43 per cent per year. This is quickly becoming the fastest growing sector in the enterprise software industry. However, many people are confused by what Web 2.0 is and its significance in the workplace and in culture, including those planning to adopt it.
Web 2.0 is best explained by defining the technologies that make it up. A collection of brands provide the metaphors for what is different in the way we use new web technologies – Google for search, YouTube for video, Flickr for photos, MySpace and Facebook for social networking and Wikipedia for wikis. These brands as metaphors become the nouns and verbs of describing Web 2.0 as a new way of socialising, communicating and sharing with each other in huge consumer-scale markets.
This is not so much a revolution in technology, more how people use technology and interact with each other as a result. The amazing technological innovations have really been happening behind the scenes with the huge build out of inter-networking and creation of new scalability technologies through open source. The open source sharing of code used to build these sites have made it possible to build and manage sites on a modest budget and deliver new content and services to anyone. This has allowed a whole new class of people to use technology that they would not previously have had access to. Consequently, websites reacted and evolved rapidly to adapt to these new users and realised that computers could be used as a medium of expression, sharing and revelation.
Users voted with their mouse for sites that appealed to their personal sense of expression. Sites that imposed constraints were quickly discarded. The ones that allowed individuals to write, edit or tag rose quickly up the internet charts of popularity. Web 2.0 became a democratic revolution with core principles of freedom of speech and freedom of assembly on the internet.
Social networking sites allow everyone to become a contributor by simply creating their home page and being compelled to enhance or adorn it in response to friends doing the same thing. Many large corporations that have skills or profile pages for their users, but even senior executives may be more likely to update their Facebook or LinkedIn profiles than corporate skills page.
Michael Lynch, CEO of Autonomy, suggested in these pages that Web 2.0 was something that needed to be tamed. Perhaps this is missing the point. Web 2.0 is not anarchic, nor is it necessarily bad for business. To try to control Web 2.0 is like trying to put one’s finger in the dyke. It is happening and there is nothing that business can do to prevent it. When companies try to restrict access, they either find that the roadblocks have been circumscribed or that potential employees go elsewhere.
Generation Y, the generation born between 1978 and now, has only known the empowerment of the internet and has become accustomed to have their vote counted. To try and control it can only disenfranchise them. To empower them yields an optimistic workforce, with conversation between stakeholders in enlightened collaboration. In addition, my generation, the Baby Boomers, are starting to retire, taking with them some of the most valuable knowledge ever accumulated. Knowledge management programs over the last two decades have failed to capture that knowledge, is Web 2.0 the last hope of retaining it?
Enterprise software vendors will get there, but only with coaxing and coaching of a new generation. Eventually they will figure out that Web 2.0 is not simply about collaboration features and interactive web technologies, but empowerment of their users and the ability to draw in a critical mass of users from outside the trusted circle.
Obviously care should be taken in what is opened up. However, rather than treating Web 2.0 content suspiciously, corporations should ring fence the information that must be controlled and open up the rest to participation. At the Enterprise 2.0 conference in June, Pfizer presented on how they were using open source technology to enable Web 2.0 collaboration. This is a brave move in the highly regulated world of pharmaceuticals, but they have clear boundaries in terms of what content needs to be regulated. They have created a vision and a reality that uses the same technology as Wikipedia to create Pfizerpedia, a wiki of process and ideas that feed into the main areas of research and manufacturing.
Change in the enterprise is likely to come from outside as well. If you are an information worker, you use Google more than any of your internal systems. These websites will set further expectations on the internal systems you use and a requirement to integrate information with these external sources of information. Web 2.0 has an answer for this with an integration technique known as “mash up”, the ability to mix information from multiple sources using the web browser itself as a point of integration. These external sources of information provide something that our internal information systems could never provide – a critical mass of opinion utilising the so-called “Wisdom of the Crowds”.
The most profound effect Web 2.0 will have is on the way we do business rather than just the technology we use. Employees will use this freedom of speech to provide valuable feedback to the business. Customers will become part of the decision-making process and allow us to design the most imaginative products and services.
As with any opportunity, there lies risk, and embracing Web 2.0 is not without its risks. However, smart businesses can already see the opportunities and are willing to take those risks.
John Newton is chief technology officer at Alfresco
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
CONTROLLING INFORMAT ION R I S K EXTENDING CONTROL TO THE EDGE: MICROSOFT SHAREPOINT PLUS NEXTPAGE
CONTROLLING INFORMATION RISK EXTENDING CONTROL TO THE EDGE: MICROSOFT SHAREPOINT PLUS NEXTPAGE
In today’s unfriendly legal climate, the astonishing rise in the power of laptop and desktop computers has created an unprecedented level of information risk. For example, over
7.5 billion Office documents are created annually, 80% of which are stored at the “edge” of the organization—on hard drives and scattered shared drives. The associated business costs and risks are important,complex and top of mind for a broad range of organizations. They include: A first step to solving these problems involves publishing and consistently enforcing document retention and disposition policies. Unfortunately, document policy compliance is abysmally low in most firms because user behavior is so difficult to dictate—especially in firms where business is primarily conducted using individually controlled laptops and desktops.
Even if your enterprise is deploying or has deployed a centralized system of record, compliance with policies such as routine disposition may be problematic. The purpose of this guide is to help you understand how Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) and NextPage can work together to address these types of challenges.
- The high costs of e-discovery
- Legal and regulatory risk associated with uncontrolled information
- Low compliance with contractually required safe handling of electronic information
HOW MOSS & NEXTPAGE WORK
TOGETHER
SharePoint centrally hosts documents and other information for both collaboration and long-term retention. NextPage tracks all document activity outside of SharePoint, including activity related directly to documents inside SharePoint. NextPage also enforces policies with coverage inside and outside of SharePoint.
Role of MOSS: Retention
Centralizes content by hosting a common set of documents, workflows, tasks lists, etc. for a team. This reduces but may not eliminate communication and content that resides in email and on individuals’ hard drives. Streamlines the process of eDiscovery.
Provides a repository of record and manages records throughout their retention period.
Exposes information via a portal interface and enterprise search.
Role of NextPage: Disposition
Tracks all documents and versions that exist outside and inside MOSS. This includes
documents that start inside MOSS and then leave the system, as well as documents that
are created outside MOSS (e.g. on a user’s hard drive). NextPage also follows documents wherever they go (e.g. email and thumb drives), and it connects all versions and copies of a document via the Digital Thread™.
Maintains document classification information,optionally from the moment of document
creation. NextPage can collect this information manually or automatically, from inside or outside of MOSS.
Enforces document policies outside of MOSS,and optionally inside. For example, policies can gather documents into MOSS or seek and destroy non-records outside of MOSS.
Monitors document policy compliance throughout the enterprise.
For more information about the NextPage platform and solutions, please visit http://www.nextpage.com.
In today’s unfriendly legal climate, the astonishing rise in the power of laptop and desktop computers has created an unprecedented level of information risk. For example, over
7.5 billion Office documents are created annually, 80% of which are stored at the “edge” of the organization—on hard drives and scattered shared drives. The associated business costs and risks are important,complex and top of mind for a broad range of organizations. They include: A first step to solving these problems involves publishing and consistently enforcing document retention and disposition policies. Unfortunately, document policy compliance is abysmally low in most firms because user behavior is so difficult to dictate—especially in firms where business is primarily conducted using individually controlled laptops and desktops.
Even if your enterprise is deploying or has deployed a centralized system of record, compliance with policies such as routine disposition may be problematic. The purpose of this guide is to help you understand how Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) and NextPage can work together to address these types of challenges.
- The high costs of e-discovery
- Legal and regulatory risk associated with uncontrolled information
- Low compliance with contractually required safe handling of electronic information
HOW MOSS & NEXTPAGE WORK
TOGETHER
SharePoint centrally hosts documents and other information for both collaboration and long-term retention. NextPage tracks all document activity outside of SharePoint, including activity related directly to documents inside SharePoint. NextPage also enforces policies with coverage inside and outside of SharePoint.
Role of MOSS: Retention
Centralizes content by hosting a common set of documents, workflows, tasks lists, etc. for a team. This reduces but may not eliminate communication and content that resides in email and on individuals’ hard drives. Streamlines the process of eDiscovery.
Provides a repository of record and manages records throughout their retention period.
Exposes information via a portal interface and enterprise search.
Role of NextPage: Disposition
Tracks all documents and versions that exist outside and inside MOSS. This includes
documents that start inside MOSS and then leave the system, as well as documents that
are created outside MOSS (e.g. on a user’s hard drive). NextPage also follows documents wherever they go (e.g. email and thumb drives), and it connects all versions and copies of a document via the Digital Thread™.
Maintains document classification information,optionally from the moment of document
creation. NextPage can collect this information manually or automatically, from inside or outside of MOSS.
Enforces document policies outside of MOSS,and optionally inside. For example, policies can gather documents into MOSS or seek and destroy non-records outside of MOSS.
Monitors document policy compliance throughout the enterprise.
For more information about the NextPage platform and solutions, please visit http://www.nextpage.com.
Friday, July 04, 2008
Managing a Web 2.0 Strategy
Managing a Web 2.0 Strategy
By Kim Jones, of Sun Microsystems
Published: July 4 2008 10:14 | Last updated: July 4 2008 10:14
There is a Japanese proverb: “None of us are as smart as all of us”. In 2004, Tim O’Reilly and MediaLive International coined the term “Web 2.0”, when they chose it as the name for a conference focused on participative web technologies.
Wikipedia, considered by many an exemplary Web 2.0 application, defines Web 2.0 as “a second generation of services available on the World Wide Web that lets people collaborate and share information online. Web 2.0 refers to a diverse set of technologies and approaches designed to capture our collective intelligence through online, two-way dialogue.
It offers a new way of doing business: one that encompasses new technologies and business models that allow organisations to collaborate, streamline and accelerate business processes between customers, employees, and partners.
Getting started is easy. Blogs and bulletin boards cost little to set up, and even if the link between the traffic on such sites and the incremental revenue generated is hard to measure, the information coming from the community provides valuable insights to the business.
Incorporating these insights back into business processes will in turn increase your value to the community. We can see this today in some of the leading Web 2.0 destinations such as Facebook, YouTube, MySpace and Google – but for most organisations, the successful incorporation of Web 2.0 remains a challenge as, in many cases, it is an adjunct to, not an integral part of the business strategy.
Companies of all sizes, from a one-person start-up to a large enterprise, will undoubtedly benefit by integrating Web 2.0 technologies as a strategic differentiator in their business strategy. A good example of this is a UK company, Favorit Limited. Blogs have become extremely popular over the last few years, with various estimates putting the number of existing sites at more than 75m. Favorit specialises in bringing social media to a mass worldwide internet audience, and works with all of the complicated content online to simplify information for their users.
We also see examples of organisations using established Web 2.0 sites to improve their operational efficiency, such as the flight crew of a major airline that has chosen to use Facebook to manage schedules and a management consultancy using Facebook for the co-ordination of a new starters’ ”onboarding” programme.
We know that strong leadership, outstanding innovation, clever branding and effective change management are the building blocks of a successful organisation, but over time the business can fail if the world changes and you are unprepared for it. In terms of interaction, the world is changing rapidly, with most of us participating on the web every single day. Smart organisations are adopting new network-centric technologies and services to understand and meet our growing expectations in order to build and maintain their competitive edge. Continued competitiveness must be a goal we all strive to achieve and Web 2.0 plays an increasingly important role.
Web 2.0 can help in two ways. First, it enables organisations to engage with customers more directly, capturing community knowledge which can be used to enhance products, processes and user experience. For example, if you have ever shopped for books or gifts online, you know that the process is enhanced by product recommendations created by combining the feedback from other shoppers.
Second, it supports the business itself through improved team communication and collaboration. Especially in our organisation, blogs, wikis and popular Web 2.0 sites such as Ning and Facebook are used alongside more traditional communications vehicles such as e-mail and collaboration sites to support the way we work.
Web 2.0 will only deliver value in a business if it emerges from the bottom-up, from the needs and wants of users, rather than being designed from the top down as is typically the case with application development projects. Businesses must first understand how Web 2.0 will fit their organisation’s culture and business models and then invest the time to understand the best way to make use of participative technologies.
So how does a company “manage a Web 2.0 strategy”? Some things to consider are:
Take your company’s culture into account – how do you communicate and interact today (both internally and externally) and how could this be enhanced through the use of participative technologies? How do you then encourage people to participate?
Realise that transparency is created with Web 2.0 applications and be prepared to listen and react to this information, both negative and positive. What new processes must you implement in order to respond to, and take advantage of, this new wealth of information?
Deploy a flexible, secure IT infrastructure to support it. This is crucial, as successful Web 2.0 applications can create exponential demand for compute power and network bandwidth. The IT architecture needs to be designed to accommodate rapid scale-out in terms of processing power and data storage and rapid scale-up in terms of the number of users it supports. There are implications on cost, space and power in the choices that you make and these need to be modelled up front. The last scenario you want is to invest in building a successful site or application, only to have to take it off-line for re-architecting when the infrastructure can’t scale to match your success.
Finally, I’d advise adhering to open standards and technologies and the incorporation of open source software where possible. Not only will this reduce the cost of your Web 2.0 project, it will give you far more flexibility and choice in the medium to long term.
In summary, Web 2.0 affects every organisation. We have only begun to see what the internet is capable of delivering. Start-up companies and Fortune 2000 customers are leveraging the network to use, enable and provide services. There are more then 1bn devices online today and more then 5bn yet to connect. For consumers and for the business landscape, there is opportunity everywhere.
Kim Jones is president and managing director for Sun Microsystems, UK & Ireland
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
By Kim Jones, of Sun Microsystems
Published: July 4 2008 10:14 | Last updated: July 4 2008 10:14
There is a Japanese proverb: “None of us are as smart as all of us”. In 2004, Tim O’Reilly and MediaLive International coined the term “Web 2.0”, when they chose it as the name for a conference focused on participative web technologies.
Wikipedia, considered by many an exemplary Web 2.0 application, defines Web 2.0 as “a second generation of services available on the World Wide Web that lets people collaborate and share information online. Web 2.0 refers to a diverse set of technologies and approaches designed to capture our collective intelligence through online, two-way dialogue.
It offers a new way of doing business: one that encompasses new technologies and business models that allow organisations to collaborate, streamline and accelerate business processes between customers, employees, and partners.
Getting started is easy. Blogs and bulletin boards cost little to set up, and even if the link between the traffic on such sites and the incremental revenue generated is hard to measure, the information coming from the community provides valuable insights to the business.
Incorporating these insights back into business processes will in turn increase your value to the community. We can see this today in some of the leading Web 2.0 destinations such as Facebook, YouTube, MySpace and Google – but for most organisations, the successful incorporation of Web 2.0 remains a challenge as, in many cases, it is an adjunct to, not an integral part of the business strategy.
Companies of all sizes, from a one-person start-up to a large enterprise, will undoubtedly benefit by integrating Web 2.0 technologies as a strategic differentiator in their business strategy. A good example of this is a UK company, Favorit Limited. Blogs have become extremely popular over the last few years, with various estimates putting the number of existing sites at more than 75m. Favorit specialises in bringing social media to a mass worldwide internet audience, and works with all of the complicated content online to simplify information for their users.
We also see examples of organisations using established Web 2.0 sites to improve their operational efficiency, such as the flight crew of a major airline that has chosen to use Facebook to manage schedules and a management consultancy using Facebook for the co-ordination of a new starters’ ”onboarding” programme.
We know that strong leadership, outstanding innovation, clever branding and effective change management are the building blocks of a successful organisation, but over time the business can fail if the world changes and you are unprepared for it. In terms of interaction, the world is changing rapidly, with most of us participating on the web every single day. Smart organisations are adopting new network-centric technologies and services to understand and meet our growing expectations in order to build and maintain their competitive edge. Continued competitiveness must be a goal we all strive to achieve and Web 2.0 plays an increasingly important role.
Web 2.0 can help in two ways. First, it enables organisations to engage with customers more directly, capturing community knowledge which can be used to enhance products, processes and user experience. For example, if you have ever shopped for books or gifts online, you know that the process is enhanced by product recommendations created by combining the feedback from other shoppers.
Second, it supports the business itself through improved team communication and collaboration. Especially in our organisation, blogs, wikis and popular Web 2.0 sites such as Ning and Facebook are used alongside more traditional communications vehicles such as e-mail and collaboration sites to support the way we work.
Web 2.0 will only deliver value in a business if it emerges from the bottom-up, from the needs and wants of users, rather than being designed from the top down as is typically the case with application development projects. Businesses must first understand how Web 2.0 will fit their organisation’s culture and business models and then invest the time to understand the best way to make use of participative technologies.
So how does a company “manage a Web 2.0 strategy”? Some things to consider are:
Take your company’s culture into account – how do you communicate and interact today (both internally and externally) and how could this be enhanced through the use of participative technologies? How do you then encourage people to participate?
Realise that transparency is created with Web 2.0 applications and be prepared to listen and react to this information, both negative and positive. What new processes must you implement in order to respond to, and take advantage of, this new wealth of information?
Deploy a flexible, secure IT infrastructure to support it. This is crucial, as successful Web 2.0 applications can create exponential demand for compute power and network bandwidth. The IT architecture needs to be designed to accommodate rapid scale-out in terms of processing power and data storage and rapid scale-up in terms of the number of users it supports. There are implications on cost, space and power in the choices that you make and these need to be modelled up front. The last scenario you want is to invest in building a successful site or application, only to have to take it off-line for re-architecting when the infrastructure can’t scale to match your success.
Finally, I’d advise adhering to open standards and technologies and the incorporation of open source software where possible. Not only will this reduce the cost of your Web 2.0 project, it will give you far more flexibility and choice in the medium to long term.
In summary, Web 2.0 affects every organisation. We have only begun to see what the internet is capable of delivering. Start-up companies and Fortune 2000 customers are leveraging the network to use, enable and provide services. There are more then 1bn devices online today and more then 5bn yet to connect. For consumers and for the business landscape, there is opportunity everywhere.
Kim Jones is president and managing director for Sun Microsystems, UK & Ireland
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008
Microsoft SharePoint Popularity Comes with Issues
Microsoft's SharePoint Server 2007 may be taking off in the enterprise, but the software doesn't come without holes, warts and a variety of other issues that need to be addressed in any corporate deployment.
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