Category: Reinventing the enterprise

Get out of your cubicle

by  on  in Around the world, Just for fun, Reinventing the enterprise, Technology trends

I love design and architecture.

Many of us spend most of our working hours in offices that were designed in the 1970’s.  But we don’t need to. Check out officesnapshots.com and laze away a while checking out the digs of all your favourite companies. The tech companies, advertising firms, innovation groups and every stripe in-between.

Dream and enjoy.  And don’t forget to check out the nutrition stations, meeting rooms and fun spaces.

One of the really, on the edge ones, is the offices of Selgas Cano in Madrid.

Offices of Selga Cano - Officesnapshots.com

Offices of Selgas Cano - Officesnapshots.com

So how does your office rate?

Why do companies fear social media?

by  on  in Reinventing the enterprise, Social media, Technology trends

How often have you heard this:

“Social media makes listening easier. But listening is scary because we might not like what we hear.”

Ethan Yarbrough explores the topic of social media and says its better to be engage in the conversation because it is happening whether you are there or not What do you tell a company that fears social media.

If you really want to listen, then you need to be prepared for what your customers and employees are going to say. You might not be able to deliver what they want but you are able to meet them on their turf.

Forrester predicts dramatic growth in Enterprise 2.0

by  on  in Reinventing the enterprise, Technology trends

Forrester Research predicts that by 2013, the global Enterprise 2.0 will be $4.6 Billion. The biggest growth and share will be in social networking.

One example of an enterprise social network is NewsGator’s SocialSites. It built on top of Microsoft SharePoint and provides a dynamic space for communities, expertise location and “work streaming”. Two screenshots from NewsGator Profile Page and Community Site.

A few of the key messages from the report are:

  • that consumer Web 2.0 products are not long-term solutions for enterprises, especially free or ad-supported services
  • IT continues to be the gatekeeper preventing Web 2.0 applications from being leveraged in the enterprise
  • business areas are asking for these tools and bypassing IT if they find a service that will help them in some area
  • IT is worried about scalability of these applications
  • IT budgets are primarily focused on maintaining legacy applications with little capacity to look at these new tools
  • younger employees growing up with these tools will want something similar when they arrive at your doorstep to work
  • IT is concerned about the security of Web 2.0 applications
  • major enterprise players (IBM, Microsoft, etc) will make Enterprise 2.0 a feature of their monolithic solutions
  • major growth in the enterprise will not happen until the baby boomers retire from the executive ranks
  • social networking tools that allow customer interaction, profiles and participation in discussions and blogs will receive significant investment

Read a good review of the Forrester report.

Enterprise 2.0 Spending - Forrester

Enterprise 2.0 Spending - Forrester

Via ReadWriteWeb.com

Social software in government

by  on  in Reinventing the enterprise

It used to be that in government circles there was much more difficulty in getting people to communicate both within and across agencies. Let’s hope that great vision of opening up government continues.

Social software in government headed for mainstream

Two great quotes:

Government folks are really jazzed about social media. Within all industries, there’s some level of excitement and passion for social software. In government, it’s off the charts. I think that’s because there’s such a high level of frustration with existing rules and restrictions. People are dying to talk to each other, and to free themselves from the restrictions that government processes have put in place. Intellipedia was an inspiration to many, many agencies and individuals.

and…

The interest has an hourglass shape. Senior government officials “get it”; they see social software as a way for government agencies to be more integrated with the communities they serve. Junior and mid-level staffers “get it”; they see social software as a way to cut through bureaucracy and work more effectively day-to-day. The obstacle I hear about again and again is upper-middle managers who have internalized the need for minimizing risk, while not yet adopting a strategic mindset around serving the needs of the agency’s external stakeholders.