Balancing of Candy & Aspirin - Article from KW World October 2008 addressing the right balance between the exciting new opportunities of Web 2.0 and the need to apply compliance management to it.

1. communication into two-way conversations
Balancing Candy and and achieve the objective of turning recipi-
ents of content into suppliers of additional
information.
Aspirin Candy = Fun and Attractive
From building brand awareness and reach-
ing new prospects to improving customer
relations and gaining insights into product
evolution, the following social computing
The Goal for Enterprise 2.0 benefits are achieved across industries:
N Integration of customers, partners and
employees;
By Daniel Kraft, Senior Vice President, Open Text N Involvement of target groups with products,
brands, etc.;
N Strengthening of relationships and creation
Business of transparency; and
has two main objectives: gener- is now the corporate Achilles heel. Organi-
N Collect and publish knowledge in the
ate revenues and keep costs and risks low. zations adopting Web 2.0 must be cognizant
company.
All organizations must learn to strike the that 2.0 content can be subject to compliance
perfect balance between meeting the ex- just as other content types. Reducing burden Aspirin = Controlling Pain and Risk
pectations of Web site visitors and those of and headache means balancing “Aspirin” to Enterprises can’t jump headlong into
internal teams. Customers look for infor- ensure relief from the pain of controlling the adopting multiple Web 2.0 technologies
mation to make informed choices. Internal risk and cost of 2.0 tools. simply for the sake of doing so. Goals
teams have lead generation goals and must should target specific initiatives so growth
control public information. can be managed in line with content gover-
The Social Workplace
There is a balance between fun and nance requirements. Successful and safe
engagement vs. risk and cost, and achieving Innovations that exist in the consumer rollouts are the objective:
this balance means offering incentives to world will permeate the enterprise, and today, N Have a plan in place;
visit corporate Web sites yet with manage- employees bring expectations and Web expe- N Require security checks and balances;
ment tools to moderate and protect data riences shaped by their personal online habits N Base it on a solid ECM foundation to
under information governance policies. Is into the work environment, resulting in the leverage content and experience; and
this balance Candy vs. Aspirin? desire for similar capabilities. They seek oppor- N Reduce regulatory and compliance
tunities during their work day to participate in headaches.
Everybody wants candy...
the collaborative and social nature of the Web.
Today we know the Web 2.0 wave from Making aspirin work.
Like the early days of email and Internet years
consumer communities like Facebook, The fun part of Web 2.0 is obvious: freer
ago, management can be slow to see the value
LinkedIn and YouTube. They offer informa- voices by adopting intuitive tools. But the
of new tools in the work experience. The fact
tion sharing sites to bridge family, friends and implementation of a working infrastructure
that employees may use some of their work
colleagues, and the factors that make these requires some strategic steps to succeed.
time to blog, chat or read wikis or discussion
social networking tools attractive for personal Starting with business culture and a clear def-
forums may not seem to have immediate ben-
use can apply to the enterprise. Rich media inition of the business goals, Open Text has
efit, but many will do it anyway, and with the
such as photos, videos and sound clips, user- developed a set of steps to help you to attain
information gleaned or techniques learned, this
generated content and social networking sites the highest level of fun (and return) from your
time may prove useful in future work.
can be very powerful when used for corporate traditional compliance-driven projects:
While consumer adoption of social com-
collaboration. Corporate intranets can be N Develop a plan and define key stakeholders.
puting has been enormous, the surge in orga-
enriched by drawing on the knowledge of the Just like the Internet encouraged risky
nizational adoption has just begun.
workforce by providing them with communi- behaviors, Web 2.0 can have the same effect.
Web-based businesses and communications
cation tools—inspired by Web 2.0 blogs, Many companies rush into a project without
companies have been among the early
forums, podcasts and wikis, as well as instant a clear understanding of the goals. But as
adopters, but the real change in organiza-
messaging and collaborative spaces. Wrapping with all investments, only those that can be
tional adoption of 2.0 technologies is hap-
these tools in a message of empowerment and measured can be successful. Although bet-
pening within organizations not viewed as
self-expression is the candy treat often needed ter customer service or a nicer interface to a
Web-centric.
to encourage more discussion corporately. records retention plan is hard to measure,
Organizations will have different objec-
even intangible goals should be articulated.
...but organizations also need aspirin. tives for social computing depending on the
N Establish a 2.0 culture.
Compliance is a shadow over business information sharing challenges they face: geo-
While many organizations claim to be
practices. Information handling and disclo- graphic distribution, staff comfort level or their
open to new ideas and embrace an open door
sures have become subject to laws and regu- target customer group. Regardless of product
or industry, the success of a social comput- policy, it requires a bravery to commit to
lations, and companies need to be mindful
ing strategy will be based on how well it is some Web 2.0 ideas—opening direct dia-
about the legal and compliance implications
integrated with business culture and orga- logue with customers means accepting crit-
related to an open culture. Social networking
nizational processes. All organizations have icism in public about poor service or quality.
and the exchange of ideas and information
Allowing less senior staff to blog and com-
can be tracked and followed. Management the common objective of achieving stronger
ment on discussion sites will appear risky to
can be held responsible for any material networking groups, integration of internal and
management. Organizations committed to
information provided by staff. Once infor- external target groups and improvement of the
2.0 culture can update their email- or IM-
mation is in digital form, it becomes trace- communication and knowledge sharing cul-
use policies to include 2.0, and these poli-
able, and information in the hands of users ture throughout the company. By using
means more content volume and risk. Email social computing, companies turn one-way cies can outline Web 2.0 tools to use—and
KMWorld October 2008
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2. Open Text and Social Computing: The Content Experts’ Approach
At Open Text, we take an integrated approach on Web 2.0 and social computing.
With more than 17 years of expertise in search, collaboration, document management,
archiving, records management and Web content management based on some of the
most solid platforms in the market, we provide one-stop shopping for an exciting yet
safe social computing experience. For any organization to enjoy repeated success with
social computing, it must address four things when managing the wide array of content
and attempting to deliver it to users in the context of what they are trying to achieve:
1. Offer a user experience with the best Web 2.0 tools that encourages faster,
more effective and deeper connections between users, the organization and
each other;
2. Provide 2.0 technologies that consumers have come to expect, and deliver them in a managed way so that users see all
appropriate content when needed and in turn empower them to make faster and more educated decisions;
3. Have the new social capabilities inject faster, more flexible ways of communicating and capturing an organizations’ knowledge
to drive innovation and add agility; and
4. Archive, manage and control all Web 2.0 content to achieve compliance.
Open Text responds to these critical requirements through solutions that offer integration, management and optimization of content
delivered to the end user in a compelling user experience—all on top of a secure enterprise content management infrastructure.
N Own and control user networks.
should be accepted by PR, HR, legal and project spaces and ad hoc meetings. So how
business management. Monitoring and Consumer-centric Web 2.0 knows its do we move from Web 2.0 to Enterprise 2.0?
responding to the results needs to be part of users. If you want to participate, you share The following is a preliminary list of
this management commitment to 2.0. information, such as your age, gender or sta- requirements for a reliable and secure Enter-
N Make sure it’s built to last. tus. But this is not acceptable in an Enter- prise 2.0 scenario:
When we analyze projects that fail, we prise 2.0 environment. In the business N Modifying and versioning of any kind of
see a pattern: a strong start, a well-defined context, 2.0 practices are about knowledge, content is essential;
plan, senior management support and initial ideas, expertise and location. N Include processes and workflow;
success. But over time, the project loses N Network with the ecosystem. N Content to content and user relationships
momentum and eventually ends in apathy. The interconnected network not only should be the center of any strategy;
In dialogues with successful customers, we incorporates who interacts with whom but N The infrastructure will be mission critical
have identified three major topics that can also connects what they did. An audit trail (e.g., 24/7 support);
help to overcome or avoid this risk: 1. Turn of a user connection offers the visibility of
N It needs to be based on a solid ECM in-
the worker into an evangelist for change; 2. transaction entries to protect the organiza-
frastructure; and
Turn the evangelist into an engaged worker; tion. For the enterprise, this may not be
N 2.0 applications need to comply with con-
and 3. Communicate along the way. enough. Organizations require various lev-
sistent company-wide rules.
N Make it part of your strategy. els of auditing, some open to all users in the
Any Web 2.0 strategy should enhance— system and some only visible to the users By addressing these key areas, many of
not detract from—employee productivity, who were involved in the action. the Web 2.0 initiatives become safe and
the customer’s ability to work with you or Managing data integrity is another core viable options for engaging users inside and
the regulations you have to abide by. component of this ecosystem. Content avail- outside the enterprise. Web 2.0 and social
ability is key: a broken connection is syn-
Making candy safe. computing have moved beyond their origi-
onymous with lost data.
Not unlike the introduction of email, nal definition as an online consumer trend.
Web 2.0 is challenging to the organization Today, blogs, forums and other Web 2.0
and IT. The organization has to deal with a The Social Marketplace tools have become business communication
whole new way of communicating, and IT standards and essential components for suc-
While most Enterprise 2.0 discussions
has to make sure that information distributed cessful Web strategies. The opportunities
center around the internal aspect, Web 2.0
2.0-style is in compliance with defined rules available to companies that benefit from
will (once made safe) blur the lines between
and regulations. We have developed a set of Web-based internal and external collabora-
internal and external. Customer interaction
best practices to help our customers attain tion are both numerous and obvious, and
in sales, marketing, services and support via
the highest level of success out of a 2.0 ini- choosing to forego these advancements may
social networking will build a “social mar-
tiative, while being sensitive to organiza-
result in competitive disadvantage, reduced
ketplace” that challenges the traditional def-
tional security, disclosure and privacy issues.
customer loyalty and lackluster brand
initions of inside and outside. Best practices
N Take an integrated approach.
equity. But addressing “candy and aspirin”
wikis will include content from internal
Web 2.0 is not a separate initiative; it is
within your organization requires planning
resources and partners; support “hotlines”
the extension of a Web 1.0 strategy and as
and enthusiasm for new ways of working.
will move from phone and asynchronous
such it should be tightly integrated in your
Open Text brings its 17 years of experience
communications into chat and threaded dis-
overall Web and communication strategy.
in delivering secure Web-based solutions to
cussions in forums and lead generation and
But it is also not an isolated solution and
Web 2.0 innovation and its evolution inside
opportunity management will require much
needs to be aligned with an enterprise con-
the enterprise. T
tent management strategy. more open access to CRM information in
KMWorld October 2008 S13