Enterprise 2.0 refers to the intersection of social media tools and the business world. It utilizes collaboration and interconnectivity enabled by web 2.0 technologies to break down silos and improve flexibility, productivity, and agility within organizations. While adoption faces challenges like resistance to change, proper planning and leadership buy-in can help drive successful implementation and realization of benefits like more efficient work processes. As mobile connectivity grows, a new culture of connected work across industries is emerging.

1. Communication & collaboration
in the Enterprise 2.0 world

2. Communication and collaboration in
the Enterprise 2.0 world
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 What is Enterprise 2.0?
1 What isn’t Enterprise 2.0?
1 Why should you care?
2 Making the leap: adoption challenges
2 After the ‘disruptive’ technology storm
3 Real-world examples of Enterprise 2.0
3 Connected business in the future
3 About Huddle

3. WHAT IS ENTERPRISE 2.0?
Let’s start with a definition. We are witnessing an unprecedented upheaval in terms of
the tools and processes available to us in the workplace, so what do we mean by the
term “Enterprise 2.0” in its contemporary usage? Essentially, we are defining the point at
which the social media landscape and the business world collide.
Remember, web 1.0 was the static Internet. Information was presented in a flat format
without the option to interact, comment or use any of the more dynamic elements of
the web that we now enjoy. So then, we now understand web 2.0 to denote an Internet
characterized by interoperability, collaboration and user-centric information sharing.
From our web 2.0 foundations, we have evolved the Enterprise 2.0 world. A commercial
topography defined by its sophisticated interconnectivity and ability to control and
manage data for new competitive advantages. This reality defines our starting point, how
we exploit these opportunities depends upon our next steps.
WHAT ISN’T ENTERPRISE 2.0?
Before we move on, it is important to draw a distinction between social media and true
Enterprise 2.0 software. Putting your company’s profile on Twitter or Facebook is not
Enterprise 2.0 mechanics in action.
There is a fundamental difference between the use of social media services for marketing
and customer engagement, and the higher-level enterprise- and process-orientated
software that features in Enterprise 2.0 scenarios.
Social software in the workplace is not simply social media shoehorned into the corporate
environment. It is about taking the interfaces, component parts and application engines
that drive social media - and then engineering them from the ground up for the enterprise.
WHY SHOULD YOU CARE?
What we need to realize is that an Enterprise 2.0 approach represents both a breath
of fresh air and a democratic leveling system in the corporate workplace. New levels
of interpersonal connectivity are suddenly unlocked and employees start to feel more
empowered.
This is because traditional business models, where departmental silos had previously
segmented workers, now become interconnected. Cross-departmental project work
becomes much more efficient through increased agility and flexibility - and a positive
impact on revenue and profits naturally results.
Not only do employees start to care more about their role in the new Enterprise 2.0
‘connected company’, but partners, suppliers and customers start to perceive a more
approachable ‘corporate personality’ of the company as a whole.
Internal and external boundaries start to blur and the Enterprise 2.0 company starts
to gain significant competitive advantage over its competitors. Once again, positive
effects are felt on the bottom line. But how does this so-called competitive advantage
opportunity manifest itself in the real world? The answer lies in three words: flexibility,
productivity and agility:
• Flexibility: Breaking down work elements such as individual tasks, processes,
meeting/connection points, delivery deadlines and financial targets into more
modular blocks through Enterprise 2.0 controls means greater flexibility throughout
the business. If these blocks are properly controlled, a positive business benefit
results.
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4. • Productivity: Process control is a necessary part of team management; the
Enterprise 2.0 company works with maximized worker control, but in the most
loosely-coupled and transparent way i.e. team controls are set to individual
manager AND employee preferences.
• Agility: Team members are able to share ideas, suggestions, action items
and opportunities in a more connected environment. Fast moving web-based
information flows can be tapped into and exploited.
Beyond the commercial sector, governmental and other public bodies are feeling the
effects of Enterprise 2.0 tools too. The Belgian Federal Public Service Social Security
deployed Huddle to get ready for the country’s Presidency of the Council of the
European Union. The teams used Huddle to provide input for negotiations and organize
conferences and meetings.
When the teams involved found that traditional email inboxes could not cope with the
volume of information being exchanged during its planning process; Huddle’s cloud-
based backbone was able to shoulder the data support burden. It allowed third parties
to access documents based on agreed policy restrictions due to the sensitive nature of
some of the materials.
So Enterprise 2.0 aware firms (and public bodies) realize that data is now a business
resource and providing quality tools to share, manage and work with data is a business
responsibility. This means evolving the organization to extend beyond the office walls
and recognize the values of knowledge and expertise held in each employees’ hands.
Connected file sharing, integrated document management and meeting organization
tools characterize the kind of business model that will succeed most directly here.
MAKING THE LEAP: ADOPTION CHALLENGES
Naturally, bringing in a new stream of work methodologies has its challenges.
Management is cautiously resistant to ‘change for change’s sake’, especially if new
processes are not fully justified and quantified in terms of their return on investment.
Enterprise 2.0 working methods are not immune from this concern.
The business function in any organization is typically going to be focused on three
things: customers, customers and customers. This means that channeling employee
focus away from the core function of the business to learn new IT skills is inevitably
going to meet with resistance.
For the IT department to initiate enterprise-wide IT driven change, a solid commercially
related rationale must be presented to both management and end users.
IT managers attempting to roll out Enterprise 2.0 collaboration tools need to first take
a basic feature-benefit approach to detailing their worth in front of the board. Crucially
here, these tools must be positioned as enabling technologies that will facilitate faster
and more efficient work methods.
Remember, initial perceptions may be of additional passwords, additional software
upgrades and additional security risks. Long-term benefits must be explained from the
start.
AFTER THE ‘DISRUPTIVE’ TECHNOLOGY STORM
The best Enterprise 2.0 deployment scenarios will be the ones where new collaborative
technologies have been implemented from ground zero so-to-speak. If an existing
project isn’t broken, then there is not necessarily any glaring need to try and fix it.
So we now sit at a fulcrum point in technological development. In the cloud computing
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5. powered business world, native desktop application development is overshadowed
by online apps and services. In this new world of business technology, the use of 2.0
era type technologies, such as online collaboration tools, will have been integrated into
processes from the very beginning of the project, or program.
These tools then expand and grow as they become a valuable resource for content
(both past and present) and sharing knowledge.
REAL-WORLD EXAMPLES OF ENTERPRISE 2.0
Effective use of web 2.0 and Enterprise 2.0 technologies in the real world demands
thorough and strategic planning before implementation. Questions you should ask your
Enterprise 2.0 provider should include:
• What learning curve will users need to climb to adopt new skills?
• Who sets permissions/policies for using discussion boards etc..?
• How will new tools actually help workers to be more productive?
• When is integrated web/phone better than a meeting?
• How are Enterprise 2.0 tools robust and Internet-secure?
• Where do we start on day one - how should deployment be managed?
If you want the members of your project to use new Enterprise 2.0 tools, it is important
to practice what you preach! Get senior people involved and get them to use the tools.
People are more inclined to adopt new technology if they see that the management
team is using it too.
The one sure-fire way to drive your users into your online collaboration tool is to make
it the only place to get the information they need to do their job. In the future, the
Enterprise 2.0 driven work process mentality will be as second nature as checking your
email is today.
CONNECTED BUSINESS IN THE FUTURE
Mobile connectivity and the exponentially increasing power of mobile devices is driving
many of the still-nascent Enterprise 2.0 technologies that are currently being developed.
Huddle’s prediction is one of a new working culture across businesses in almost every
vertical industry sector. The true worth of Enterprise 2.0 technologies (aided by the
consumerization of IT) will ultimately help break down corporate resistance to new
connected work practices.
More user-centric and user-influenced application development starts to flourish and
more customizable applications result. Deeper adoption of Enterprise 2.0 tools then
logically proliferates, people work smarter, companies operate smarter and long term
rewards are reaped. All it takes is one positive step forward.
ABOUT HUDDLE
Established in November 2006 and based in London and San Francisco, Huddle is the
leader in Enterprise Collaboration and Content Management in the cloud.
With Huddle, you can manage projects, share files and collaborate with people inside
and outside of your company, securely. It is available online, on mobile devices, on
the desktop, via Microsoft Office applications, major business social networks and in
multiple languages. Simply: if SharePoint was built today, they would’ve built Huddle.
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