Web 2.0 Confusion Hindering Firms
An article in IT Week in the UK this week titled Web 2.0 Confusion Hindering Firms reports on research that has just been completed by IT consulting firm Parity, into levels of understanding of Web 2.0 tools in organizations. In many ways, it read to me like similar research results about understanding of the importance of the internet to business, back in the early 1990s. My interest in IT is limited to its application to strategy and its impact on strategy in the firms that I serve, so IT Week is not on my usual reading list. The heads-up came from a new "intelligent" current affairs search tool that I am test driving, called Silobreaker. (More on this once I've "driven" it a bit more. Looks promising, so far.)
In any event, nearly half of senior managers polled did not understand the benefits of promoting Web 2.0 in the workplace and a third of IT managers said they lack understanding of this new area of technology. But .... of those who did find benefit in using Web 2.0, over half said they were able to work more efficiently, or could work together across different locations more easily.
HR staff are apparently similarly uninformed about Web 2.0, according to a different research project by security firm Clearswift. They found one in five HR decision makers are unfamiliar with Web 2.0 phenomena like social networking sites, and 65 percent said they deny employee access to these sites. Half of those surveyed said they have had to discipline staff for time wasting on the internet.
John Court, an IT manager for law firm SJ Berwin LLP, said it is increasingly difficult for his IT team to distinguish between personal and business usage and said end-user education and awareness raising about the impact of using such sites is key.
Yes, Web 2.0 tools are indeed still very much at the front edge of the curve. As with so much innovation, the first adopters amongst law firms [a couple of years ago, now] were fringe firms who had people passionate about technology to champion the idea. They were followed by the global leaders, who saw the potential and had the critical mass to give a new idea a try without fear of significant consequences if it turned out to be a waste of time. Allen & Overy and Linklaters are two that I have some personal knowledge of in this area, that have made great strides in building Web 2.0 concepts into their firms. That leaves those "in the middle." Not that this, in itself, presents a problem. There is much to be said for learning from the successes and mistakes of others.
One thing is for sure, though: Web 2.0 and its new approaches to how firms work (like brainswarming, for instance) are here to stay. If ever there was a trend to watch, it is this one. One does not need to be amongst the first to adopt the new approaches (it's too late for that now, anyway) .... but it would not be a good idea to lag too far behind the pack, either.