E Business Web 2.0
Doi:10.1145/1859204 . 1 8 5 9 2 2 5
What do wikis, blogs, podcasts, social networks, virtual worlds, and the rest do for corporate productivity and management?
BY STEPhEn J. anDRioLE
Business impact of Web 2.0 Technologies t H i s a r t iC l e d e sC r iB e s
research designed to measure the impact of the business value of wikis, blogs, podcasts, folksonomies, mashups, social networks, virtual worlds, crowdsourcing, and RSS filters—all Web 2.0 technologies. Properly deployed, they may well permit companies to cost-effectively increase by Web 2.0 technologies. Only limited published research is available today exploring the contribution of Web 2.0 technologies to
their productivity and, ultimately, their competitive advantage; the research reported here includes results of interview, observation, and survey data-collection from select companies and industries primarily in the U.S. across six performance areas: knowledge management, rapid application development, customer relationship management, collaboration/ communication, innovation, and training. The results include caution, skepticism, and a significant contribution to collaboration and communication. Wikis, blogs, and RSS filters have had the greatest impact, while virtual worlds have had virtually none. Security remains a concern, but we found that communication and collaboration are generally well served
key insights
Web 2.0 technologies can help improve collaboration and communication within most companies. These technologies should be assessed to determine real impact, and a number of assessment techniques, including interviews, observations, and surveys, can be used to measure impact over time across multiple business areas. These technologies can help improve collaboration and communication across multiple vertical industries, though many companies are cautious about deploying them. 67
dEC E m B E r 2 0 1 0 | vo l . 5 3 | N o. 1 2 | C o m m u n i C aT i o nS o f T hE aCm
What do wikis, blogs, podcasts, social networks, virtual worlds, and the rest do for corporate productivity and management?
BY STEPhEn J. anDRioLE
Business impact of Web 2.0 Technologies t H i s a r t iC l e d e sC r iB e s
research designed to measure the impact of the business value of wikis, blogs, podcasts, folksonomies, mashups, social networks, virtual worlds, crowdsourcing, and RSS filters—all Web 2.0 technologies. Properly deployed, they may well permit companies to cost-effectively increase by Web 2.0 technologies. Only limited published research is available today exploring the contribution of Web 2.0 technologies to
their productivity and, ultimately, their competitive advantage; the research reported here includes results of interview, observation, and survey data-collection from select companies and industries primarily in the U.S. across six performance areas: knowledge management, rapid application development, customer relationship management, collaboration/ communication, innovation, and training. The results include caution, skepticism, and a significant contribution to collaboration and communication. Wikis, blogs, and RSS filters have had the greatest impact, while virtual worlds have had virtually none. Security remains a concern, but we found that communication and collaboration are generally well served
key insights
Web 2.0 technologies can help improve collaboration and communication within most companies. These technologies should be assessed to determine real impact, and a number of assessment techniques, including interviews, observations, and surveys, can be used to measure impact over time across multiple business areas. These technologies can help improve collaboration and communication across multiple vertical industries, though many companies are cautious about deploying them. 67
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