Whitepapers: Enterprise 2.0

• Social Computing for Organizations

1. Web 2.0 and Social Computing

Today Web 2.0 and social computing encapsulate a new understanding of how Internet users interact with each other and consume Web content. A few years ago, the Internet experienced a paradigm shift with the introduction of new interactive technologies and communication models. While Web 2.0 refers mainly to technical innovations, social computing stands for users’ participation in and interaction with a Web site.  Web pages that were once static are suddenly enriched by a culture of user participation and contribution, producing more quality with more diverse content. As social computing moves into the business world, employees, customers, and other users contribute to this diversity by authoring and monitoring information for internal or public use.  As a result, more organizations are starting to incorporate the principles of  “user-generated content” and “many-to-one”  into their marketing strategy to create business models for driving revenue.

“Web 2.0” and “social computing” refer not so much to a technological revolution than a way of searching, presenting, and consuming information via the Internet. This trend is becoming even more firmly established in everyday life and is increasingly becoming the standard for new concepts such as wikis, blogs, forums and other ways for collaborating online.

Platforms such as Wikipedia, video and image communities (YouTube), or link collections (del.icio.us) provide easy access to information where every user can contribute, change and improve upon existing content. Referred to as “collective intelligence,” these collaborative sites provide a virtual space for diversity, quality, and controlled content.  Several new sites have recently emerged that have made the Internet an ideal place for exchange, participation, and nurturing personal and professional networks.  

The ability to enhance company Web sites and Intranets with user-generated content and other Web applications provide organizations with the ability to communicate more efficiently to internal and external audiences. In time, these target groups will expect companies to deliver content within an online environment that encourages social interaction and maximum flexibility for finding the right content at the right time.

This white paper focuses on how companies can benefit from the growing opportunities provided by social computing and how Open Text’s Enterprise Content Management solutions can support advanced collaboration to occur between people within and outside the organization while at the same time providing a secure and managed enterprise 2.0 environment for your content and intellectual property.  

Drivers of Social Computing

There are numerous technical and sociological changes that are supporting the creation, utilization, and future development of social computing and Web 2.0 in general. Users are now more experienced with the Internet than ever before and are ready to take this medium to the next level of interactivity. Moreover, a new generation of online users are coming of age during a period where the ability to communicate via the Web is not only widely accepted but almost second nature. Never before has the ability to publicize one’s opinion, personal information, and professional expertise been as easy or accessible as it in today’s world of online communication.  

...Download the complete whitepaper: Social Computing for Organizations (requires registration)

AIIM MarketIQ Intelligence Quarterly Q1 2008 - Enterprise 2.0: Agile, Emergent and Integrated

AIIM—The Enterprise Content Management Association, presents their Market IQ research document, which provides a thorough education in Enterprise 2.0. Examine how this genre of new technologies and related business models enable rapid and agile collaboration, information sharing, and emergence and integration capabilities in the extended enterprise. Download AIIM MarketIQ Q1 2008 (requires registration).