Previously posted by Cheryl McKinnon on GTEC Blog.

This week my team and I are at the premier Enterprise 2.0 Conference, in Boston as part of the launch of our new Open Text Social Media product.

One of the ½ day workshops was led by Mr. Dion Hinchcliffe, noted Enterprise 2.0 consultant/analyst/blogger and author of some of the most well known E 2.0 Frameworks such as SLATES and FLATNESSES (see links for more information on these very useful constructs).

One of the key topics he addressed today was how to fund and plan for a 2.0 deployment inside an enterprise - public or private sector. Where should an organization expect to spend its resources - both financial and human costs?

In Hinchcliffe's experience, the breakdown often follows this pattern:

* Tools = 15%

This includes the cost of acquiring, and often customizing the tools to suit particular organizational needs. Cost of course can vary widely, depending on the tool selected, whether existing licenses can be used, or net new product introduced. But bottom line, this is often the smallest single outlay to consider

* Customization and Integration = 25%

The degree to which a tool must be customized to meet specific user experience needs, or perhaps tie into other key business applications to meet upfront requirements often will exceed the initial software license cost. Again, highly variable depending on complexity, number of integrations, and suitability of the initial software tool to meet the bulk of the requirements

* Community Management = 25%

This is the key ongoing cost consideration - once the software acquisition and required integrations are completed, ongoing community facilitation, moderation, internal awareness education, coaching and mentorship is essential to be successful and meet user engagement targets. Don't neglect investing in people to make this successful. Communities and 2.0 adoption are not short term campaigns - they require commitment and promotion to succeed.

* IT Support = 15%

Ensure the system functions smoothly, has appropriately resourced infrastructure to meet expected load and up-time commitments

* Project and Change Management = 20%

Next generation collaboration and communication tools will be embraced easily by some people, not by others. Invest in creating clear objectives, coaching, measure success and correct things that don't work. Ensure senior management is supportive of the objectives and have them lead by example. Cultural and behavioural change - as with any project that changes work habits and computing tools are bound to encounter roadblocks and challenges ; human nature is to resist change.

Bottom line? Don't starve the change management, education, internal marketing and ongoing community support requirements. Success with 2.0 is much more than software deployment. It's about engagement, better knowledge sharing, better support for the increasingly virtual work teams and extended networks we need to do our jobs.