Leverage Web 2.0 in your business

Although Web 2.0 already has a large number of users, some companies are moving too slowly in adopting Web 2.0. However, many companies are now aware of the enormous potential of Web 2.0 and are aware of how Web 2.0 services such as YouTube, Twitter and SlideShare provide value to their organizations ...

Although Web 2.0 already has a large number of users, some companies are moving too slowly in adopting Web 2.0. However, many companies are now aware of the enormous potential of Web 2.0 and are aware of how Web 2.0 services such as YouTube, Twitter and SlideShare provide value to their organizations. See how businesses can harness the power of WEB 2.0 services while improving workplace relationships. Let employees share information that helps generate potential customers, helps recruit and enhance corporate branding, image, and corporate identity. Explore some Web 2.0 tools, such as LinkedIn and Crunchbase, and many of these tools provide Web services and APIs for incorporating their strengths into other applications.

WEB 2.0 Tools

Web 2.0 is a controversial term commonly used to describe changes in web design and development patterns from static, simple Web pages to dynamic, interactive, and collaborative Web applications. For many people, talking about software and Internet,web 2.0 is the most important set of concepts, while others think it's just a product of market hype. Some people think that the idea of Web 2.0 was there as early as the mid 1990s, and that Amazon and Yahoo!, for example, have been providing services that claim to have a Web 2.0 service feature since 1995 (as shown in Figure 1). In fact, regardless of how the term and its concepts are viewed, it is important that you and your business understand it and know how to use it most appropriately.

Figure 1. Amazon customer reviews and stars

Admittedly, most WEB 2.0 services are most useful to consumers and small businesses until now. However, whether your business has 10 or 100,000 employees, you can use these tools to bring real business value to your company. The streams of Twitter, delicious, Facebook, Flickr, and Digg, while not fully usable in the context of the enterprise, can open new markets and sales paths, if they are properly used, without ever sleeping in their markets and sales channels. In addition, we are beginning to see a trend that some large software vendors, such as IBM, Microsoft, Oracle and SAP, are also working on the introduction of enterprise-Class WEB 2.0 tools and services. By drawing on the idea behind consumer Web 2.0 technology, you will be able to make decisions more intelligently when the time comes to introduce WEB 2.0 into your business.

Slow Corporate response

Overall, companies are slow to adopt WEB 2.0 tools and services. In many cases, this is due to one or more of the following reasons:

• The market lacks large software vendors such as IBM, Oracle, and SAP.
• WEB 2.0 products are often "Beta" products. Companies prefer to invest in finished products rather than semi-finished products. (as shown in Figure 2).
• There are too many small startups and vendors in the market for WEB 2.0 services, and it's hard to predict which services will last.
• Most of the new tools and services are marketed to consumers. Therefore, it is difficult to identify the commercial value of the product.
• Worrying about Web 2 is just a fad, and as with all the popular things, it's fast and out of favour.

These concerns are all very plausible, as many Internet start-ups in the late 90 have probably not been able to sustain much of the WEB 2.0 start-ups that have sprung up in the past few years. So far, venture capital has injected millions of of billions of dollars into the WEB 2.0 investment. As the global financial crisis spreads, it can be foreseen that investment will be reduced and many existing start-ups will be mired in a lack of sustained investment.

Figure 2. Many Web 2.0 services are proud of the "Beta" status

However, many other problems that enterprises encounter with the adoption of WEB 2.0 tools are beginning to disappear. First, major players are starting to put enterprise-class WEB 2.0 products on the market. In addition to other WEB 2.0 features, the IBM LotusLive Suite includes a social networking platform targeting large organizations so that they can create internal social networks and enable employees to connect with colleagues worldwide (as shown in Figure 3). As Oracle mergers and acquisitions Bea,oracle inherits a product called Webcenter services, the product includes many enterprise-class Web 2.0 software, such as blogs, wikis, and forums. As for WEB 2.0 services that are always in the "Beta" release, in many cases they are considered equivalent to the final version. Many providers choose to keep their software in Beta because they are constantly innovating and refining their products. For Web 2.0, there is no release cycle or upgrade route, and you always use the latest version. As for Web 2.0, a consumer-facing problem, there are many services that are publishing tools for enterprise use, and the number of enterprise-specific WEB 2.0 products is increasing.

Figure 3. IBM LotusLive Suite is an example of an enterprise-Class WEB 2.0 solution