
When online communities go to work
While the debate continues on about whether consumer social networking is an effective model for how we should run our organizations in the future, one under-appreciated online phenomenon is quietly and steadily remaking the very notion of business itself.
The world of online communities has evolved with social computing to become one of the most powerful new models for getting work done. Read my exploration of “When online communities go to work.”

Webciety and Enterprise 2.0: A snapshot of today’s social computing conversations
Though smaller than in year’s past, Germany’s CeBIT trade show in Hanover this week remains one of the giants of the industry and is a must-attend event for much of Europe’s technology leaders. For the last two years, I have been participating in Webciety, a show within a show that explores the emerging 21st century digital lifestyle.
Here is a breakdown of how Europe is looking at Enterprise 2.0 adoption and how it affects us as well.

The Facebook imperative for enterprise software
Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, the well-known CRM and cloud computing company (and now soon-to-be social software vendor) wrote a guest post on TechCrunch late last week making the case for “why enterprise software should take its cues from Facebook and become more social.”
What then does this mean for the future of IT and what impacts will social computing ultimately have on the enterprise.

Making government more open and social
Can social tools and community-based approaches truly help our government function better and operate more efficiently? Will open access to government data create important new opportunities for citizens and increase transparency? As we’ll see, these two questions are currently top-of-mind in many public sector policy discussions this year. The questions also herald underlying forces at work in the government landscape in many countries around the world, including the United states.
Here are some of the initiatives that are taking place this year and what’s happening with Government 2.0 as 2010 begins to heat up.

Ten emerging Enterprise 2.0 technologies to watch
Two significant and closely related trends in enterprise computing this year are the growth of Software-as-a-service (SaaS) and social computing. By most accounts, both are gaining ground fairly rapidly while still not being used for core business functions or mission critical applications in most large firms, at least not yet.
Here’s a breakdown of what Enterprise 2.0 technologies and products to watch this year.

Social CRM: Ground zero for Enterprise 2.0 in 2010
There’s been some debate recently on whether Social CRM is part of the broader Enterprise 2.0 story. I try to answer the question and explore some of the latest thinking on social business and how it can help transform the customer relationship for real competitive advantage.

Enterprise 2.0: The 2009 year in review
It’s that time of year again, when we look back at the year that was while making next year’s technology and business predictions. 2009 was an exciting year across the board for all things Web 2.0 in the enterprise and related topics. I often find that it’s when we take time to look back at […]

What will power next-generation businesses?
The ongoing and seemingly inexorable decline of traditional media continues to be the canonical example of what happens when the ground rules get changed in an industry that is fundamentally unable to adapt to new market conditions. A great analysis recently posted by Umair Haque at Harvard Business underscores the point: The so-called new normal is starting to seem more and more foreign the deeper we go into the 21st century than most organizations may yet be willing to believe.
Here’s an exploration of what will likely drive forward next-generation businesses in the 21st century.

Salesforce Chatter: Social operating systems emerge on the IT stage
The next big shift: Intranets, portals, and software suites that are the integrating force of the social fabric for our organizations. This morning’s announcement here at Dreamforce today from Salesforce of Chatter, an enterprise-class realization of Facebook and Twitter, is further evidence of the industry’s push for social Web capabilities for business activities.
Early indications are […]