TakingAIIM

Beating a Dead Horse into the Ground - Web 2.0 is Coming Back to Reality

Perhaps I have belabored this topic, but I just cannot help myself.  Once again, the world of Web 2.0 is getting a dose of reality.  The second largest social networking site, Facebook, has agreed to implement another round of security mechanisms, this time aimed at better protecting minors and excluding certain adults from participation.    As I have said time and again, the open, free form, low barrier spirit of Web 2.0 (and by implication Enterprise 2.0), is great in theory, but in reality content and forum governance is a necessary addition, not simply to "protect" participants but simply to provide a framework and structure to what otherwise can get out of hand - in the worse case lead to serious criminal implications.

For those who still do not understand and appreciate how and why a little old fashioned governance and security should be a part of any Web 2.0 and Enterprise 2.0 setting, I again direct you to the Market IQ on Content Security, the Market IQ on Enterprise 2.0, and previous posts.  Again, the purpose of such efforts is not to suppress serendipity or collaboration, but to ensure that laws, policies, or just common courtesies are not overlooked or violated, whether attempted deliberately or by accident.

Thought Leaders Meet at ECM Writers Summit

What a great week for ECM, Enterprise 2.0, SaaS and me.

Looking back on the past week, I have to say the ECM techno-geek side of me is smiling.  As I posted earlier, the week stated off with participating in a AIIM New England chapter event that included a panel of users that have adopted a SaaS model to ECM.  As if that wasn’t enough fun and education, the week ended with my moderating and participating in a thought leadership writer’s summit on SaaS & cloud computing, SOA & BPM, Social Computing & ECM, and Text Analytics.

The event was sponsored by EMC.  I again thank them for inviting me to co-host this summit. Some of the brightest strategists and technologists from EMC were there including Howard Shao, Mark Lewis, Whitney Tidmarsh, Razmik Abnous, Michael Hackney, Matt Coblentz,   and Lubor Ptacek.  More importantly, we were joined by a variety of ECM industry thought leaders including Nathaniel Palmer, Barclay Blair, David DeLong, Margie Semilof, Mary Cohodas, Geoff Bock, Bill Trippe, Vincent Berdot, Stephen Cameron, Christian Daems, Christos Varelas, Ron Miller and Beth Pariseau (see her post on this event).  (I apologize for he inevitable omission of others who were there, whose name I fail to recall at the moment.)

Well, as you can imagine, with such a crowd, the discussion of was lively and full of opinion (sometimes agreeing and sometimes differing.) The purpose of this post is to provide my recollection of the key points that came for the discussion.

Despite the variety of topics (SaaS & cloud computing, SOA & BPM, Social Computing & ECM, and Text Analytics), discussion almost always came back to a basic value proposition for ECM, striking a balance between increased access/collaboration, and content governance and security. (See the AIIM Market IQ on Content Security for more on this idea, and a post by summit participant Ron Miller.) Terms frequently uttered in discussion included mobility, social networks, collaboration, agility, flexibility, e-discovery, compliance and risk. Collectively these seem to represent the potential benefits associated with ECM.

ECM was frequently discussed not as a technology, or a single implementation, but as a platform, a competency that should be available across the entire enterprise. In this regard, the group often reiterated that solution providers and pundits of ECM all too often talk in terms of unstructured content, and that this is wrong.  ECM is about all forms of content – and therefore should provide a single integrated interface to the unstructured content (e.g. documents), as well as structured content (e.g. databases associated with ERP and payroll systems.)  Too much focus has been paid to the unstructured content separately and distinctly from the structured.

This single interface was extended to the concept of enterprise search.  We discussed that enterprise search has erroneously been discussed in the market far too often as a product.  The often touted single enterprise master taxonomy and search tool is not most effective.  In reality effective search across the enterprise will likely involve multiple search tools, taxonomies, relevancy rankings, etc., each finely tailored and tuned to specific content and use cases, but presented and managed as a single interface to the user.  The group agreed that this requires great complexity on the part of IT, but that complexity can and needs to be hidden for the user.   

We all acknowledged that the rules of publishing have changed.  On the positive side this has allowed faster and more wide scale dissemination of knowledge and experience.  On the other, this has created a demand for new approaches to demonstrate reliability and trust in “discovered” content.

Similarly, the long tail of electronic content (compared to the much shorter tail of paper content), necessitates more powerful approaches to management, retention, and findability.  Without it enterprise content can quickly become chaotic and/or grossly under utilized.

In this regard, Matt Coblentz of EMC proposed that “Content is Stupid”.  The group agreed, (or at least some did), with the addition that Content Management is intelligent.

We thought that overall culture was ahead of technology with regards to collaboration, but behind technology with regards to security and compliance.   

Some of us saw ECM in a state of evolution, progressively increasing functionality and ease of use over time.  Others argued that the advent of functionality such as SaaS and Enterprise 2.0 represents a hockey stick inflection point for the industry, that will be viewed as a revolutionary point in the market in time to come.

I for one walked away with a sense that ECM is once again a very exciting marketplace.  Ron Miller reminded us, that in his review of the AIIM 2008 show, he had indicated that the show was buzzing with excitement.

With that, the realm of ECM has become increasingly complex.  ECM is not just about technology, nor just about content.  The ECM practitioner MUST be concerned and involved in people, process and content (EMC’s words), or content, community and context (my words.) This is what keeps this market place alive and vibrant.  This is what affords careers and debates that go far beyond technology alone.

On a final note, I will share a light moment. To a large degree there was much reaffirming among this  group, as opposed to learning. There were some exceptions. Two new technologies were introduced:  “blockies and wigs.”  These terms were coined by one of the speakers in a slip of the tongue in his excitement over the power of “wikis and blogs”.  We all got a good laugh out of it. OK – maybe you had to be there, or maybe you just aren’t ECM-geeky enough.

aiimALERT: Open Source Players Join to Close Functional Gap

Yesterday Intalio, Inc. an Open Source BPMS company, announced a partnership with Alfresco Software, an Open Source  Enterprise Content Management (ECM) company. The integrated offering allows users to manage  document-centric workflow processes and support the collaborative development of business processes. (See details.)

Despite its age the ECM market is ripe with new beginnings.  As readers of the blog know, I am wrapping up the Market IQ on Enterprise 2.0 (register for 3/27 webinar).  Major themes of this topic include collaboration, low-barrier application development and open business models.  Part of the report looks at the intersection of Enterprise 2.0 and ECM.   Although with a slightly different perspective, this announcement by Inatlio and Alfresco does the same thing.

Alfreso provides an Open Source approach to ECM.  With the integration of Intalio, an Open Source workflow offering the ECM platform is far more complete.   But, even more fascinating to me is the fact that the integration effort was undertaken by  the Demand Driven Development (D3) model introduced by Intalio in 2006, an Enterprise 2.0 approach to development in and of itself.

There is great synergy in this simple announcement on many plateaus.  Open Source and SaaS represent new models to implementing ECM in an enterprise.  Enterprise 2.0 offers new ways to support and facilitate collaboration in an enterprise, as part of an ECM strategy.  And here the twain doth meet.  These are all industry trends that AIIM must, and will continue to monitor. 

The ECM market is anything but dull.

Enterprise 2.0 - Thanks for Noticing

Readers of this blog know that this week we spent a fair amount of time at the AIIM show.  You also realize that AIIM Market Intelligence has been spending much effort lately on the subject of Enterprise 2.0 (blogging, a recent webinar, training program, market survey, upcoming Market IQ, and associated Market IQ webinar.) At the show I delivered a one hour presentation on the intersection of Enterprise 2.0 and ECM (download slides used).  Dan Keldsen and I also rolled out the just completed Enterprise 2.0 practitioner training. 

Things went real well.  But don't take my word for it.  An attendee, Ron Miller, recently posted a commentary on the AIIM show.  To paraphrase Ron, ECM is relevant (again), and one reason is the focus on Enterprise 2.0 this year.  I agree Ron.  Thanks for noticing. 

As I stated in my inaugural post, I joined AIIM in order to broaden the direction of ECM, quote: "Please join me in TakingAIIM, in placing different technologies, applications, solution providers and industry trends into the cross hairs of TakingAIIM."

It is most rewarding to see that individuals, such as Ron also share this exciting new horizon for ECM.  To that end I must thank organizations such as SpringCM, Socialtext and EMC who have underwritten our market research on Enterprise 2.0.  They too share our excitement and vision for Enterprise 2.0.  Because of their generosity we can make this research available to the market at no cost.

The upcoming report, available for download on the AIIM site on March 24th, promises to be a groundbreaking educational resource to the market.  It contains the results of months of research, including the results of an 80+ question survey, completed by 414 users and evaluators of Enterprise 2.0.  I encourage those who are excited by the recent coverage of ECM and Enterprise 2.0 to be sure and join us for the March 27th webinar in which we discuss the survey findings.

But this is just the beginning.  Is ECM still relevant?  Well as long as there are enterprises and they have content, ECM is relevant, and AIIM Market Intelligence will chronicle the latest points of relevancy.  Over the course of the next year, in addition to the Market IQ on Enterprise 2.0, we will be developing other Market IQs on topics such as ECM and managing business processes, the criticality of findability, the state of the art in content creation and content distribution and ECM and innovation management.

If there are other compelling business areas that you think are impacted by ECM, let me know, by commenting here.

Enterprise 2.0 - By George I Think They've Got it

Last Wednesday I had the opportunity to address the topic of Enterprise 2.0.   I was the featured speaker at an AIIM Webinar, entitled "Be First to Market With Effective Collaboration. “ (For those of you who are thinking, “collaboration – I thought you said it was on Enterprise 2.0?”, – come to our training – or listen to the webinar).

The slides from the presentation are posted to slideshare and available here.

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As is often the case, the webinar experience not only gave me a chance to share my opinions and insights, but to learn as well. 

First, I was pleased to see that nearly 900 people registered for this webinar. Collaboration (and by association Enterprise 2.0), is highly relevant to business professionals (or at least AIIM members.) Its always nice to know that our work over the last few months has not been in vain.

But the real pleasure came when the Q&A portion of the webinar began. The level and diversity of questions posed were wonderful.  There were actually more questions posed than we had time to answer during the session.  Therefore, as I have done in similar situations in the past, over the next few weeks, I will be posting to this blog, questions from the webinar that were left in the queue, along with my response.  So, if you are interested in the topic, keep an eye out.

But, back to the focus of this post, what I learned during the webinar.  Among the many questions posed, a significant number were focused not on the technology side of Enterprise 2.0, but the cultural and business model perspectives.  Initially I was a bit concerned that the enthusiasm expressed by myself and my co-presenter, Jeremy Milo, might leave too many  listeners to believe that Enterprise 2.0 is a foregone conclusion, another case of “Field of Dreams.”   I am pleased to say that this was not the case.  Many questions challenged the ease and speed with which the benefits of Enterprise 2.0 can be realized, not technically, but procedurally and culturally.

To this I say BRAVO – I think you've got it.

Attendees were obviously interested in evolving collaboration models in the workplace.  But those that posed the questions concerning issues such as security, intellectual property rights, compliance and incentives are my brethren.   Like them, I believe that the zeal over transparent and open collaboration, among and between inter- and intra-corporate teams must be tempered.  (My first testament to this opinion was made in a post to the FastForward blog, nearly a year ago.) 

Those that understand that culture, process and control are important and very real issues within the realm of Enterprise 2.0 are not antagonists, laggards or even roadblocks to the adoption of the technology.  My assumption is that they are seasoned business professionals that have been down this road before with knowledge management, instant messaging, portals, online communities and e-mail. Sure evolving technology models are making open collaboration easier.  This should lead to an acceleration in innovation and a decrease in functional and knowledge silos.  But, if corporate culture and practices are  not aligned with technology  – don’t bother.

As I indicated in my last blog post, in our recent Enterprise 2.0 survey, we found that respondents that were affiliated with an organization that had embraced Knowledge Management were more aware of obstacles and challenges to Enterprise 2.0, but also further along in their adoption of and understanding of  Enterprise 2.0 technology and practices. 

KM: It's Good for Enterprise 2.0

Over the past weeks I have posted several times  to this blog regarding the market research Dan Keldsen and I have been conducting on Enterprise 2.0.  The survey component was completed by 400+ individuals.  We have been poring over the data and we are finding some great pearls of insight, on everything from what works (what doesn't), to how age effects  perception (or not).   

For me personally, one of the more interesting findings is the fact that organizations that have embraced Knowledge Management are far ahead of the rest of the industry in adopting Enterprise 2.0 and leveraging its benefits.  Those of you who follow my musings know that I am proponent of Knowledge Management.  Unlike many consultants and analysts who turned tail when the vibrations from the buzz when silent, I have continued to pontificate on the virtues of this business model.   Knowledge Management continues to thrive in many organizations, manifesting under many other names such as portals, collaboration, innovation management, and now Enterprise 2.0. Our survey findings indicate that adoption and realization of benefits from Enterprise 2.0 is greater in organizations that have embraced Knowledge Management.

How do I know this?  Among the  80+ questions in our Enterprise 2.0 survey,  we inserted 12 questions from the Knowledge Assessment methodology I have used in my consulting practice.  These questions were used in the survey to profile the culture of the respondents’ respective organizations. The profiling identified a sub-group of respondents that worked in a Knowledge Management embracing environment.  The responses provided by this group to other questions, substantially differed from the other respondents,  in many instances.

The data shows that organizations that can be characterized as Knowledge Management-oriented are further along in their adoption cycle of Enterprise 2.0 technology, perceive fewer barriers and are more aware of the potential benefits that Enterprise 2.0 can provide.  Behind this rift likely lies the criticality of corporate culture as a component to a successful deployment of Enterprise 2.0.  Knowledge Management-oriented companies typically have a collaborative, inquisitive and transparent culture, an environment in which Enterprise 2.0 thrives.  Those who have yet to embrace Knowledge Management will find themselves perhaps unimpressed with Enterprise 2.0, and/or scrambling to affect the requisite change in culture in order to maximize the benefits these emerging technologies can provide.

Its just the tip of the iceberg.  We are waist deep in data at the moment (which is why I have been so silent of late), but still on track to release the report at the end of next month.  If interested, you can register for the respective webinar we are holding on March 27th, now.  We are also providing Enterprise 2.0 training, which includes much of the survey findings.

In any case, stay tuned - there is more to come. 

Tony Soprano Meets Web 2.0

The AIIM Market Intelligence office is abuzz with Enterprise 2.0.  Dan Keldsen and I are in the thick of our survey (you can still take it), and research on the topic.  Perhaps that is why an article in today’s paper particularly caught my attention.  I wanted to share it with you, because it pushes the envelope on the topic of social network computing and the power it potentially wields.

Social network computing spotlights and magnifies the power numbers, what can be accomplished when masses of individuals  collaborate in real time.  In our upcoming Market IQ on Enterprise 2.0, we will be sure to talk about the wisdom of crowds, the intelligence that can emanate through social tagging, filters and the like. But today’s article highlights another potential benefit (or risk depending on your perspective), of the ability to collaborate in masses, bridging time and space, in an ad hoc real-time manner.  A group of Sicilian business owners are using a web site to share their experiences with the local Mafia, finding safety in numbers and banning together to refuse to pay “pizzo” or protection money. 

What is most interesting about this movement, as reported in the article, is “…their movement has helped to chip away at the Mafia's psychological hold on Sicilians… “.  Early findings of our market research are, not surprisingly, showing that Enterprise 2.0 is as much about culture as it is technology.  At the front end, culture needs to support and reward openness, and collaboration.  But, as this group in Sicily are showing, access to such functionality can also have an impact on underlying culture.  While organizations (communities) that approach Enterprise 2.0 with a top-down strategy, and embrace, or at least support open collaboration may more readily reap benefits from Enterprise 2.0,  there is evidence to suggest that rogue-based ad hoc  usage of Enterprise 2.0 can  also succeed, initially perhaps changing counter-cultures if nothing else.

Stay tuned, more on this and other aspects of Enterprise 2.0 will be forthcoming in our Market IQ on Enterprise 2.0.  In the interim, if you would like to weigh in on the topic, there is still time to take our survey.

Enterprise 2.0 - Whaddya Think?

Much attention has been paid in this blog to Enterprise 2.0 (previous posts).   The topic seems to grow in interest level, and confusion.  As mentioned previously several times, that is why AIIM Market Intelligence is undertaking a Market IQ study focused on Enterprise 2.0.  Wanting to ensure we cover this topic from all perspectives and experiences we have assembled an advisory panel (press release) consisting of Andrew McAfee, David Weinberger, Patti Anklam, Stowe Boyd and Eric Tsui.

While the panel is a virtual brain trust in Enterprise 2.0, it does not provide the full 360 degree view we want to incorporate into our research.  That is where YOU come in.  We would like to hear about your opinions, experiences and perceptions concerning Enterprise 2.0. You can make them known to us by taking the AIIM Market IQ survey on Enterprise 2.0.  (http://aiimmarketintelligence.questionpro.com/)

You have the opportunity in the survey to forward the survey to friends, which would be much appreciated.  Speaking of appreciation, you may also select a charity (from list provided) to which we will make a $500 donation, on behalf of the survey participants, as well as request an early copy of the survey results.

So please, let us know - whaddya think about Enterprise 2.0.  Is it more marketing hype than reality?  A future or a current impact?  Strategic or peripheral to your organization's business goals?   Answers to questions such as these, and a host of others will be assembled into the AIIM Market IQ report on Enterprise 2.0, which will be available end of Q1, 2008.  Oh yeah, of course there will be much blogging, and hopefully commentary, on this site and Dan Keldsen's blog about the findings as well.  Stay tuned . . .

Face It Facebook - Web 2.0 is Not Completely Open

Those of you who follow this blog know that I am an advocate of Web 2.0 and Enterprise 2.0, but an equal zealot of Content Security.  Indeed, it is no coincidence that the first two AIIM Market IQs focus on Content Security (released - available for download), and Enterprise 2.0 (in progress and slated for Q1 2008 availability.

New, more flexible and far reaching approaches to social computing and networking are very powerful, but all too often, proposers of such functionality feel that such forums need to be self-policing - free and open.  Yeah - no.  Earlier posts have made this case.  Today, one of the poster children for Web 2.0 and social computing, Facebook, made my case once again.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg publicly backed down on Facebook's Beacon advertisements and announced new modifications, aimed at better security and filters (see article). In my opinion, Zuckerberg is lucky that so far no one has sought legal action against him and his company.  Zuckerberg is learning the hard way that even Web 2.0-inclined users still believe that some of their personal content is just that "personal".  Things we may share with our "real friends", may not be things we want to publicly share with our several hundred "Facebook friends". 

This event is an especially powerful commentary on the need to "manage" social networking.  Facebook is often pointed to as a quintessential example of the power of social computing, popular with  "generation millenials", representing the new attitude to networking and "making friends."   When these millenials were personally exposed to the risks involved with unbridled access and sharing of their web experiences, they quickly cried foul, and demanded the protection that generations before them fought for - right to privacy.

In his post, Zuckerberg stated "We missed the right balance,".  Oh yes indeed, and that is the balance between collaboration/innovation and protection/compliance that is the focus of the AIIM Market IQ on Content Security.  Zuckerberg also apologized for the PR fiasco that followed, "It took us too long after people started contacting us to change the product so that users had to explicitly approve what they wanted to share," he wrote. "Instead of acting quickly, we took too long to decide on the right solution."  Success in business today, more than ever, is founded in agility.  This Web 2.0 company has many a enterprise 1.0 lessons to learn.  (Interesting to note that the Market IQ slated for Q3 2008 is on process management and agility.)

It is also interesting to note that this current mistake made by Facebook is more complex than other  privacy mistakes made by Facebook because it involved business partners (i.e  advertisers).  A number of Beacon participants are now also crying foul - stating that they will either temporarily or permanently pull out of the program.   This level of complexity is just the tip of the iceberg regarding multi-client/partner relationships and collaborative processes. 

The moral here, and one that is likely to be echoed in our upcoming Market IQ on Enterprise 2.0, the functionality available through Web 2.0/Enterprise 2.0 represents great opportunity, but tread cautiously and intelligently.   Do not abandon "older" best practices and common sense when embracing new models.  Deploying Facebook-like functionality inside the firewall (Enterprise 2.0) requires careful deployment and strategy, that includes good old fashioned management and security.  Enterprises who have contemplated bringing Facebook inside the firewall may want to rethink that approach.  This is not the first time Facebook has gotten access/security wrong.  This popular millenial social tool may not be ready for business prime time.   

ECM - What's On Your Christmas Wish List?

Thanksgiving is over, that means it is the official start of the holiday shopping season.  So, what's the hottest item on the holiday shopping list this year?  Well judging by the fact that it is already back ordered due to popular demand, Amazon's Kindle is on that list.  But the fact that it this e-book appliance is a hot new “holiday item” is not why I am blogging on it (but if any of my friends or relatives are wondering what to get me this year . . . ).  What catches my attention as an ECM blogger is that Kindle helps to herald in (I can hear those angels now), an ECM subject that I have been speaking about for several years, content delivery.   (See earlier blog post and recent paper). 

This is so cool - no not Kindle itself (though it is), but the fact that ECM is  once again hitting the mainstream public, and this time in the form of content delivery. Content delivery represents a huge opportunity for the ECM market, and for the creativity of content managers.  Personalized content, dynamic content, JIT content, portable content, nimble navigation through the entire Library of Congress - carried around in your hip pocket . . . the list seems endless.

On a more technical note, it is interesting to note that Kindle utilizes technology developed by Xerox many years ago, digital ink and digital paper.  While Xerox once again failed to bring technology to market itself, it has fueled and empowered the commercial instinct and reach of Amazon, who has productized this technology for the mainstream, and is positioning Kindle as the book version of the iPOD (there is a Kindle store - available directly from Kindle).  This is interesting times for ECM indeed, as not only does Kindle represent the widescale adoption of digital paper, but another player in the business content delivery market place - Amazon.  While Kindle makes traditional publications available (magazines, newspapers, books),  it also provides access to blogs, e-mail, Word documents, image files, IM (although it should be noted that Amazon charges a fee to convert "non-Kindle" files such as e-mail and Word to their proprietary format) - all through the high-speed data network (EVDO) used by advanced cell phones (hot spots not necessary) and in a unique (for now) book type interface (complete with page turning, highlighting, dog-earring, bookmarking) and the physical look and size of a paperback. The lines of distinction between laptops, cell phones, PDAs and now e-books continues to blur.

The topic of content delivery (the on ramps and off ramps of ECM) is on the AIIM Market Intelligence Market IQ editorial calendar for Q4 2008.  Kindle will definitely be a part of the issues discussed in that report.  So stay tuned. Due out in December 2008, the Market IQ may be the hot new content of the 2008 holiday season – available for download to your Kindle – if you are among the lucky recipients  this holiday season.