enabling technology

Social media in the enterprise – get IT involved

What are the technology and management issues that slow enterprise adoption of web 2.0 applications?

The basic idea driving Web 2.0 is putting power into the hands of the user and watching fantastic, unexpected things happen.

But in the same way that Excel macros and data silos proliferated throughout the organization, IT enthusiasm for mashups and field expedient applications must be tempered by the right layer of oversight. And since these technologies impact mobile devices and PCs, IT departments must carefully control the data being pushed to these technologies.

We don’t think social media is really about the technology but we also think that enterprises thinking about social media need to consider the role of IT through every phase of social media’s evolution. It would be a mistake to not get IT involved in the web 2.0 conversation.

Ad hoc adoption of social media by individuals within the enterprise is not a problem. Participation with Facebook, LinkedIn, blogging and other social media applications is more about HR policy than it is about IT policy. But when the “social media maturity” of the enterprise is such that the fabric of the enteprise’s business model is woven into social media properties such as Facebook, deep IT expertise matters.

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