Real IT with Enterprise 2.0

Business Will Depend on EW2.0 – What you need to know today to survive tomorrow

Today, users, customer and employees expect to get information from anywhere and to work from everywhere in the world. From everywhere, they want everything. This means applications and services must be available in as many places as possible. If you doubt this, take a look at the exploding interest in Web 2.0, Office 2.0, Enterprise 2.0 and Enterprise Web 2.0. These 2.0’s are real and will drive how organizations communicate with customers and business partners now and in the future. For many companies, these 2.0 technologies will determine whether they are in business in five years.

In all the years of IT, we’ve never experienced such rapid growth in technologies and user needs that we have today. 2.0 technologies are revolutionizing business and IT. The word “revolution” may seem a bit harsh. However, if you look at Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) and Business Process Management (BPM) as evolutionary, than 2.0 is revolutionary.

Let’s take a look at SOA and BPM for a moment. Most companies have just begun to evolve and implement SOA and BPM. Even with evolutionary technologies such as SOA and BPM, there is a ton of conflicting evidence and analyst rhetoric about whether they will help companies succeed. For this reason, the decisions companies make today regarding SOA, BPM and 2.0 will either help or hinder their ability to compete and survive in the next few years.

 

EW2.0 is more than delivering web applications and providing portals for collaboration. EW2.0 is made up of three areas. Each of these areas is important to the success and level of acceptance of EW2.0. The three areas are:

1. Applications and application integration
2. Connectivity (Internet, wireless, network)
3. End-point technologies such as PDA’s and laptops

EW2.0, Applications and Application Integration
This includes portal, wiki, mash-ups and web technologies that companies need to understand and implement. There is a huge difference between web applications such as salesforce.com and web services applications such as eBay. Web applications are easy to manage and deliver. However, most applications can not be delivered as web applications. Legacy applications and databases need to be exposed as web services (SOA). These web services need to be orchestrated (BPM) into a composite (portal) application that can be delivered via the web. For this reason, companies need a solid yet flexibly infrastructure of applications and integration that provide a foundation for EW2.0.

EAI, SOA, BPM

• webMethods
• IBM
• TIBCO
• BEA

Tools

• Backbase
• Nexaweb
• JackBe
• Skyway Software
• Adobe
• Securent
• Crosscheck Systems

Web 2.0 companies - too many to list (another thing to write about)

• Wikis
• Mash-ups
• Search - Google, Yahoo, Ask.com, Gigablast

EW2.0 – Connectivity
Users today are demanding access to information anywhere, anytime. These demands will only increase in the future. What will our 15 year olds, who use portals such as Myspace and Google expect when they enter the workforce? They will expect “always-on” technologies and solutions. IT departments need to know and implement the correct connection and network access to be successful with EW2.0. This includes technologies and security issues and solutions.

Data Connectivity and Infrastructure

• Citrix
  
• Cisco
• Juniper

Feeds - Too many to list

Wireless:

• WLAN
  
• WirelessMAN
• WWAN

 

EW2.0 – End-User Devices
The third area of EW2.0 is end-user technologies and devices. These access devices provide the vehicle for employees, customers and partners to access information and applications from anywhere in the world. How companies utilize and standardize on these technologies is critical to their success. Companies need a framework making decisions on what types of devises are best for different organizations.

Roadblock – People
Even after understanding how the three areas of EW2.0 will improve or hinder adoption of EW2.0, there are other challenges that are important to consider. Changing how people work is a big roadblock to the adoption of any technology. Individuals such as customers and employees will always revert to the standard way of operating. Companies need to understand acceptance levels of users and management before embarking on the transformation to EW2.0.

What You Need to Know
There is an enormous difference between a web application such as Salesforce.com and a web service portal application. Companies need to decide when to build applications and when to purchase external web applications. Companies need a framework to help define organizational goals pertaining to EW2.0. With these goals, companies can list and prioritize applications. Then based on their understanding of the three main areas of EW2.0, companies can make informed decisions on whether to purchase or build, who can access, and how applications will be delivered.