What's Next in Tech
Thanks to my new friend Brian, I found out that Nike has dumped (WSJ – requires registration) its longstanding Advertising agency relationship in search of a partner with more digital expertise. This may be the seminal event/wake-up call that will rattle the cages for marketers everywhere.
Interactive Agencies are the game changers in the new marketing economy. Young, digital zealots pumped up on Red Bull, what’s not to love?
As those of us who blog on Enterprise 2.0 have been pegged as counter-cultural revolutionaries and labeled “Hippies,” I thought I would extend the metaphor.
My hard disk on my laptop crashed this week. Without warning, one minute my data was there, the next minute it was gone. And no, of course I never ran backups. I initially panicked. But, slowly, I realized that most of my”work” was high above my desk… in the cloud. Whether it was documents people emailed me, spreadsheets I was working on, presentations, even my photos– most of what I really need and care about is on the web, not on my computer. My email (with all documents attached) is on my online email servers (Google mail, my own web-based ISP mail), the wiki I’ve been collaborating on (SocialText), my personal photo accounts (Flickr, Snapfish), and even good background material on the Enterprise 2.0 market on the wiki at Itensil. Further, every web site/blog that has had any importance to me is cataloged at Del.icio.us.; my daily blog reads are on NetVibes; the groups I participate in are all online (Google groups); I’m even part of a social network on Ning. I’m sure there are more proofs of my web life (oh, yeah, Second Life). So hard disk? I hardly knew ya.
Inhale the web. It’s good for your new millennium health.
Where’s the beef on enterprise 2.0? I came across this post by Yoav Ezer, CTO of Cogniview. Ezer is making the point that if we can’t clearly articulate the benefits of adopting web 2.0 alternatives in the enterprise (in measurable terms), it’s going to be hard to recruit insurgents for the revolution. Okay, I’m paraphrasing.
He has an excellent point, however. We know that when you start using wikis, blogs, other social platforms like Twitter, it’s fun and has personal benefits. But what are tangible benefits to the enterprise? I have seen examples on the web, but we’re due for some “breakout business model” case studies of how enterprise 2.0 is reinventing user departments or IT delivery for that matter…
I know Dion Hinchcliffe and Andrew McAfee always solicit these stories. If you have some, please share!
In the 90s I remember a line I once wrote about EDS who was in a constant struggle to overcome IBM Global Services. I was referencing an EDS executive who would always say in speeches how “EDS is going to be the IBM of the 21st century.”
The line I wrote back then was,
“Imagine [EDS’s] surprise when IBM turned out to be the IBM of the 21st century.”
I thought of that line today when I listened to Maggie Fox’s podcast with Louis Suarez (whom I think the world of). Louis works for IBM somewhere in Spain, but reports to a Netherlands office. He holds meetings on Second Life, so it doesn’t really matter where he is physically. I guess Louis qualifies as an adult version of Generation G that Vinnie Mirchandani has been promoting.
IBM has never failed to impress me (okay, nothwithstanding OS/2). The company was originally founded in 1888, taking on the IBM name in 1924. Although it has been widely condemned to extinction with each passing paradigm shift, the company finds its way to continue innovating. To hear Louis talk about what he’s doing at IBM with such enthusiasm and unquestioned credibility, makes me proud that I’ve been a Big Blue fan for so many years.
