Enterprise 2.0 – Page 3

Divided We #FAIL

With all my dedicated passion for the social web and its inspirational, world-changing promise, people often wonder why I’ve chosen to focus on the enterprise. My answer is: because it’s hard and #ifnotyouthenwho? One of the last bastions of resistance to embrace the tenets of 2.0 philosophy is found in the large corporate culture. It also happens to be an area where I feel I can do the most good and leverage my career relationships to inspire individuals to start thinking and acting a different (read: better) way.

That said, the “2.0 for the enterprise” community is small. It is a mere fraction of the worldwide tech population. Consider the Enterprise 2.0 Conference brings out maybe 1500 people. Compare that to, say a tech conference like Oracle OpenWorld, which will draw over 40K people to San Francisco alone next week. Even if you layer on the explosion taking place with social media, social CRM, and online communities, it’s still a relatively new phenomenon even here in the USA where professionals are still just now signing up for LinkedIn and Facebook. The #newTwitter will arrive as the only Twitter for the millions of people who have not been Twitter enthusiasts from the beginning. There will come a time when social media will be like air, but that is still a time in the future.

Considering where we are in the evolution of making a difference, today’s mission should focus squarely on inspiration, not perspiration. It’s that 1% of spark of genius that will ignite a revolution in our time. Last week, I tracked JiveWorld 2010 via Twitter (#JW10). I so now regret not going. My hat is off to Jive for inspiring its customers to go beyond, to literally encourage and support them in their mission to change the world of work. So many of our members who are Jive customers are having career-changing, life-changing experiences as a result of this newfound freedom and empowerment. Take Council member Bart Schutte, for instance, who blogged passionately,

“As someone who has been in the IT industry for 28 years… together we have the opportunity to define this new revolution…I can’t remember being more pumped up about my work. Nothing that I have done over the last three decades will have as big an impact as what I am doing now.”

And it’s not only Jive customers who feel this excitement. Whether our members are working with SharePoint, Lotus Connections, ThoughtFarmer, or the so-called Frankenstein suites that have been integrated to meet the needs of the large enterprise, customers who are in the driver’s seat of this transformation all share a similar desire to create change. My hope is all vendors will inspire their customers to get as charged up as Jive’s customers are. In a small market, it’s easy to get drawn into religious wars over platforms and persuasions, but petty in-fighting is counter-productive to the larger task at hand. That task is expanding the small pie sliver that now comprises the social business movement, so real change can occur on a grand scale.

Passion is no ordinary word.

To the uninspired that are not feelin’ the passion, I feel compelled to address the principle argument against embracing working socially: what’s the ROI? Management theorists have posited that employee engagement leads to business outcomes for years. There are books, lectures, MBA courses that even pre-date the 2.0 enterprise movement that validate this premise. I am not worried there are no formulaic guarantees on social business successes yet. “If you do x, you’ll get y.” Personally, I wish we could change ROI to become Return on Inspiration. The fact remains, large companies who are experimenting and rolling out these massive deployments are still in the early stages. I’m certain the proof positive is coming, but ask yourself: are we measuring the right indicators? Are we (only) looking for evidence under the spotlight of things we know?

Which brings us to the job of the Internal Evangelist. We call them evangelists because they are preaching a foreign gospel in their large organizations. I’ve done this, it’s tough. It’s a thankless and oftentimes painful job. We are researching salaries for internal evangelists in the Council at present. Although I’ve been pleased to see we have fairly high level managers responsible for driving this change, it occurred to me that our members should receive “combat pay” bonuses as part of their compensation package. The career risks our members take every day on the front lines of change, should be rewarded in every way possible. The members come to the Council for refuge, to get support when they are faced with skepticism and setbacks. Yet, we rejoice a lot more than we complain. In fact, we have a running tag in the Council: #clang. We ring a bell for every victory. This tag is by far one of our most popular tags.

Don’t hate the playa; hate the game.

So to all those who wish to derail the conversation away from what is needed right now– passion– I offer this video interview with Seth Godin and dedicate it to the hard-working folks who are doing this every day.

If you don’t have time to watch the whole video, here are some nuggets:

“The heart of what’s going on here; the heart of the shift in our economy is this at the core. You don’t have to be [famous] to do this.”

“It’s not about permission; it’s about the passion and the decision to make an impact.”

“…highlighting and talking about the good stuff and giving those people a platform to succeed.”

“If you’re going to have an impact, you’re going to have to find out where the fear is. What tricks do you have available to you to overturn that resistance to change?”

“Happiness’ best friend is kindness.”

“Passion’s best friend is generosity.”

“Give people the emotional gift of connection and meeting them in ways that matter.”

Mama Weer All Crazee-Social Now!

Indeed, a Quiet Riot is percolating in the heretofore boring ERP sector. I spotted Josh Greenbaum‘s post on “Enterprise Relationship Planning” this afternoon. In the Council, we have dredged up a 90s label– The Extended Enterprise— to categorize discussions about how our members are architecting their socio-collaborative initiatives to span partners in their supplier, distributor, and delivery chains. Included here is the massive momentum around Social CRM that is touching the customer in personal ways as well and reinventing what it means to be proactive and responsive to existing and potential buyers. One of our largest members recently made a platform selection choice based nearly exclusively on the chosen vendor’s ability to bridge to external collaborators while retaining the ability to keep the conversation secure behind the firewall. All of our members are somewhere in the adoption phase of evaluating these options. The confluence of all SaaS and enterprise legacy systems and social is coming… It’s not if, it’s when.

The unique thread that links the revitalization of all these mechanical, cumbersome, process-driven software “systems” is people. People with intelligence, with tacit knowledge, with “exceptions” expertise. We had a fantastic Council guru Q&A last week with Socialtext’s Ross Mayfield. Socialtext cites a whopping statistic that turns traditional ERP on its head, “An estimated 60 to 80% of an organization’s work is ‘exception’ oriented.” Squeezing the life (variability) out of a process is passe and will be replaced or supplementing with social data to improve its effectiveness, not detract from it. This is a revolutionary idea.

This sentiment is expressed by one of our members, Todd Weidman, who was discussing the rigidity of the Six Sigma process:

“In my experience in financial services, it’s used as a framework to eliminate as much process variation as possible. The processes become repeatable, follow a strict pattern, and ideally you reduce the cost of any transaction (and make it predictable, standard, and outsourcable). That’s fine if your building something to spec (manufacturing), but in any service-based industry, client needs demand many different types of solutions – think financial planning – there may be a number of different inputs for a customized solution. That, of course, requires collaboration between participants.”

Indeed, the future is about relationships. And relationships are about people, not stuff.

A Year’s Summary of Personal Reflection IV

Every year for the past four years, after the Enterprise 2.0 conference in Boston, I have written an introspective piece about where we are on our journey bringing 2.0 to the large enterprise. These pieces tend to be idealistic, and I ask readers to bear with me. You can read their predecessors at this link.

I’ve decided to write a final piece in this series, as we are now well on the road to market acceptance.

In short, the Enterprise 2.0 journey reminds me of learning how to drive a stick shift my first car: a ’66 Ford Mustang convertible. Like every new driver, I was extremely excited about the prospects of getting behind the wheel and experiencing the life-changing freedom that comes with mobility. Each year the Enterprise 2.0 market has grown, it’s been like a new gear on my 3-on-the-floor stick shift.

1. Years 2006-07/Gear 1. We focused on just getting the clutch engaged and propelling the the damned thing forward. Those early years were the most difficult of all. I used every trick in the book to get people interested in the space, including invoking the name of Bruce Springsteen.

“I believe there is something BIG going on here– not because I’m an investor, not because I’m a CEO of a web 2.0 company, not because I’m a journalist of a SF-based publication, heck– I’m not even on the West Coast. I feel a little like Mr. Springsteen in those early days, playin’ his heart out in those NJ dives hoping someone would dance, or better– listen to the lyrics.”

A handful of us hardcore Enterprise 2.0 bloggers kept pounding away and trying to get some attention for what we all saw as something, “New under the Sun” to quote Andrew McAfee.

2. Year 2008/Gear 2. We got the thing to move by 2008 albeit in slow gear. Momentum began to pick up toward the end of 2008 with

2.0 Reality Rehab: SAPPHIRE

I posted recently on my Facebook page that I was actually looking forward to attending SAPPHIRE this year. One of my Council members questioned the wisdom of that desire. SAPPHIRE is SAP’s annual bash where SAP customers come out in droves to hear what the enterprise software company is planning for the next 12 months. As a member of the highly influential Enterprise blogger troupe, the Enterprise Irregulars, I get the privilege of attending the conference as a blogger/industry influencer and receive great access to SAP execs to question them directly about SAP’s short and long-term plans.

Of course, SAPPHIRE is a world-class vendor event, filling up restaurants, taxi cabs, and hotels all around Orlando’s massive convention center (as well as much of the convention center’s real estate). Anyone with a vested interest in SAP makes the pilgrimage every year.

For me, SAPPHIRE presents a unique opportunity to re-calibrate and diffuse the hype chamber that self-perpetuates around the 2.0 phenomenon. SAPPHIRE is the 2.0 Rehab that I voluntarily commit myself to every year for one week. Only at SAPPHIRE do I get an opportunity to see the world the way my Council members do– that the 2.0/social business hoopla is enjoyed and shared by a small minority of corporate professionals. Through the eyes of SAP customers and the SAP eco-system, I gain unique insight into the tremendous task ahead which involves a host of issues, not the least of which is tying 2.0 transformation to the enterprise business processes that run the world’s most successful businesses. Every year, I see small improvements, but this rational level-setting is essential to keep perspective about where Enterprise 2.0 fits in the broader Enterprise landscape.

The good news is there are SAP executives that welcome this crusade and are making strides to bring the benefits of social collaboration to business decision-making and business process. I expect to hear a lot more “transparency” and “collaboration” themes in executive keynotes this year.

This year’s SAPPHIRE is particularly crucial for SAP, as outlined by my friend and EI compadre, Josh Greenbaum. But for me, I will quietly go about my business, taking inventory of the progress year-over-year in embracing 2.0. And even though I may leave Orlando, defeated and despondent (once again), I will be looking forward to next month’s Enterprise 2.0 conference which will re-energize my passion and commitment to this growing industry sector. Until then, I’m here to take my medicine and attend group therapy. I hope to emerge smarter, more sober, and more determined than ever.

The 2.0 Adoption Council is now part of The Dachis Group

What? Wow! How come?

History

Let’s begin at the beginning. The beginning of the social business (r)evolution didn’t begin in with web 2.0, it began with web 1.0 in the mid-90s. From research I published in 2000, we wrote this about the company Jeff founded in 1995, Razorfish:

Razorfish’s vision states, “Everything that can be digital, WILL be” The company claims that organizations that identify and embrace digital technology will succeed because they can react more quickly to market needs, are more efficient and customers actually enjoy doing business with them. In addition, Razorfish claims its digital communications solutions can make implementating this technology a reality for its clients. Razorfish believes companies must reevaluate their traditional business models in order to remain competitive in the digital economy. The company helps clients incorporate digital technologies… to better communicate and transact with their customers, suppliers, employees and other business partners.

A whole pack of Razorfish wannabes were singing the same tune in that sector at the time. I found them fascinating. But, in truth, it was really Jeff who wrote the original lyrics to that song. He set the tone for revitalization and disruption. When I came back into the business in 2006, it was that same energy with a new set of tools that attracted me to this sector. We’ve been calling it Enterprise 2.0, but over the past few weeks, I’ve come to agree that the Social Business Design strategy the Dachis Group is promoting is synonymous with the vision I see for what’s coming, for what’s possible. In essence, it’s the same vision Jeff had in the 90s– an extension of what has already been in motion.

Today

In the Council, our members are truly on the front lines of massive transformation at their large enterprises. But they know it’s only the beginning of something profound. One of our members said recently, “I’ve never, in my 25-yr career, worked on something so valued and so feared by executives in the same company. This must be big.”

For the past few hundred years, we’ve been working the old way. I look at this stage of market maturity as analogous to the age of enlightenment. It’s an interesting blend of art, science, and intellectual thinking that is dominating the conversation on how we will work in the future. One of our members referred to it as the “social spring” after the dark, aftermath of the Internet dotcom winter. Once this digital-social idealism propagates around the globe and is embraced by leading institutions, that’s when the real work will begin, and all customers are going to need help getting to the next level of productivity and business performance. When it does, we will be there. Ready for what’s next.

What’s next for us?

I founded the Council last summer. Here was my introductory post to the members on why I did:

In concert with the Dachis Group, which now includes Lee Bryant and the whole Headshift team, Dion Hinchcliffe, Peter Kim, Jevon MacDonald, Bryan Menell, and Kate Niederhoffer, as well as scores of talented others, we can bring incomparable resources to our members– in programs and actionable discussion that will help them achieve their goals. I’m truly thrilled to be joining the Dachis team and am looking forward to seeing all our hard work come to fruition.

The e20 Experts Corner: Shrinking to Expand

The Council frequently conducts Q&A teleconference call-ins with e20 gurus. The calls are very casual, but are always illuminating and worth the 60-minute investment for everyone who shows up. Last week’s guru Q&A was with Jeff Dachis, head of The Dachis Group here in Austin.

As I listened to Jeff’s preamble about who he was and where he came from, it surprised me that I forgot this is the same

spring — http://www.flickr.com/photos/essjay/1418941439/

Jeff Dachis that jump-started a new sector in the IT services space in the late 90s when big corporations were smirking about the oncoming Internet revolution. Of course, during the dotcom heyday, you couldn’t tell what was a sock puppet from what what was real. The easiest course of action was to deny anything was happening. (There’s a big story in what actually did happen in the e-services sector, but that’s a story for another day.) The fact that the market crashed made it look like the naysayers were right. Yet, a decade later, most everyone will agree the Internet did change the world as we knew it, and it changed the business world irrevocably. Jeff himself was the one who said, “In the future, everything that can be digital, will be.” While we were on the call, Jeff described the post dot-com era as the “Internet winter.” One of our members chimed in immediately with, “We’ve awoken now to the Social spring.” That is a great metaphor to describe the phenomenon that’s now unfolding.

In 2006-7, everyone watching this new space of Enterprise Web 2.0 was eager to share what they knew, spontaneously connecting and collaborating. All the up-and-coming experts emerging in the space all knew each other and helped define and chisel the image of the new market opportunity. I’d say by mid-2009, everyone recognized the market was maturing. It was about that time I launched the Council, and soon after, Headshift was acquired by the Dachis Group. Other alliances formed over the past year, e.g., through Gartner’s acquisition of Burton Group, Mike Gotta can now teach Gartner clients about e20, Oliver Marks and Sameer Patel joined forces to create the Sovos Group, Gil Yehuda went to work in Silicon Valley, and the Altimeter Group is crossing over into the sector with its focus on social CRM.

The cheese that stood alone in the consulting crowd was Dion Hinchcliffe whom I once referred to as separated by birth from the Dalai Lama. Today, Dion is announcing his company has also been purchased by The Dachis Group. This is a terrific development in our sector as the consultants who’ve been independent are recognizing there is a tremendous amount of demand to understand and adapt to the technology-driven disruption and innovation that is exploding around the globe as a result of the socially interconnected web. Where the majority of our members in the Council are inventing wheels for the first time, the extension of their hard work will require a bench of professional talent. In order for consultants to meet that demand, consolidation is the only way to deliver by taking advantage of economies of scale. Whether the opportunity is strategy, technical integration, education, or assistance with deployment, the days for external evangelism are probably coming to an end. The idealism that led the first era of this sector has now been replaced with pragmatism and will help businesses of all size move to the next level.

It reminds me of the boutique firms that cropped up in other eras that helped large companies manage the transition from before to after. Over time, the large consultancies will enter the market. That’s when we’ll know we’ve arrived. I’ve already seen some interesting arrangements with off-shore firms who have some unique capabilities to bring to the party. As this business turns its attention to growing up, I applaud the pioneering efforts of these early bloggers and teachers who’ve brought us to this point. So whether we quibble over our own insular naming conventions or accurate assessments of what is is, one thing is for certain, we’re ready for take off. Buckle up.