Applying Web 2.0 to the Enterprise
It has been a few weeks since I have time to look my usual touch points on the web - we've been busy getting ready for our Design Previews and attending to numerous planning activities.
Checking in with the ZDNet portal, this posting 'Can Web 2.0 be adapted to the enterprise?' immediately caught my eye. I'd recommend you read the posting in full, but for me I am left wondering where the word 'adapt' leaves the reader short changed - hence I think 'applying' is the title that more works for me. The key danger here is that enterprises considering such a move might trigger constricted adaptation process risking diluting the value a collaborative and open approach to software development.
There are some important takeaways, for anyone focused on Program Management which typically forms the thought leadership in any software organization. A Program Management group is always focused on effectively pooling contributions from many entities within an organization, but often a challenge remains to eek out the best contributions and feedback. Many of these tools we use to day are undiscoverable and 1:1 communications techniques - Web 2.0 offers a social, free formed open means for communication that turns the feedback process almost completely on its head.
The author Dion Hinchcliff goes on to characterize two important stages in software development - the first: the creation of software, the second: the adoption of software. Citing some of the lessons of agile software development, and more so with Web 2.0 development tools, the ever present danger remains: loosing sight of active end-user driven feedback loop can poison a product in any software development process.
So it seems the days of ivory tower approach to software development are over. The challenge remains to tune your organizations model to ensure you achieve the correct trade-off between innovation, soliciting the right kind of feedback and embracing the collaborative approach techniques to fine tune these factors. Get this balance right and as Hinchcliff describes as software adoption step should come much easier.
