There is a heated debate going on about whether or not Enterprise 2.0  technologies are viable tools for the workplace.  This debate reminds me of the arguments about the use of the Internet in the workplace back in the late 80's.

Much of the resistance to using the Internet at work back then stemmed from these factors:

1. Fear of usage abuse by employees
2. Acting on perceptions and myths

Let's discuss the first point.  Probably the biggest concern back in the late 80's was management's fear that their employees would spend their time goofing off on the Internet instead of being productive.  Although some of today's Internet usage is unproductive, can you imagine our jobs without the Internet?

Second, most of the folks who were strongly opposed to Internet usage back then were, in my opinion, basing their arguments on perceptions and myths about the Internet.  Many of these folks did not perform any research about the possibilities of the Internet before forming some strong opinions.

I see the same mistakes being made again as we start debating Enterprise 2.0.  I hear people laughing about blogs, wikis, chat, and various social networking tools.  The perception is that this is a playground for Gen-X and Gen-Y employees.  Again, the argument is based on perceptions and myths without any research and real data to back it up.

I have spent the past 6-8 months researching and now implementing BPM and SOA solutions.  Blogs, wikis, RSS feeds, and podcasts are tools I leverage on a daily basis.  I have been able to form relationships with peers that I would have never been introduced to before.  I much prefer to hear from peers in my field then to be force feed information from vendors or from research companies who are paid by vendors.

The same type of collaboration is extremely powerful within the walls of an organization.  Great ideas are in the minds of several people throughout all levels of the organization.  Enterprise 2.0 gives us the opportunity to get those ideas to bubble to the top.  Are your folks buried in meetings?  Much of the communications that we need to push out can be created as content via blogs or podcasts that can be subscribed to.  RSS feeds are a way for people to subscribe to content that they care about.

For those of you who don't believe that Enterprise 2.0 technologies have a place in the workplace I would like to hear your opinions.  If your reasoning starts to sound like the late 80's argument against Internet usage in the workplace, I ask that you start doing some research before you close your mind to the technologies that will change the way we do business.  Like the Internet, some day we will look back and wonder how we ever got by without these tools.

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