Web 2.0 - Consumer vs. Enterprise Use

Jack Vinson (in Web2.0 as opposed to Enterprise2.0) pointed me to Ben Gardner's post The difference between Web2.0 & Enterprise2.0 that discusses the difference in how Web 2.0 acts in the consumer space as opposed to when it's adopted in the enterprise. Ben tells us:

Web2.0 vs Enterprise2.0 [excerpt]

• User: Millions vs Hundreds
• Mind set: Fun vs Work
• Organisational structure: Flat vs Hierarchical
• Attitude: Sharing vs Hoarding
• Skill set: Digitally savvy vs Digitally averse
• Visibility: Anonymity vs Recognition
• Society: Public vs Private
• Cultural: Innovative vs Mundane

While I'm not really in agreement with all of how he describes corporate cultures and the attitude of people inside corporations, there are definitely differences in how these tools get used once you move them inside the corporate walls. And there certainly is an issue of adoption inside corporations.

I've talked about adoption of web 2.0 tools in the enterprise before in this blog:

• Adoption of Web 2.0 and eLearning 2.0 Revisited
• Enterprise 2.0 - What's the PU?
• Where Will the Change Come From?
• Facilitating Adoption of Web 2.0 Tools
• Emergence or Big System
• Web 2.0 Adoption in the Enterprise - It's Personal

The main points across these posts are:

• Adoption is first and foremost based on personal value (or more accurately perceived usefulness). If it looks like it's going to help me get my job done or do a better job, I'll adopt it.
  
• Innovation is happening first in the consumer space and then flows to corporate world.
• This wave of change is going to happen by personal and group adoption.

There are some things that are already pretty clear:

• Organizations should attempt to adopt tools in concert with what workers are adopting already. In other words, if facebook and del.icio.us are already being used, then try to align your strategies with these tools rather than trying to provide behind-the-firewall solutions.
  
• Organizations should provide clear definition of policies around web 2.0 use. These policies should be along the lines of IBM's blogging guidelines instead of being one of the 41% apparently ban Facebook and other such applications via firewall rules.
  
• Organizations should look to establish champions throughout the organization who can help lead incremental adoption where it makes sense. The champion will help others to recognize opportunities and value.
• Build new work and learning skills in the workforce