It’s not the technology. It’s what people can do with it.

Web 2.0 in the Enterprise and Web Office means providing knowledge workers with tools that enable them to create on the web - or at least on the Intranet. This means:

• Create content - blogs and wikis
• Create interactive analysis tools - mash-ups like housingmaps
• Create and contribute to conversations - comments
• Create added insight - tags & links

Web 2.0 in the Enterprise is not an alphabet soup of technology. People talk about AJAX, RSS and my favourite, Ruby on Rails. They are all very interesting, and Rails is just plain cool. But, that’s not the point of Web 2.0 in the enterprise. Instead, it is a very simple change in the philosophy governing what software should be doing to support the business.

Instead of focusing on systems designed to reduce cost, Web 2.0 focuses on systems designed to foster innovation. As I explained in Turning Knowledge Workers into Innovation Creators.pdf, in today’s hyper competitive global economy, aiming for constant innovation is the only business strategy that can possibly produce a stream of above average profits. Most companies are just now coming round to understanding the need for constant innovation. Witness the success of books like Blue Ocean Strategy.

In a stroke of serendipity, it is at this same time that Web 2.0 in the consumer space, with its emphasis on empowering the individual consumer, has suddenly taken off.

In the enterprise, Web 1.0 meant building solutions that automated processes. In the enterprise, Web 2.0 will mean providing tools that empower knowledge workers to build their own solutions.

Web 2.0 in the enterprise is going to be so powerful because it is going to turn knowledge workers into innovation creators. Web 2.0 in the enterprise can be used as a platform that fosters and empowers internal entrepreneurs. For the companies that embrace these new tools, and adjust their management styles accordingly, the result wil be a constant stream of innovation.