Web 2.0 ‘Why’ article resources

A log of articles & blog posts I found in putting together the bdaily ‘Why’ article.

Business Benefits

  • Collaboration – general article about social media success stories
    • Motorola’s IT Department Takes On Enterprise 2.0
      • “Still, Enterprise 2.0 technologies don’t exactly make for easy ROI calculations, which Redshaw readily admits.
        • Instead, he chats up how exactly work has changed since Motorola has implemented Intranet 2.0.
        • Inside the IT organization, product development times have shortened considerably.
        • Instead of developing a different pitch for every client, salespeople can now reuse information that might be posted on a wiki.
        • And in Motorola’s Dallas distribution center, employees clicking on mobile alerts that come to their smart phones are sent directly to a wiki to troubleshoot problems, rather than being left scratching their heads over some problem. “
  • Emergency services
    • Katrina List, now defunct but see this

Downside

Best Practice

Mashups

  • Mashups turn into an industry as offerings mature
    • “And its a space that is expected to grow into a serious one in the next five years. A widely covered new report from Forrester estimates, however, that this space is expected to grow into a $700 million a year industry sector by 2013, or about 1% of the entire software industry, depending on how you define mashups and which types of tools are included. “
  • Hotel Marketing Strategies Blog[!]
    • Internet Marketing Ideas for Your Hotel
    • Universal McCann releases new social media numbers
    • Not specific to hotels & fantastic presentation which quantifies social media facts & figures

SMEs

Bill Ives

Other

Future

Cloud computing

  •  

There are seven reasons, Bert Armijo, (senior vice-president of sales, marketing and product management with Aliso Viejo, Calif.-based cloud computing provider3Tera Inc.,) said, the down economy is driving interest in, and adoption of, cloud computing:

    1. Lower up-front costs. When introducing a new application, hardware is a significant upfront cost, said Armijo. But cloud computing means the IT department can acquire the resources by paying the provider “by-the-drink” while not spending on hardware up front, and “and this allows you to spread that cost over time, and also to really manage that cost.” So, the required 10 servers by application, once successful, can be purchased incrementally.

    2. Faster time to market. It typically takes about two to four months to get an application into production, said Armijo, but in the cloud, applications can be deployed and scaled “in hours without changing code.”

    3. Reduced financial risk. If the application for whatever reason doesn’t catch on, or its use within the business has a limited time frame, Armijo said the business no longer has to pay for those resources in the cloud.

    4. Lower capital expense. Cloud computing leverages commodity hardware, so IT departments can avoid overprovisioning, said Armijo. And, while a server may appear only to cost around $5,000, he said “but the reality is there is a lot more capital that goes into putting that [data centre] space in there before you even get the server.” Data centre setup is a “huge expense” and enterprises are even running into power and cooling limits within their facilities, he said.

    5. Lower operational expense. When application operations are streamlined, IT administrators are not so belaboured with tasks like provisioning and management of servers, he said.

    6. Decreased downtime and costly delays. It’s easy to setup business continuity, redundant instances of applications with cloud computing, said Armijo. Moreover, he said, cloud service providers, given that is their business, have state-of-the art equipment for power backup and cooling.

    7. Additional services. Cloud service providers, too, can offer services that an IT department otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford, said Armijo, like added security measures, redundancy, bandwidth, and staff with cloud expertise.

  • Can business trust “immature” cloud computing?

Virtual Worlds /

Immersive Internet

What’s all the fuss about? Well, the Immersive Internet will have just as big an impact on the way work gets done as the World Wide Web has. Organizations are already starting to use the Immersive Internet to help meet important business objectives like:

  • Minimizing costs. Early adopters are using virtual environments to reduce costs associated with business travel, phone and Web conferencing, and prototype development. How? By using virtual environments to teach and learn, rehearse business activities, create and share 3D models of physical and theoretical objects, network and meet, collaborate and communicate, and manage real-world systems.
  • Going green. Managing facilities and data centers through 3D virtual control rooms can reduce real-world energy consumption. Eliminated commutes and reduced business travel means less fuel consumed and fewer carbon emissions from cars and airplanes. One of our own goals here at ThinkBalm is to replace unnecessary business travel with meetings in immersive environments not just to keep our sanity intact but to reduce our impact on this fragile planet. 
  • Recruiting and retaining employees. Innovators are starting to use the inherent qualities of virtual environments, like interactivity and engagement, to appeal to the simple human need to have a good time. Organizations that focus on this aspect of the human experience in the work context have the potential to positively impact employee recruiting and retention. Also, by using virtual environments people can be productive who may not be able to work otherwise due to disability or illness.
  • Creating a culture of bottom-up innovation. Serendipitous interactions — what people sometimes think of as “watercooler conversations” — can lead to ideas that no one person would have come up with on their own. When people share great experiences, and are exposed to other people they don’t normally spend time with, amazing things can happen. Virtual environments can be used to create immersive spaces where people run into and communicate with others. This can have enormous value particularly for organizations that have a culture of bottom-up innovation.
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