Creating a "UC Folksonomy"

If you recall, a couple of weeks ago we discussed that enterprises should be looking to incorporate Web 2.0 into their core IT strategy and we highlighted four key characteristics to ensure success. Unified Communications delivers in all four areas representing a unique, emerging opportunity. Let's explore a scenario of how to leverage UC and core Web 2.0 principles to drive value while keeping the four characteristics of success in mind.

Example - the typical customer service strategy is based on a legacy call center model. In Web 2.0 terms we can refer to this as a "taxonomy" in that the call center has a predefined set of rules, structure, reports, etc. It is treated as a separate entity from the rest of the organization. It's closed, inflexible in its ability to respond to customer interactions, very impersonal and often extremely frustrating for customers to deal with. Today, customers are demanding more personalized service - "Know who I am and why I'm calling" and that creates the opportunity for competitive differentiation.

By leveraging UC, companies can deliver a much more dynamic customer service experience. Here's how: a company that employs 5000 people may only have 500 (10%) of them designated as call center agents. That means that potentially 90% of the resources are not part of the customer service process. What if you could extend that number from 10% to even 50% of the employees that are actively engaged in serving customers? What value would that bring to both your customers and your organization?

UC does this by leveraging core Web 2.0 principles like: software above the level of single device, leveraging the network as a platform, rich user experience, mobility, video, collaboration, and The Long Tail. We can improve the above example, by leveraging a "UC Folksonomy" - the creation of dynamic, ad-hoc teams across the enterprise to aid in customer interactions. A call center agent could use a "UC Folksonomy" to incorporate "resident experts" (branch, mobile, sales, engineering, etc.) across the business to aid in delivering value to the customer.

The idea that any employee can reach out to the very edge of the enterprise to engage a "resident expert" with context is a very powerful value proposition (i.e. understand their "interruptibility", regardless of their environment, to collaborate and aid in a customer interaction). In a Web2.0 context, UC encourages the creation of these ad hoc teams that self organize with the common goal of servicing customers - without having to rely on the structure/rules of a formal contact center.

Value delivered:

• Reduced hold times and abandons
• Reduced call transfers (and associated frustration with having a customer restate their account number, last 4 digits of social, etc.)
• Improved service through collaboration
• Higher first contact resolution
• Measurable return

I posted a presentation deck to help illustrate the concept. Next week we'll peel the layers back to discuss how easy it is to create a UC Folksonomy, incorporate corporate tagging and where to get started.

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Enter Unified Communications

A colleague of mine commented on an internal blog I wrote on the same topic of Web 2.0 in the Enterprise. I thought his comments were very insightful and reflected some of what we've talked about in this blog. He said:

"Web 2.0 is about Collaboration. The early phases of Web 2.0 were text driven. However, Collaboration is more powerful when you can add richer elements like voice and video. Web 2.0 in the Enterprise should equal Unified Communications."

Enterprise Web 2.0 Lesson #2: In order to realize the full benefits of Web 2.o in the corporate world you need to look beyond blogs and wiki's. Instead, you need to focus on building your strategy around the set of principles and concepts that Web 2.0 represents.

In fact, Unified Communications (UC) shares a number of core principles with Web 2.0, as illustrated by the "meme map" that was developed at a brainstorming session during FOO Camp in 2005 (a conference at O'Reilly Media). If I were to redraw the meme map for UC it may look something like the following - note that the principles and concepts are the same, UC just puts them in a different context.

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To dive a little deeper, here are four examples of Web2.0 principles that are core to Unified Communications:

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As you can see, many of the concepts and principles that have helped define Web 2.0 in social-context are applicable to Web 2.0 and UC in the enterprise-context. Next week we'll explore some scenarios that illustrate how UC can leverage core Web 2.0 principles to enhance collaboration and drive value.

Fears About Adopting Web 2.0

I think we can all agree that Web 2.0 is coming into the Enterprise, whether the organization is ready or not. The power is shifting to the user and Gartner anticipates that "Consumer Technologies Will Drive the Future of Enterprise IT". So, some decisions need to be made by IT - ignore it, try to pull back control, or anticipate user needs and leverage the "user as the employee".

However, we all know it's not that easy. A recent internet posting described the Top 1o Management Fears About Enterprise Web 2.0 and did a great job of capturing both technical and cultural challenges with adoption. To summarize:

Technical Concerns - Security, Access Control, Information Integrity, Proper Tagging, Training

Cultural Concerns -Monitoring, Legal Dangers, Productivity, Information Management, ROI

That's a lot to consider, isn't it? That's why many industry experts believe this is one of the biggest challenges facing the future of IT (as well as a good blogging topic).

Ideally, enterprises should look to incorporate Web 2.o into core IT strategy in such a way that the tools and solutions do four things:

1. Satisfy user demand for collaboration and participation;
   
2. Allow IT to maintain control;
   
3. Remain secure;
   
4. Demonstrate a measurable return on the investment.

Thus, initiating a Web 2.0 strategy with a blog or wiki may not represent the best opportunity for success. Though it addresses item #1 from above, it falls short in other areas.

Next week, we'll dive deeper into how to create a strategy that addresses all four requirements. Here's a hint - remember from a couple of weeks ago we established that Web 2.0 = Collaboration. In order to "harness the collective intelligence" of the enterprise we need to build an architecture of participation. That means looking beyond the basics (social networks, blogs and wiki's) and focusing on the principles and concepts of Web 2.0.

BAM! Web 2.0 Hits the Enterprise Head-on

Social Web 2.0 has hit a critical mass and the interest has become this huge tidal wave. It's impact has spread beyond the under 25 crowd to include all demographics. So much so, that it has become an embedded part of our lives where the distinction between our online lives and our offline lives has become blurred. An often sited example is that when you find something in your attic – traditionally would sell it at a yard/garage sale – today the first inclination is to “sell it on eBay”.

Naturally with Web 2.0 having such a strong impact socially, it's starting to make its way into the enterprise. More and more employees are using consumer tools (such as cell phones and iPods) and personal applications (like Facebook and AOL for IM) as a way to communicate and collaborate with colleagues. The lines between employee and user/consumer are blurring and thus the "user/consumer as the employee" is born - driving the future direction of enterprise IT. Blogs and wiki's are another example of Web 2.0 tools making their way into the enterprise in a rogue fashion, unsanctioned by the line of business or IT. My personal experience has been that there are too many rules and layers of bureaucracy to create a formal corporate blog/wiki. It so much easier to go to a free, web-based service outside the firewall.

This brings us to Enterprise Web 2.0 Lesson #1: Enterprise Web 2.0 is going to happen - with or without IT.

In fact, these rogue activities are not limited to individual knowledge workers. Entire teams and lines of business are acquiring Web 2.0-based tools without IT involvement. According to an article by CIO Insight which cited Forrester Research findings, 25% of non-IT executives directly select tech tools on their own. The reasons are simple: i) IT is often mired in major projects and don't have the bandwidth; ii) business process outsourcing; iii) availability of software as a service (SaaS). The third point is the one I find most interesting (often referred to as the "No CIO needed" model). For example, a VP of Sales wants to implement better sales cadence tools for forecasting and reporting. He/She could go through formal processes of requesting IT to research, put out an RFP and implement a solution over a number of months or years. Or, he/she could look to a SaaS provider like Salesforce.com to provide access to a hosted, web-based service that could be up and running in a matter of days. It shows up as an operational expense vs. a capital investment and and could simply be a line item on an AMEX card.

IT (led by the CIO/CTO) has two options as me move into the era of the user-driven enterprise: 1) Try to pull back control - which will inevitably lead to a standoff between departments and IT-Business leadership which is counterproductive and will more than likely lead to the ousting of a CIO. 2) Anticipate business needs - get ahead of the curve and take solutions to the business users proactively, talk to the users and find out what tools they need to be successful.

As I stated earlier, Web 2.0 is making its way into the enterprise with or without IT. The winds of change are blowing in IT - just like when voice over IP (VoIP) was first introduced. But as we've seen with VoIP, if IT embraces the opportunity, Web 2.0 can drive business transformation, making IT a strategic organization and solidify the CIO's place in the board room.

Next blog we'll talk about some of the management fears about adopting Web 2.0 in the enterprise and what you can do to mitigate those fears while showing measurable returns for the business.