When you look at Enterprise 2.0, you can see the hype pretty clearly but what is not so evident is how social computing efforts are faring within corporations and large organizations.
That’s what’s striking about the report from the 2.0 Adoption Council. The group did a web survey of its 100 members with 77 responding. That may seem like a small number to use for any quantifiable conclusion about the state of Enterprise 2.0. But the people who responded lead or help lead Enterprise 2.0 efforts at some of the largest organizations in the world. Thirty-four percent of the respondents work for companies with more than 10,000 employees. Twenty-five percent work for organizations that have more than 100,000 employees.
These people have solid footing into how social enterprise technologies are being adopted.
Let’s get to to the results:
Manufacturing Has Surprising High Adoption
It’s not surprising to see high tech companies as leading the way in uses of Enterprise 2.0 technologies. But it’s interesting that manufacturing businesses are proving to be adopters. These are companies with roots deep in the industrial age that are showing that they see it as important to bring social computing into the work of its employees.
No Surprise About Early Adoption
It should be no surprise that Enterprise 2.0 is still in the early adopter phase.
Budgets Are Healthy
Budgets are less than $500,000 in most organizations but 52 percent of the respondents have budgets between $500,000 and $5 milliion.
Projects Are Well Under Way
Enterprise 2.0 is not just a concept any more but a reality in the enterprise with 34 percent saying they have multiple projects underway. We are curious about five percent having Enterprise 2.0 technologies fully ingrained into their work places. These must be more service oriented companies that do not rely on deeply entrenched technologies like ERP software.
Who’s Driving The Efforts
We often use terms like “groundswell,” to describe the phenomena around social applications in the consumer world. In the enterprise, it’s a different story. Adoption is often user driven but management is dictating a lot of the efforts.
ROI is Hard To Define
The one weakness that Enterprise 2.0 faces is the abstractness of its return on investment. It’s important to note, though, that 55 percent of the respondents are very satisfied with their Enterprise 2.0 efforts. Another 26 percent of respondents are somewhat satisfied.
Conclusion
The 2.0 Adoption Council survey results unquestionably show that Enterprise 2.0 is well becoming a core part of organizations. The challenges will come as more scrutiny is placed on how the organization benefits from Enterprise 2.0. What really is the ROI? We expect this question will answer itself as more advanced analytics provide more detailed views about how the efforts are faring.
A Final Note
In addition to its survey research, The Council has also released its first “how-to” report, “A Framework for 2.0 Adoption in the Enterprise,” which gives additional insight into how to successfully implement Enterprise 2.0 technologies within organizations.
