Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Applications
    • Applications
    • IT Management

    Let Freedom Ring

    By
    Eric Lundquist
    -
    November 27, 2006
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Is your company flat? Is your company paranoid? Do your managers manage by walking around?

      All those terms have always been printed in boldface type in the consultants lexicon, but aside from fodder for Dilbert cartoons, those terms are usually just that, terms instead of actions.

      But as the power of consumer social technologies becomes ever more prevalent in business, the days of being able to talk the game instead of playing it are numbered.

      Executive Editor Stan Gibson wrote an eWEEK Road Map story on the rise of wikis in the corporation. Add wikis to the world of blogs, podcasts, videocasts and social networks, and the ability for the manager to control the company from the traditional top-down approach simply wont work. Im not the only one thinking this way.

      In his upcoming book, “Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything” (to be published in December), co-authored with Anthony Williams, Don Tapscott writes how mass collaboration will change everything.

      Tapscott writes, “Smart companies are encouraging, rather than fighting, the heaving growth of massive online communities—many of which emerged from the fringes of the Web to attract tens of millions of participants overnight. Even ardent competitors are collaborating on path-breaking science initiatives that accelerate discovery in their industries. Indeed, as a growing number of firms see the benefits of mass collaboration, this new way of organizing will eventually displace the traditional corporate structures as the economys primary engine of wealth creation.”

      Although the prose is a little bit too breathless in promising great change right away, Tapscott (who has proved his prescience before in his book “The Digital Economy: Promise and Peril in the Age of Networked Intelligence”) is onto something.

      And this time the changes coming to the corporate world bear a remarkable difference from the ideas propounded in a flat company trying to squash the traditional pyramid chain of command or paranoid companies always on guard for the next competitor that may prove their undoing.

      This time around, the users are in charge, and technology managers can have a lot to say about how their companies are structured or risk being left out of the new game.

      As a technology manager, you can develop a plan to implement a corporatewide wiki capability, or you can watch your users quickly turn to free, hosted versions sitting outside the companys security confines.

      You can develop a capability for podcasts, blogs and social networks, or you can see your users turn to outside alternatives. You can either be a manager who provides robust corporate wikis, blogs and podcasts better than the alternatives, or you can become a digital cop trying to find, track and shut down the profusion of information supplied by your employees, customers and suppliers as it relates to your company and the market your company serves.

      Heres a suggestion: Technology managers are better technology implementers than technology limiters. Coming up with a strategy to put your company in the forefront of social, mass collaboration users will be good for you, your career and your company.

      /zimages/7/28571.gifClick here to read about the emergence of wikis in the enterprise.

      Between now and the end of the year, spend your time understanding how Wikipedia works or what Facebook is all about, or why avatar-based Second Life and its associated sites have staying power. All that education is free and only a browser click away.

      The next step is to understand your business sufficiently enough to be able to describe how these social applications can be applied for the companys benefit. If you dont encourage the use of these applications, your users will find access to them elsewhere.

      The next big application missing from the corporate environment is a management tool that will allow you to look over all the social applications that relate to your company and answer the following simple questions: What are our customers saying about us? How is our brand perceived? What do our competitors offer that we dont?

      Until that application comes along, it is up to you to offer the social applications that will provide the information that will result in the discussions where those answers reside.

      Editorial Director Eric Lundquist can be reached at [email protected].

      WWWeb Resources

      Wikinomics

      Find out more here

      wikinomics.com

      Podcasting in the enterprise

      Find out what digital audio is doing for business

      eweek.com/-article2/-0,1759,2022864,00.asp

      /zimages/7/28571.gifCheck out eWEEK.coms for the latest news, reviews and analysis on IT management from CIOInsight.com.

      Eric Lundquist
      Since 1996, Eric Lundquist has been Editor in Chief of eWEEK, which includes domestic, international and online editions. As eWEEK's EIC, Lundquist oversees a staff of nearly 40 editors, reporters and Labs analysts covering product, services and companies in the high-technology community. He is a frequent speaker at industry gatherings and user events and sits on numerous advisory boards. Eric writes the popular weekly column, 'Up Front,' and he is a confidant of eWEEK's Spencer F. Katt gossip columnist.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Cybersecurity

      Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

      James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
      I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      Alteryx’s Suresh Vittal on the Democratization of...

      James Maguire - May 31, 2022 0
      I spoke with Suresh Vittal, Chief Product Officer at Alteryx, about the industry mega-shift toward making data analytics tools accessible to a company’s complete...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      GoodData CEO Roman Stanek on Business Intelligence...

      James Maguire - May 4, 2022 0
      I spoke with Roman Stanek, CEO of GoodData, about business intelligence, data as a service, and the frustration that many executives have with data...
      Read more
      Applications

      Cisco’s Thimaya Subaiya on Customer Experience in...

      James Maguire - May 10, 2022 0
      I spoke with Thimaya Subaiya, SVP and GM of Global Customer Experience at Cisco, about the factors that create good customer experience – and...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Yotascale CEO Asim Razzaq on Controlling Multicloud...

      James Maguire - May 5, 2022 0
      Asim Razzaq, CEO of Yotascale, provides guidance on understanding—and containing—the complex cost structure of multicloud computing. Among the topics we covered:  As you survey the...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×