Enterprise 2.0 (and Web 2.0) we've been doing that for years... NOT

Viewing Andrew McAfee and Tom Davenport's debate at last week's Enterprise 2.0 conference and reading some of the comments on the blog has confirmed my views about the lack of clear thinking regarding E2.0 and W2.0. With all due respect to Tom Davenport who has been in IT since 197x, you got it wrong dude!

The notion that E2.0 is nothing new (as argued in the debate) and that the technology is all just a rehash of stuff that has been around for ages is RIDICULOUS!!! Ubiquitous access to information through the Internet, wireless and mobile technologies, platform independent applications, affordability and wide spread adoption of technology, the ability to share information publically, wide spread platform and application interoperability through XML, HTTP, Web Services, etc., are all contributors that have converged to create the unique "wired" society we live in today. And businesses are part of our social construct.

I concur that technology alone won't change large bureacracies market pressures will. But the technology enables the change. Without there would be no basis for change. The millions of users that are flocking to social networking platforms cannot be ignored.

Enterprises need to understand and embrace the social networking phenomenon rather than sitting back skeptically saying this is nothing new or an unachievable utopian vision. Harnessing the information (content) that is being created today, understanding what it means and where we are going, and being able to quickly take advantage of it will provide organisations' a strategic advantage.

Organisations that fail to embrace this new paradigm, at best will miss out on opportunities and at worst, be overtaken by agile organisations capable of evolving.