Web 2.0 scores success in the enterprise

InfoWorld - Incorporating Web 2.0 social networking concepts into enterprises offers great benefits but also challenges, said implementers of these technologies such as Best Buy, Serena Software and Oracle during an industry event Tuesday evening in Silicon Valley.

Social networking in corporate environments, also referred to as Enterprise 2.0, increases collaboration and idea-sharing among employees as well as customers and can even lower employee turnover, panelists said at a Churchill Club presentation entitled "From 'Dilbert' to Dude: Succeeding with Web 2.0 Within the Enterprise," given in Santa Clara, Calif.

But implementers should also be concerned with risks such as legal issues that could arise and what to do if inappropriate material gets posted on a social networking site, according to the panel.

Best Buy Co. has set up a social networking site for employees called Blueshirtnation.com, which has attracted 20,000 users, said Steve Bendt, Best Buy senior manager for social technology. Workers can participate in activities such as using audio files or blogging.

The impact has been "pretty huge," enabling the company to listen to and better understand employees, he said. Barriers are being broken down.

"It was about giving up control right away," Bendt said. "Now, they have the means to connect with people they've never met before," such as a store in Las Vegas talking to a store in North Carolina.

Employees can put ideas on the site and get funding for them anywhere in the company. The site does not challenge the hierarchy but complements it, Bendt said.

Turnover appears to have been affected as well as employee morale. The overall turnover rate at the company is 60%, while turnover of people using the site is just 8% to 12%. The site itself has not required a lot of investment and uses open-source software. Currently, the site is restricted to employees only, and customers are not able to access it.

Serena Software Inc. has taken a different approach to social networking, conducting its collaboration on Facebook. While seeking a better way for communication than the company's intranet, the company pondered rebuilding it but instead looked toward "millennials," twentysomething people and how they communicate, said Rene Bonvanie, a senior vice president at the Redwood City, Calif.-based company.

Serena officials made Facebook the new corporate intranet, resulting in improved communications. Employees speak with one another and with customers more openly, and customers know where to find representatives and technologists.

"Through Facebook, they can find where people are," Bonvanie said.

To acclimate employees to Facebook, Serena brought in people familiar with the site -- 16-year-olds -- to enlighten Serena employees in the 40-to-45-year-old age bracket.