Enterprise 2.0 will become increasingly important to Asia-Pacific nations, particularly as they make the transition from being efficiency- and resource-driven economies to innovation-driven economies. The creation, capture and leverage of knowledge and collaboration between individuals and organisations is what is driving the need for such technology.
Factors driving the adoption of Enterprise 2.0-related technology are productivity, innovation and service.
Productivity
Employers are increasingly focusing on how they can extract greater productivity from existing employees without having to invest in additional headcount.
In fact, difficulty in recruiting and retaining people is the key driver for organisations adopting technology that will help them utilise their resources more effectively and provide more timely service to customers.
Innovation
Businesses that embrace the Enterprise 2.0 model are decentralised in their internal operations and non-hierachical, encouraging employees to innovate and adapt to the changing business environment. These businesses also engage with customers on customers’ terms. For example, a software company may open up its platform and allow third parties to develop on it.
The Internet has made it far more cost-effective to cater for niche audiences, allowing businesses to take advantage of relatively small markets rather than only competing in mass markets. A traditional example of these “long tail” markets is Amazon.com, which leverages on its low cost of operations to stock thousands of specialist titles not offered by traditional bookstores.
The diverse Asia-Pacific region is well-placed to benefit from the enablement of long tail marketing. While businesses in North America and Europe can take advantage of relative market homogeneity, those in Asia grapple not only with multiple languages, but also different regulations, legislation and cultural norms in the different countries in which they operate. Enterprise 2.0 involves using technology to overcome these hurdles.
Service
Being able to provide service anywhere and everywhere by definition involves a combination of communications and information. But the emphasis is on communications, with customers increasingly demanding 24x7 service even from organisations that have not provided it in the past.
Unified communications – the integration of voice, presence and collaboration – is helping to create the Borderless Enterprise. This means the borders between organisations will crumble, creating a state of federation and allowing individuals in multiple organisations to interact seamlessly.
Next steps
While technology can be used to super-charge growth, cultural change needs to be implemented if technology is to be used effectively.
Given that an open and innovative corporate culture is in place, organisations will seek to implement collaborative technology as needed. Many organisations will adopt elements such as instant messaging, conferencing and collaboration relatively swiftly while cutting-edge innovations around virtual worlds will take longer to enter the mainstream.
Innovative organisations will look to future trends such as the transition from desktop PC to mobility and then pervasive computing, including the use of ubiquitous wireless, organic light-emitting diode displays and peer-to-peer telecommunications networks. These organisations need to understand how device independence will play out in terms of new applications and business models.
Despite some government interest, the Enterprise 2.0 revolution is likely to be led by the private sector. While governments, particularly in interventionist economies such as Singapore and Malaysia, will attempt to stimulate development of new technology, true innovation will be generated out of business need rather than as a result of central planning.
The writer is senior industry analyst at Frost & Sullivan Australia.