If
you're not innovating, you're dying. Death may be slow, and take a
few years, but it will come.
Don't
take my word for it, or the findings of the Intranet 2.0 Global study, take management guru Peter Drucker's word, or
any of the leading business gurus of the last century. Those that
don't take innovation seriously, are cast aside or merged into
others. Most of the S&P 500 in 1970 don't exist anymore (they're
assets & intellectual property gobbled up long ago by another,
bigger, faster competitor).
About
90% of adults under the age of 40 are on Facebook (higher in Canada
& Northern Europe, a little lower in the US)
39%
of employees under the age of 25 would consider leaving their job if
their company banned tools such as Facebook
How
can a company survive without attracting and keeping the next
generation of employees? How can a company ignore the 2.0 revolution
-- a revolution that has permanently changed the Internet, which
permanently changed business as we know it -- while the competition
embraces it? According to the Intranet 2.0 Global study about 50% of organizations have deployed social media (blogs, wikis, social networking) on the corporate intranet. Those that have not, are missing out on the party.
There's
no better way to get an executive's attention by saying "the
competition is doing it and if we don't we risk losing out."
Point to some of the case study examples I've documented on this site
(e.g. Sabre, BT, Placemaking, Janssen-Cilag and others) as proof, and
cross-reference those against the adoption rates and findings in the
study.
I wrote that "an
organization without a 2.0 strategy risks being left behind, or
outright failure (though death may be slow)." Once consultant responded that I was using "scare tactics". Are Peter Drucker's words "scare tactics"? Warren Buffett has echoed these same sentiments; as do employees who want to work
for progressive and innovative organizations, and expect 2.0
environments from employers of choice.
The
question is not whether or not an intranet or 2.0 is important to
companies, the question is your company part of the revolution or
being left behind?
The
latest update of the Worldwide
Intranet Challenge (WIC) is now available from the WIC blog site.
Since April 1st,
over 5200 intranet users from 16 organisations have participated in
the WIC.
Some
of the findings include:
The
overall average perception of intranet value is: 2.77
out of 4 (69.0%)
If
we only look at those responses where people:
Complete
common work tasks such as applying for leave or booking travel more
than once a day, the average valueincreases to 3.06 (76.5%)
Spend
less than 1 minute a day on the intranet: 1.54 (38.5%)
Spend
between 1-2 hours each day on the intranet: 3.13 (78.3%)
Strongly
agree with the statement 'I can find the information I need on the
intranet' 3.24 (81.0%)
Use
the intranet to publish content more than once a day: 3.07 (76.8%)
Disagree
with the statement 'Pages on the intranet load quickly': 2.61
(65.3%)
An
organization without a 2.0 strategy risks being left behind, or
outright failure (though death may be slow). Employees want to work
for progressive and innovative organizations, and expect 2.0
environments from employers of choice.
561
organizations of all sizes from across the planet participated in the
Intranet 2.0 Global Survey
and the results
reveal rapid adoption of social media on the corporate intranet in
the past year.
Once
a nice-to-have or a future wish, Intranet 2.0 tools such as blogs,
wikis and other vehicles have become mainstream, and are present in
nearly 50% of organizations (regardless of size) in the Western
World.
Intranet
blogs, wikis and discussion forums are quite pervasive, while other
less common tools such as podcasts and mashups remain an
after-thought at most organizations:
47%
have intranet wikis (17% enterprise deployment); 10% have no
plans or interest
45%
have intranet blogs (13% enterprise deployment); 11% have no
plans or interest
46%
have intranet discussion forums (19% enterprise use); 9% have
no plans or interest
46%
have intranet instant messaging (29% enterprise use); 21%
have no plans or interest
19%
have intranet social networking (6% enterprise use); 20% have
no plans or interest
Microsoft
dominance
Microsoft
is leading the 2.0 charge and dominating all competition. For those
organizations that have deployed 2.0 tools inside the firewall, about
half of all organizations have SharePoint (in some shape or form):
48%
of organizations use SharePoint
20%
of organizations use Facebook,17% of organizations use MediaWiki,16%
of organizations use WordPress
Cost
of Intranet 2.0
Intranet
2.0 is cheap. Of those organizations that have implemented 2.0 tools,
almost half have spent $10,000 or less on these tools:
46%
have spent $10,000 or less
35%
have spent between $10,000 and $100,000,19% have spent $100,000 or
more
Poor
execution
Sadly
though, despite the low cost of entry and ease of technology,
satisfaction levels with Intranet 2.0 tools are dangerously low:
Only
29% of organizations rate the tool functionality as good or very
good; 24% rate them as poor or very poor
Satisfaction
rates with executives is dangerously low: only 23% of executives
rate the 2.0 tools as good or very good; 38% rate them as poor or
very poor
To
download a free, summarized version of the report please visit:
36%
come from the U.S; 24% from Europe; 11% from Canada; 11% from
Australia / New Zealand; 10% from UK
61%
have more than 1,000 employees; 32% have 6,000 or more employees;
39% have less than 1000 employees
53%
of organizations have had an intranet for 7 or more years; 17% of
organizations have had an intranet for 2 years or less
13%
of the organizations are government; 13% from technology; 12% from
financial services; 6% from healthcare
The
survey was led by Toby Ward, President, Prescient Digital Media
About
Prescient Digital Media
Prescient
Digital Media is a group of senior intranet and Internet consultants
that provide strategic Internet and intranet consulting, planning and
communications services to organizations of all sizes. Our clients
include: Amgen, Covidien, CBC, CIBC, HSBC, Liberty Mutual, Manulife
Financial, Mastercard, Nintendo, Pepsi, RBC Financial Group, TD, and
more than 100 others. Prescient’s focus includes the
assessment, planning, technology selection, content and launch of
intranets, websites, and web-based tools. For more information please
contact Prescient Digital Media through the website at
www.PrescientDigital.com
or phone 416.926.8800.
(NEW YORK, NY) Jane
McConnell's 2009 Global Intranet Stategies Survey is now live (until
the end of August). This is the 4th annual survey; last year 226
organizations participated. The survey has become the reference for
knowing what is happening in intranets. Participants will receive a
complimentary copy of the "Global Intranet Trends for 2010"
which will be published in the second part of October.
C-level
executives now participate on the intranet steering committees of
half of the respondent companies that have a steering committee
(about 1/3 of the respondent companies have a steering committee;
roughly 1/6th of the total respondents therefore have a senior
executive actively involved)
Only
45% have networks or communities of practice for content
contributors
Only
36% of the organizations have “clearly designated business owners
for content”
only
1% stage 1 intranets have wikis in general use (optimized); 35% are
testing intranets (n some parts)
10%
of stage 3 intranets have wikis in general use (optimized); 74% are
testing intranets (in some parts)
2%
of stage 3 intranets have wikis in general use (optimized); 30% are
testing intranets (in some parts)
Here's
what other readers of the report have said:
"Great
survey, really got me thinking about the Intranet and portal. Just
answering the questions felt beneficial - so I really, really cannot
wait for the report!"
"Not
only this is a moment when we pause and realize what we do, but it's
also food for thoughts, research and projects." from a 3-time
participant
"With
the help of my colleagues we have completed the survey. We all found
it very interesting and it has also provided us with some helpful
self-analysis questions. It will be interesting to see the
consolidated information."
How long is a piece of
string? How deep is half a hole?
"These philosophical riddles leap to mind when
approaching the subject of a measurable Internet strategy," writes Prescient Digital Media GM Carm Porco in this month's Intranet Insight. "As with the two
aforementioned riddles, I have seen numerous clients struggle to find the
answers when defining success for their web endeavors. Organizations typically
have not defined what success looks like and have no measurable goals or key performance
indicators (KPI's) in place.
Additionally, here's a sneak preview of my presentation "New
Dimensions in the Era of Web 2.0 (Intranet 2.0)" at the Conference Board in Manhattan on Friday, June 24, 2009.
Note the findings of the Intranet 2.0 Global Survey. If you're a participant, links to the final results datasheet and full, 44-page analysis report "Intranet 2.0: Social Media becomes mainstream on the corporate intranet" should be in your Inbox.
I spend a lot of time talking about intranet planning and straregyAn all too common complaint from web managers is that their website does not enjoy the support from executives it deserves.
But
is lack of support the fault of the executives who fail to grasp
internet value, or the web manager who fails to talk their talk and
present the website value in a concise, impactful way that will
motivate executives to support the web?
It
comes up less frequently in 2009 then it first did when I formed
North America's first intranet consulting firm (Prescient Digital
Media) in early 2001, but the definition of an intranet is still
debatable.
Toby
Ward's definition of an intranet (first committed to paper in 2001 in
the Finding
ROI white paper):
A
private network, similar to the Internet and using the same protocols
and technology, that is contained within an enterprise. It may
consist of many inter-linked local area networks (LANs), desktop
computers, websites and portals, and email system(s). However, in
common vernacular, the intranet is the internal website home page
that is for employees only -- and the other internal websites that
link to it.
Wikipedia
definition of an intranet:
An
intranet is a private
computer
network that uses Internet
technologies to securely share any part of an organization's
information or operational systems with its employees. Sometimes the
term refers only to the organization's internal website,
but often it is a more extensive part of the organization's computer
infrastructure and private websites are an important component and
focal point of internal communication and collaboration.
No
surprises, really.
Another
term that causes confusion, more so than the intranet, is “portal”
or “corporate portal” (sometimes referred to as an “enterprise
information portal”).
Toby
Ward's definition of an intranet portal (first committed to paper in
version 2 (2003) of the Finding
ROI white paper):
A
primary website on the enterprise intranet. A web-based gateway to
most, if not all, tools and information on the enterprise intranet.
The portal can be a ‘catch all’ for all of the intranet, or a
business unit or function specific portal (i.e. Sales or HR portal).
The characteristics that best distinguish it from a standard intranet
home page include:
3-
enterprise search (search that extends beyond the intranet home page,
but doesn't necessarily search every single shared drive, email
folder & enterprise database).
Wikipedia
definition of an intranet portal:
An
intranet portal is the gateway that unifies access to all
enterprise information and applications[1]
on an intranet.
It is a tool that helps a company manage its data, applications, and
information more easily, and through personalized views. Some portal
solutions today are able to integrate legacy
applications, other portals objects, and handle thousands of user
requests. For enterprise user, it is also known as an enterprise
portal.
Now
the lines blur somewhat as different consultants and vendors use
different definitions (mostly to serve their sales needs). I've never
seen a portal that “unifies access to all” enterprise information
and applications, though “unifies access” is open to
interpretation. If a simple hypertext link to a database qualifies as
unified access then perhaps this is true. However, this is why my
definition for the past 6 years was written to say “most, if not
all, tools and information.” I don't think a portal is an “all”
or “nothing” scenario, but it certainly seems to fit if the
portal unifies “most” information and applications.
Why
are we even talking about this?
The
question once again arose last week when I wrote about the importance
of strategy and planning for an intranet (see Intranet
strategy & execution). An intranet strategy (which may
include one universal plan or multiple plans) should encompass all
internal facing websites, and apply standards across the network,
including all social media, email and related systems.
The
intranet strategy should include the use of a portal (where
applicable), internal websites, social media, shared drives, and
related knowledge management systems. Exclusions might include
specialized applications that are for a small, minority audience such
as senior executives and the finance team (e.g. Oracle financials,
board of directors extranet, CRM system, etc.)
Here's
the rub: regardless of your definition, you require a solid intranet
strategy that defines what can be done by whom (roles and
responsibilities) and according to defined standards (rules).
Having
trouble selling an intranet redesign? Or securing funding for a new
CMS or social media tool?
During
times of economic downturn, organizations are seeking to discover new
ways to make the most of their investments, but too many fail to
understand the intranet's value and potential to increase business
performance.
Join
this free webinar to learn how to convince executives to cough up the
cash for your intranet redesign.
This
video will create some diverging opinions and controversy, just as my
presentation “SharePoint Pros & Cons” did when I delivered it
in Denmark. This on-camera interview was conducted in Copenhagen immediately after my presentation (at IntraTeam). Granted I was severely jet-lagged
and suffering from exhaustion when I did the interview, but I stand
my words and assessment: SharePoint (MOSS 2007) is a fantastic
solution, but it is not the best solution for every scenario, and
every organization. Anyone who argues this should throw-away the
Kool-Aid.
As
I stress in my comments, SharePoint is ultimately what you make of
it, and you can do some amazing things with it, at any organization.
However, success with MOSS is a function of time and money. The
out-of-the-box solution is not appropriate for all business scenarios
in all companies. But it is an excellent solution for a small to
medium size business, or as a department-level solution in a larger
enterprise. Given the cost and complexity involved with
customization, I don't believe it makes sense to use it as a large,
enterprise intranet be-all solution for larger organizations; its
possible to make it so, but what is the opportunity cost versus other
portal or ECM solutions?
Feel
free to comment and weigh-in with your opinions, but no flame mail
please (I will just embarrass you for doing so). If you're a
Microsoft employee or partner, then please disclose that you rely on
SharePoint to make a living. Ditto if you're a Microsoft customer or
independent consultant.
Keep
in mind, I too am a SharePoint user, but we (Prescient Digital Media)
also uses other CMSs, portals & social media solutions too. We
are strictly technology-neutral with no reseller agreements. I have
no agenda or ax to grind; I merely seek to inform my readers and
clients about the strengths and weaknesses of the superb, but not
perfect solution that is MOSS 2007.
The
only book of its type in the world, What every intranet team should
know provides a succinct overview of managing and growing intranets.
A must-have for every intranet team, whether just starting or looking
for fresh ideas.
This
is the definitive ‘quick start’ guide to intranets, providing
intranet teams with a to-the-point overview of how to plan, design,
manage and grow intranets.
A
beautifully printed A5-sized 110-page book, this volume covers key
topics for every intranet team:
