Social
media adoption has accelerated on the corporate intranet, led by
blogs, wikis and discussion forums. Despite a low cost of entry—often
below $10,000—adopters are not reporting outstanding satisfaction
with the investment, especially among the executive ranks, driven by
inadequate planning and weak or non-existent business plans.
This
data is contained is contained in the results of the Intranet
2.0 Global Survey,
which included the participation of 561 organizations of all sizes
from across the planet.
Intranet
2.0 Global Survey Results
“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 North America,
Europe, and Australia and New Zealand,” says Toby Ward, the study
author, and President, Prescient Digital Media.
RSS
(Real simple syndication) is perhaps the greatest Web 2.0
technology... that you've have never heard of (well, not us, but our
less nerdy friends and colleagues). Some, geeks like us, use it in My
Yahoo! or iGoogle... and many don't even know that they use it when
they subscribe to a blog or a newsfeed. It is this lack of
understanding of this incredibly powerful technology that is the
major barrier to adoption of it on the corporate intranet.
According
to the Intranet
2.0 Global Study findings
(400 respondent organizations from across the globe), RSS has been
adopted by 37% of organizations, but only 13% have adopted it at an
enterprise level.
Among
the adoption findings (Which of the following Intranet 2.0 tools are
being used at your organization?):
No
plans to adopt - 10%
None
but considering options – 29%
Not
yet but have plans – 24%
Some,
limited use - 24%
Enterprise
deployment - 13%
As
for those that don't use RSS, the responses and barriers vary from
technological and security issues to pure lack of understanding of
what RSS is:
“Strict
limits on the use of business technology.”
“No
one internally - except for the IT folks and my Web group - even
knows what RSS is. The few who do are not interested. Plus, we're
Blackberry-heavy and e-mail slaves, so announcements will continue
to go out by e-mail.”
“Would
use more of it if had better solution integrated with our platform.
Plan to use RSS extensively in next 12 months.”
“Our
main hurdle currently is that normal intranet users have no access
to RSS feed readers on their work PCs.”
“Have
imported information from RSS feeds into intranet. No plans to
create feeds as no one here understands feed readers.”
“We
use alerts instead due to security.”
Not
surprisingly, more organizations have adopted wikis, discussion
forums and blogs:
46%
of organizations have deployed wikis (16% with enterprise
deployments)
42%
have deployed blogs (12% with enterprise deployments)
48%
use discussion forums (29% with enterprise deployments)
But
RSS, along with search, helps make the above social media 'sticky'
and reusable. In other words, blogs and wikis often spawn RSS
adoption. The numbers support this: only 10% of the respondent
organizations don't have any plans to adopt RSS. Most will adopt it
at some point in the next 2 years; it is how many of us will keep
returning to blogs and forums that we care about.
For
now, as I wrote in Enteprise
RSS is not dead, it's still being born, the adoption of RSS
inside the enterprise is blocked by cultural barriers, not technology
barriers. The
reason for the low adoption rate is because the average user does not
see any value in taking the time to learn the technology.
But once they start
using blogs, forums and podcasts, they'll start to see the RSS light.
The
concluding findings of the Intranet
2.0 Global Study will initially be presented at this year's
IntraTeam
Event (conference) in Copenhagen. Readers of IntranetBlog.com
also get a discount of 15%. Just use price code: "Prescient15"
when you reserve
on the IntraTeam website.
Plus if you reserve now, I'll buy you a Tuborg at the lobby bar...
lol!
JOIN
THE WEB 2.O REVOLUTION:
Join
the Intranet Global Forum community on Facebook
For
all the heroics of pilot Chesley Sullenberger and the happy ending
for all the survivors of the ill-fated US Airways flight that
splashed-down in the Hudson, the parent corporation directing that
flight does not earn a similar fate. Though US Airways did not
completely fail the crisis, they did fail at web crisis
communications.
Within
moments of the plane landing in the Hudson, ferries began to redirect
their sterns to the partially submerged wing tips of the big jet
airliner; the only quicker response was the one by users of Twitter.
The tweets were ringing through the Twitter website and PDAs across
the planet faster than CNN could break the story. A simple lesson,
really: the Web has become the ultimate quick response system in
times of crisis. Though this lesson has been re-learned many times
(the bombings on Mumbai are just one of countless examples), US
Airways still had not learned the lesson.
Amongst
the flurry of tweets were those from myself, who working from the
greatest of distances, my building in Vancouver, was able to
communicate more about the story than the airline itself. And while
the Internet continues to prove itself amongst the fastest of
communications channels, US Airways still did not have a response or
a message on their website two hours after their accident. I was
watching – and the company posted no message on their home page,
and none to their press room.
Intranet
2.0 tools have become mainstream technologies and are transforming
employee communications, collaboration and organizational work and
knowledge management. According to the Intranet 2.0 Global Study
findings (more than 400 respondent organizations from across the globe), nearly
50% of the respondents have deployed some social media or intranet
2.0 tool. Among the adoption findings:
46%
of organizations have deployed wikis (16% with enterprise
deployments)
42%
have deployed blogs (12% with enterprise deployments)
48%
use discussion forums (29% with enterprise deployments)
For
those old-school organizations that are on the outside looking in at
intranet 2.0, the biggest barrier is executive support. In other
words, another 40 – 50% of organizations have managers or senior
managers that want to roll out social media on the intranet, but the
executive suite is handcuffing their good intentions. 34% of
respondents state that the biggest barrier to intranet 2.0 is
executive support. Many executives are concerned, scared, or plain
apathetic to those Web 2.0 technologies they've seen on the Internet,
and cannot mentally bridge the gap to employees via the intranet.
Related
to the lack of executive support is the lack of a business case,
cited by 32% of respondents that don't have intranet 2.0 tools in use.
To this end, executives need to be sold on the value of intranet 2.0
and want to see the business case. Intranet managers are having a
difficult time making the business case and even understanding the
inherent or nascent value of social media for employees.
The
barrier to implementation and success however is blocking
understanding at all levels of the organization: “Lack of
understanding by both management and staff,” says one survey
respondent. Another cites cultural barriers and the “lack of an
open culture.”
Full
results of the Intranet 2.0 Global Study will be released in the New
Year, accompanied by recommendations on how to overcome these
barriers and implement these new technologies with success.
About
the Intranet 2.0 Global Study: More than 400 resondent organizations from
across the globe, represented by all continents, with 35% from the
United States, 22% from Europe, 13% from Canada, 12% from Australia /
New Zealand, 11% from the United Kingdom. 60% of the respondent
companies have more than 1,000 employees; 23% have 10,000 employees
or more; 15% have less than 100 employees.
FULL RESULTS:
The
Intranet 2.0 Global Survey will remain open
for the holidays. For those that would like the full results in the
New Year, you will have to take the 10-minute survey. Take
the Intranet 2.0 Global Survey (there's a $400 prize for one
lucky participant)
JOIN
THE 2.0 REVOLUTION:
Join
the Intranet Global Forum community on Facebook
By
now you're well versed with the concept of social media and its
power. So powerful in fact are some forms, such as social networking
on Facebook, that some employees are demanding newer forms of 'social
media' communications from the corporation.
"Communicating
is a tough gig," says Prescient Digital Media's Catherine
Elder. "Once you've nailed down to what you want to say you
need to consider how you're going to say it. "Different
generations prefer different methods of communication, for
Millennials instant messaging and social networking sites are the
norm but Baby Boomers are less comfortable with text messaging and
traditionalist prefer face to face..."
Consider
for a moment the powerful Telindus study
of 1,000 European employees that should serve as a warning to
all employers and communicators:
39%
of 18 to 24 year-old employees would consider leaving itheir
employer if they were not allowed to access sites like Facebook and
YouTube
A
further 21% indicated that they would feel ‘annoyed’ by such a
ban
The
problem is less acute with 25 to 65 year-olds, of whom just 16%
would consider leaving and 13% would be annoyed
I've
yet to see a similar study in North America, but nearly every single
18-34 year-old in Canada is a registered Facebook user – nearly 10
million people! My estimated guess is that North American employees
will be more demanding of an organization's use of social media. In
fact, we're seeing it in most of the client organizations we're
presently working with at Prescient Digital Media.
The
Intranet
2.0 Global Survey of
social media tools and vehicles on the intranet reveals that about
90% of organizations (of all sizes) are using social media or are
planning to do so (320 respondent organizations from all across the
planet, with an average size of a couple of thousand employees, but
including organization of fewer than 100 employees and a few with
more than 50,000). Enterprise-wide use of these tools are typically
around 20% (though higher for wikis and instant messaging, lower for
podcasting and social networking). The chief barrier to implementing
these social media tools on the intranet is lack of executive support
and a lack of a business case.
For
the full results of this study, you have to take the survey (which is
open for two more weeks). If
you haven't already done so, please take 10 minutes to
take the Intranet 2.0 Global Survey
and
you’ll get a copy of the full results including the good, bad and
learned lessons. Please also direct clients and fellow colleagues.
The more participation we get, the better the results and findings
that I share all with you. It doesn't cost anything, and I'm not
charging anything.
PLEASE
TAKE THE SURVEY EVEN IF YOU DO
NOT HAVE
INTRANET 2.0 TOOLS -- WE REQUIRE BOTH PERSPECTIVES!!
Respondents
who complete the survey will be eligible to win $400 (a random email
address will be drawn from all responses to the survey). All
respondents will also receive a full copy of the results at no cost.
The study is the latest in the TechRadar series, Forrester’s research methodology used to predict the success of a set of related technologies over the next decade. The enterprise Web 2.0 analysis provides insight for two roles: Information & Knowledge Management professionals and Vendor Strategy professionals.
"Web 2.0 collaboration technologies solve problems that enterprises have today, but most companies have not used these tools anywhere near their potential" said Gil Yehuda, senior analyst, Forrester Research. "This new research illustrates to enterprise users where the smart money is invested and where to place their strategic bets. In the current economic climate, Forrester believes collaboration tools can save enterprises operation costs by getting people and processes together quickly and efficiently"
"While so much of the buzz around Web 2.0 has focused on the business-to-consumer market, the greatest opportunity today for vendors is in the business-to-business collaboration space" said Oliver Young, analyst, Forrester Research. "Some Web 2.0 collaboration technologies have shown a faster-than-normal life cycle, so it is critical for vendors to take stock of the enterprise tools that have the greatest long-term potential and invest wisely in those technologies"
Forrester previously estimated the enterprise Web 2.0 collaboration market will hit $1.8 billion by 2013. The enterprise Web 2.0 TechRadar study is based upon an analysis of previous research and interviews with industry experts, vendors responsible for building or implementing these technologies, and enterprise customers and users.
Forrester predicts the following Web 2.0 collaboration technologies will continue to experience growth:
o Social networks (cultural resistance exists, but Forrester believes this will eventually break)
o Wikis (users report success with Wiki endeavors, particularly when sponsored by business leaders)
o Blogging (social networks will breathe new life into internal blogs by providing more context to blogged content, but Forrester found that blogging alone does not capture the audience’s attention)
o RSS (underappreciated in the enterprise)
The following Web 2.0 technologies have large and resilient ecosystems, according to Forrester, and can last for several years or even decades, but over time, the markets will become highly consolidated, customer numbers will flatten, and revenues will level off or decline:
o Podcasting is on the decline. Users tell Forrester that podcasts in the context of enterprise productivity and collaboration are neither very engaging nor immersive, and the vendor landscape is shrinking.
o Forums are underused. While forums will continue on as a fundamental enabling technology for collaboration, the marketplace is flat, and forums will become part of larger community-focused packages.
View the full report Enterprise Web 2.0" and "Forrester TechRadar™ For Vendor Strategists: Enterprise Web 2.0" are currently available to Forrester RoleView™ clients and can be purchased directly at forrester.com.
Bill Ives agrees with most of the reports findings, but believes mashups should be listed with the social networking and wikis as “significant” successful technologies:
“In my discussions with vendors, mashups are being increasingly used as the application development platform underlying many tools,” says Ives in his post More from Forrester on the Future of Enterprise 2.0 Technologies. “So it is both getting harder to separate them and they are becoming more pervasive. I think social bookmarks provide a useful utility that is getting integrated into other tools.”
However, Bill cautions organizations who look at all or any of these tools as a stand-alone technology working in isolation.
“I see an increasing movement among vendors to provide integrated platforms that make use of a number of these tools. Even a very focus(ed) tool like Connectbeam combines social networking with social bookmarking and integrates it with search. Broader platforms like Traction make use of blogs, wikis, forums, and, most recently microblogging. Deki Wiki and Central Desktop combine many of these tools with a wiki platform under the covers.”
My study on Intranet 2.0 reveals similar findings about the adoption rate and usefulness of these technologies – and why some companies aren’t bothering to adopt them. If you want a full copy of the findings, you must complete the survey– even if you don’t have Web 2.0 / Intranet 2.0 tools your feedback is invaluable. To that end, make sure you please take 10 minutes to take the Intranet 2.0 Global Survey and you’ll get a copy of the full results including the good, bad and learned lessons.
