While many enterprises may be driving towards Enterprise 2.0, one aspect which is a clear concern is what benefits am I getting out of it versus what does my business risk by trying to implement Web 2.0 technologies? This in turn shows the level of committment that the enterprise must act on in order to get a real-world positive result. A good example of this is a series of six blog entries on The FASTForward Blog in which Bill Ives discusses a move to Enterprise 2.0 for Booz Allen, a consultancy firm.
In terms of benefits Booz Allen were looking to help foster a community for their employees within the business. A prior study hand shown just over half their staff consistently worked at their client’s sites, which in turn was weakening the firm’s affinity to its employees. The company was looking to develop social tools improve the communication between staff and build up a sense of being apart of the community.
While in the planning stages certain risks were identified. A large amount of staff time would be consumed during the course of the project. Not only was this time used for the actual development of the tools (named Hello), but significant time was set aside to talk to staff in key positions within the company, who could help the Hello project be successful. Other risks not directly discussed within the blog post series, but do carry risk are costs of development, implementation and training and whether or not the functionality would improve or hinder current business processes.
After the implementation further benefits of the Web 2.0 technologies implemented were realized. The tools allowed each department to manage their own corporate identity, which further built a sense community within Booz Allen. The company was able to rapidly find the right people within their own staffing structure to work on new projects, cutting time, cost and risk because each employee’s Hello profile contained their skill sets and areas of interest. The final major benefit that was realized lied with their experience in developing and implementing Hello – other corporations wanted it. They wanted to get the same benefits that Booz Allen had, which in turn generated a lot of revenue for the company.
Was the implementation successful? Quoted from one of the blog entires:
Now more than 80% of the firm has logged into Hello, 53% have added content, and there are more than 4,000 searches on the system every day.
When implemented correctly, there are huge benefits to a company.
-Mathew
Ives, B. (2009, December 09). Implementing Enterprise 2.0 at Booz Allen: Part One Overview of Business Drivers and Components. Retrieved from The FASTForward Blog: http://www.fastforwardblog.com/2009/12/08/implementing-enterprise-2-0-at-booz-allen-part-one-overview-of-business-drivers-and-components/
Mathew Christoffels's Blog 