Web 2.0 in business
Web 2.0 tools such as Facebook, Page Flakes, iGoogle and mashups would inevitably become incorporated into business portals, even if management was not happy about it.
Speaking at the Gartner Symposium in Cape Town yesterday, analysts Gene Phifer said that with "digital natives" entering the workplace, management would need to embrace web 2.0 rather than reject it.
Phifer said that "digital natives" are those who have grown up in the Internet age. "They only know a time with the Internet," he said. Digital Natives, who are entering the workplace in increasing numbers, take the capabilities of the Internet for granted and expect these to be put to work, he said.
Phifer said that IT managers should incorporate these tools into their networks and put in place light controls now rather than wait until they enter their networks without proper planning.
He said that as companies moved to provide services through the web, web 2.0 tools would become more important and widely used. But companies that did use tools such as mashups – user-created applications based on multiple sources – needed to ensure that the services that they use can be relied on.
Phifer said that he would not recommend businesses build their services on things such as iGoogle and Google Docs just yet, but he said that businesses must begin now to consider the potential value of these.
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