Who should own Enterprise 2.0 and Web 2.0 within an organisation?
Interesting question Where should Enterprise 2.0 and Web 2.0 Sit Within an Organisation? Many Enterprise 2.0 and Web 2.0 experts would argue that this should be a standalone unit with their own budget and resources. I agree too. Enterprise 2.0 and Web 2.0 is cross functional and cross verticals – almost like HR, marketing… However, during such times its not easy to fork out money for a new team of people which could easily cost half a million dollars just in salary, workspace and other standard overheads for a team. This does not even include the cost of software, software maintenance and IT infrastructure.
To be very pragmatic, its not easy to convince senior management to get onboard this funky bandwagon. Cost is a huge issue in such times. So, who should own this work? IT, Marketing, Human Resources or no one (just install the software and let people run “wild”)? Should Web 2.0 and Enterprise 2.0 be split up and handled by different teams like IT, Marketing, Human Resources or no one?
Jo Jordan said,
I would have thought that it depends upon its purpose and the skills available in the organization.
Have you see PersonAll yet? I had a quick look today. It looks promising that data security might be an issue. There is a big scandal in UK today about a 15 year old black list that the construction sector seems to be have run. A prof in US has just submitted a paper to the WH on the ease to which he hacked into people’s HIV and psychiatric status using peer-to-peer software.
Those issues aside I want to know the ends first and then I pragmatically look at who has the skills and work with them. Along the way, we have to negotiate the status issues that arise and all the treats and rivalries which are severe.
Mary Adams said,
Talking about “ownership” of Web 2.0 is thinking of it as a singular process rather than a communication strategy. It’s a tool that should be used throughout an organization. If anyone should “own” responsibility for Web 2.0, it should be the responsibility for training and helping people apply the thinking and the technology (per your post that Web 2.0 is an attitude…)
Sean Lew said,
@ Jo, absolutely. Knowing the purpose and skills available is crucial to know who should own it. I haven’t seen PersonAll yet but will check it out later. Check this out, I think its quite relevant to your comment on “know the ends first” http://www.bluethots.com/2009/02/18/from-strategy-to-operations/
@Mary, very interesting. So are you saying that this could be potentially an actual department like “Learning and training” where they help change and apply the thinking and it could also be a disparate team of Web 2.0 enthusiastic employees?
I would like to think that depending on the purpose, objective and audience of the platform, it should be owned by HR or marketing (Internal or external facing). These must be supported by IT and Web 2.0 experts/champions across the company. Am I making sense and logic here?
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