Social Glass

Infovark, a stealth Enterprise 2.0 startup founded by two ex-Management Consultants Dean Thrasher and Gordon Taylor, has shed some light on what it is they’re actually doing. These guys write one of my favorite blogs and I recommend adding them to your reader. By all accounts they have solid technical skills and a comprehensive understanding of the enterprise. They summarize the problem with enterprise applications as:

The main problem with enterprise software is that it’s targeted at an ill-defined customer: the enterprise. The enterprise is not a single thing; it’s a collection of things. It’s the people, policies, practices, strategies and culture that together comprise an organization. Most business software is targeted at the policies, practices, and strategies, but there’s really only one item in this list that matters: the people. Everything else is an emergent property that arises from the interaction of people.

I couldn’t agree more. They go on to point out that, although most employees don’t understand or follow internal processes and procedures, work gets done and businesses make money.  This means that businesses depend more on emergent outcomes than one might think.  Their product (does it have a name?) is geared toward enabling people in an effort to catalyze emergence.

If you watch a bunch of kids on the playground at recess, you’ll notice patterns and order emerge. Groups will form, ideas will be shared, norms and rules established. These things happen naturally. The same is true of enterprises, businesses, organizations and associations. If you want to get enterprise software to work properly, you’ve got to focus on the interactions of the individuals involved. If you want your employees to share information more effectively, find out what would motivate Bob to share his weekly safes figures with Mary. Construct the system from the ground up.

Check out the latest post on their idea here.

Thought I’d throw a provocative question out there.

Is anybody actually making money on Enterprise 2.0? When I say “anybody”, I mean software vendors and professional services organizations. And when I say “make money”, I mean “making a profit”.

You see it seems to me that profitability might help substantiate the market. It would mean that Enterprise 2.0 isn’t a theory or a term upheld by a bunch of jaded ex-consultants turned corporate hippies. And, selfishly speaking, it just might make me feel better.

Comments welcome as always.