According to Forrester :

Enterprise 2.0 will become a $4.6 billion industry by 2013 and social networking tools will garner the bulk of the money, according to a report by Forrester Research.

This article from ZDNet’s Larry Dignan looks as some of the aspects from the Forrester report.

I always enjoy reading Larry’s posts and just like some of his other articles, I’m not sure where to post my thoughts on this one. Is it an IT issue…and as such should be in one of my other blogs?

Business units will drive enterprise 2.0 adoption. The IT department remains an obstacle due to slim budgets and the need to maintain legacy hardware and software infrastructure.

Or is it all about Web 2.0 and it’s business cousin Enterprise 2.0 and should be here?

Forrester defines Enterprise 2.0 as the corporate version of Web 2.0. Here’s the research firm’s definition:

In Forrester’s view, the key hallmark of Web 2.0 is efficiency for end users, and the ultimate goal is to use technology like Ajax, rich Internet applications, blogs, wikis, and social networks to foster productive, advantageous behavior among employees, customers, partners, and other networks such as Social Computing, the Information Workplace, and collective intelligence.

I really like that last paragraph…efficiency for end users…use technology […] to foster productive, advantageous behavior..  I plan on using this when talking to prospects regarding the why of Web 2.0 and social networks.

Imagine using Facebook to foster productive advantageous behavior – a really hard sell no matter how you look at it. But look past the social aspect of Facebook and see the value in what it allows people to do – talk, discuss, share ideas, collaborate anytime and anywhere. Positive activities which creates ‘efficiency and fosters productive advantageous behavior‘.

Dean