Bertrand Duperrin has a great piece on Enterprise 2 and its attempts to move from evangelism to commercial returns in 2011. This is perhaps the most compelling part of the post;
Accept to say that an enterprise is, first, here to create value and that this value will have to be shown and measured. Keep in mind these wise words from Chris Yeh: "If you can’t sell more, buy less, or fire somebody, you’re not getting real ROI."
Its very hard to argue with the rationale put forward by Bertrand but based on my own thoughts on Transformation, I thought it would be fun to compare Enterprise 2 (as I see it) to this definition.
- Can you explain it quickly? Potentially, yes, but I'd argue that you're relying on familiarity with existing software tools (twitter, wikis, blogs etc.). That said, the tide is turning here and I think this is good to go.
- It is repeatable and scalable? Again, in the main yes. Whether its GE's Support Central, or Hello at Booz Allen.
- Does it change people's day jobs? Clearly using a new piece of kit is a simple yes.
- Does it have a demonstrable ROI? This is the tricky part. There are positive and negative thoughts at the moment, but my sense is that it is here to stay.
- Does it have external validity? This is harder to tell and the best demonstration of this comes after an ROI. There is no shortage of conferences though and the 2.0 Adoption Council is a good standard bearer.
Either way, my sense is that a combination of executive teams, IT and/or other parts of the business will take credit for Enterprise 2. You can rest assured HR won't get a scrap of credit for this one.
