Those recent email/memos from Bill Gates and Ray Ozzie have stirred up a lot of attention, including from the investment community as seen in this recent Editorial on Investors.com...
The problem for Microsoft is that these services are available now from other providers. And online users show little brand allegiance.
Disruption is everywhere. Phone companies are being forced to change business models in response to an Internet-based phone service called voice over Internet protocol, or VoIP. Cable firms face the threat of TV programing over IP.
The entire computer networking landscape is shifting. Networks are being built to work like utilities. When more power is needed, when more information is wanted, when more functionality is desired, it's available right away via the Net.
"The old model is fundamentally broken," said Gallant. "It was all built during the dot-com era. People are trying to get beyond that."
Of course, the article went on to reference wikis in general and the oft-cited Wikipedia as the standard example - which COMPLETELY misses the point of how wikis will be private, secure, and used by discrete teams within the enterprise with specific missions to accomplish.
Of all the the Web 2.0 technologies, I believe the the wiki will have the most dramatic effect on the enterprise. It is discouraging, though, that a large portion of the market's perception of wikis is, in fact wikipedia. Wikipedia IS one example, but it's a rather lame, boring example of what wikis are capable of accomplishing in the hands of creative teams.
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