Web 2.0 scores success in the enterprise
Paul Krill
June 19, 2008 (InfoWorld) Incorporating Web 2.0 social networking concepts into enterprises offers great benefits but also challenges, said implementers of these technologies such as Best Buy, Serena Software and Oracle during an industry event Tuesday evening in Silicon Valley.
Social networking in corporate environments, also referred to as Enterprise 2.0, increases collaboration and idea-sharing among employees as well as customers and can even lower employee turnover, panelists said at a Churchill Club presentation entitled "From 'Dilbert' to Dude: Succeeding with Web 2.0 Within the Enterprise," given in Santa Clara, Calif.
June 19, 2008 (InfoWorld) Incorporating Web 2.0 social networking concepts into enterprises offers great benefits but also challenges, said implementers of these technologies such as Best Buy, Serena Software and Oracle during an industry event Tuesday evening in Silicon Valley.
Social networking in corporate environments, also referred to as Enterprise 2.0, increases collaboration and idea-sharing among employees as well as customers and can even lower employee turnover, panelists said at a Churchill Club presentation entitled "From 'Dilbert' to Dude: Succeeding with Web 2.0 Within the Enterprise," given in Santa Clara, Calif.
But implementers should also be concerned with risks such as legal issues that could arise and what to do if inappropriate material gets posted on a social networking site, according to the panel.
Best Buy Co. has set up a social networking site for employees called Blueshirtnation.com, which has attracted 20,000 users, said Steve Bendt, Best Buy senior manager for social technology. Workers can participate in activities such as using audio files or blogging.
The impact has been "pretty huge," enabling the company to listen to and better understand employees, he said. Barriers are being broken down.
"It was about giving up control right away," Bendt said. "Now, they have the means to connect with people they've never met before," such as a store in Las Vegas talking to a store in North Carolina.
Employees can put ideas on the site and get funding for them anywhere in the company. The site does not challenge the hierarchy but complements it, Bendt said.
Turnover appears to have been affected as well as employee morale. The overall turnover rate at the company is 60%, while turnover of people using the site is just 8% to 12%. The site itself has not required a lot of investment and uses open-source software. Currently, the site is restricted to employees only, and customers are not able to access it.
Serena Software Inc. has taken a different approach to social networking, conducting its collaboration on Facebook. While seeking a better way for communication than the company's intranet, the company pondered rebuilding it but instead looked toward "millennials," twentysomething people and how they communicate, said Rene Bonvanie, a senior vice president at the Redwood City, Calif.-based company.
Serena officials made Facebook the new corporate intranet, resulting in improved communications. Employees speak with one another and with customers more openly, and customers know where to find representatives and technologists.
"Through Facebook, they can find where people are," Bonvanie said.
To acclimate employees to Facebook, Serena brought in people familiar with the site -- 16-year-olds -- to enlighten Serena employees in the 40-to-45-year-old age bracket.
"We started out with this phenomenon called Facebook Fridays," which is when the 16-year-olds would instruct Serena employees.
The project is paid for by using funds no longer needed for other software. "I funded it by no longer paying Microsoft for their stuff," said Bonvanie. Facebook itself is free, he noted.
Oracle Corp. built a social networking site that features rich profile support, integration with the company's Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) directory system, and the ability to make contacts with people, said Paul Pedrazzi, vice president for strategy and innovation at Oracle.
An hour after launching the site, there were 270 people using it. "The next morning when I came in, we had about 8,000 people on the site," he noted.
Participants are from around a globe, and Russia is a heavy user, he said. "It was kind of fascinating to see that go," said Pedrazzi.
Now, about 10,000 people use the site per week. The network is about the social fabric of the company and applying it to information, he said. Users can share information such as news articles, PowerPoint presentations and budgets.
Avenue A/Razorfish has added a wiki built on the Wikipedia platform, said Shiv Singh, vice president for social media and global strategic initiatives at the Seattle-based company.
"The question was, 'How can we create a tool that would encourage people to share and feel safe doing so?'" Singh said. The wiki is viewed as a marketplace of ideas, with people contributing and getting something in return, he said.
For example, users can find an interesting article, bookmark it using del.icio.us tags and have it appear in the wiki. "That alone was the single most popular feature," Singh said.
Companies must recognize and reward collaboration, which is a challenge because many educational systems are set up to reward individualism, said Singh. "Companies need to rethink how they motivate and how they reward. It needs to be based on teams and collaboration," he said.
Through the wiki, people begin to view others as experts on particular subjects.
Like Best Buy, the Avenue A/Razorfish wiki is currently only for internal use.
Approaches to security and privacy also were shared at the presentation. Serena took the opposite approach from firewalls, which have everything placed behind a firewall with some data trickling out to the public just to protect 3% of a company's information, Bonvanie said. "We said everything goes on Facebook and a few things don't," he said.
To guard employees' private data, they are not forced to participate, and they are given guidance about posting of information, according to Bonvanie.
Avenue A/Razorfish recognized that vandalism that could happen on the wiki, but found that individuals who are professional in the office will conduct themselves in the same way on the wiki, Singh said.
Oracle acknowledged the potential legal issues. Enterprises have to be open to the concerns of the legal and human resources departments, Pedrazzi said.
"In Enterprise 2.0, people can get sued," Pedrazzi said. For example, a person might be pictured wearing a religious headdress on the site and then could claim denial of a job because of that headdress, he said.
Best Buy said it has had to take down only three posts out of 30,000 to 50,000.
Taking care of your skin
Healthy skin is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle - and vice versa. For good skin care, start developing healthy habits that protect your skin from the outside and the inside.
Drink plenty of water to keep your skin hydrated.
Eat well-balanced meals.
Protect your skin from the harmful rays of the sun.
Practice an effective skin care regimen.
To take care of your skin effectively, you need to identify your skin type. When choosing how to cleanse and treat your skin, remember that what works for someone else will not necessarily work for you. Based on the characteristics of your skin, skin types can be grouped into one of the following:
Dry skin: Often feels uncomfortably tight and rough. For this particular skin type, avoid cleansing with hot water and using soaps and alcohol-based products. Cleansing creams or cloths will help infuse moisture into the skin without stripping away natural surface oils. It is important to moisturize your face with lotions or creams to keep your skin hydrated and looking its best!
Oily skin: Skin may appear shiny with dilated pores and is prone to blackheads and pimples. Use a mild cleanser twice a day. If acne breakouts are a problem, talk to your dermatologist to help you select a medicated face wash best suited for your skin. Don't make the mistake of over-scrubbing acne-prone skin - it will worsen the problem. After cleansing, follow up with an astringent to remove the excess oil. Moisturize with a light oil-free product specifically formulated for oily skin types. Avoid using any type of oil-based cosmetics on your skin, as they may clog pores and promote pimples and blackheads.
Combination skin: People with combination skin have areas that are dry and areas that are oily. The nose, forehead, and chin tend to be the oily zones. There are many products on the market that can be applied to both areas of your face.
Normal skin: People with "normal" skin have a pinkish, glowing complexion with hard-to-see pores. This type of skin maintains a balance between dryness and oiliness. As this skin presents no particular problems, its water/oil balance does not need adjustment - just ongoing maintenance. Therefore, the use of a skin care product that helps the skin keep its water balance is recommended.
People with sensitive skin should always use beauty aids that are mild like Pomega5.
Always test the product on a small area on your arm to see how your skin reacts before using it on your face. Don't assume that a "natural source" product doesn't contain ingredients that can irritate your skin. Try cleansing with gentle, milky, water-soluble lotions and tepid water. Avoid face-cleansing gels or soaps that contain drying alcohol, preservatives, or strong-acting acid, since these ingredients can irritate the skin. Do not use exfoliating scrubs or astringents on sensitive skin, because they can cause inflammation.
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