Reactions on Enterprise 2.0

Andrew McAfee’s latest blog post is about his conclusions after spending a day talking with managers about how they feel about Enterprise 2.0. He came to two conclusions: People who are working with others are more open to the new E2.0 concept than those who work with the computers (like IT). They are also very fearful about what will happen if they allow an open community with the whole corporation, even with the external benefits it could possess.

He was surprised to find out that the executives were really excited to see what this could do for their company. HR executives surprised him the most. They were the most excited about these new social platforms. The IT managers were quick to focus on the security and the risks, and they believed it was not worth trying. As a whole, the managers all believed that the workers would use the new technology for the benefit of the enterprise. They were not really concerned over possible threats, because they saw the huge benefits that could evolve from a company with this kind of software on their side.

The negative part of the session was that he discovered that it would take a very long time to actually accept this software into the company. Companies just aren’t ready for the lateralization that comes with having a whole communication being able to communicate from top to bottom in one community. They are more fearful of this than allowing an open community with their customers that could allow better insight to the company and the value of customer feedback that could improve the way they run their company.

Is open communication in your company more worrisome tan the value you could gain with an open door community with your customers?