D-day Plan for Enterprise 2.0

If you want to invade, you need an plan.  And, you have to take the beach.  I believe we are on the cusp of Enterprise 2.0 adoption, and I believe the analytical community will be the beachhead where collaborative platforms begin to get traction within the enterprise.  Why?  Because the activities of Enterprise Web2/Social are compatible with the activities of Enterprise Analytics, and because their tools and technologies are complementary.  This post outlines a framework for how to blend BI and Web2 to create such a beachhead.  I want to open up discussion on how the technical components of each domain fit together to create a platform for Collaborative Enterprise Intelligence.

The diagram below has three sections.  First, the center stack shows the stages of information processing in COMMON TO BOTH the Web2/Social domain and the BI/Analytics domain.  The dotted lines show the recursive circulation that is the information life cycle.  Second, the left edge shows three concerns central to BI/Analytics.  Third, the right edge shows three concerns central to Web2/Social.

Let's define the terms used in the central stack, starting at the bottom -- where the process starts:

• Synthesis:
  Finding, collection, and integrating information of interest from a diversity of sources
• Analysis:
  Deconstructing and experimenting to compare/contrast, diagnose root causes, and forecast trends
• Publication:
  Packaging and distributing information capital for broader/easier use
• Adaptation:
  Refining published information capital with new/additional/different context information
• Leverage:
  Systematically applying the community's best information assets in all contexts where relevant

Whether you're coming at the question from the BI side of the house or from the Web2 side of the house, I'll bet you generally see the framework of your world in that stack.  You may be using different words, but you see probably see familiar substance.

The similarities are exciting, because they mean each side has a potential ally to achieve its objectives within the enterprise.  For the BI folks, this alliance could crack the code on how to expand the penetration of BI use and involvement beyond a small cadre of power users.  For the Web2 folks, this alliance could get your foot in the door to show enterprises how social/collaborative tech can add value to existing processes and technical investments.

But, before we jump in, there are a few more pieces to be reconciled.  The outer edges of the first diagram show some central concerns each ally brings to the partnership negotiation.  The BI camp will insist that the blended platform support Traceability, Manageability, and Security.  The Web2 camp will insist that the blended platform support  Trust, Collaboration, and Personalization.

• Traceability:
  See where the information capital (data and logic) comes from and where it flows
• Manageability:
  Avoid overwhelming the IT staff with infrastructure management, policy enforcement, and user support
• Security:
  Manage access to and participation rights within the community
• Trust:
  Fine-grained, independent sharing decisions made by each member for his/her work product
• Collaboration:
  Serial, parallel, simultaneous, and composite means for multiple members to contribute to a solution or conversation
• Personalization:
  Experience (UI, data, channels, etc) that is tailored by the member, and a zero-anonymity environment

Here, around the edges, I think some challenges remain.  They are not insurmountable, and they are not isolated to one partner or the other.  Again, the good news is that we are in this together.  First, there are things that each side must do to get its own house in order. 

For the BI folks, we need to accept that despite our Traceability speeches, we still have relatively limited lineage tracing in our analytical platforms; users pulling charts and reports cannot see where those things came from or how they were produced or by whom.  And, no, it's not sufficient to say that the DBA can pull up his/her SQL scripts if we're interested.  Members of the intellgience community need the ability to answer FOR THEMSELVES the age old question: where did that number come from?  Today, they can't, and that's a problem.  We as a BI profession also have not cracked the code on Manageability.  If you doubt this assertion, please consider that percentage of the numbers used by your analytical team (all of the team, not just your BI power users) are inside the BI tool vs. what percentage are inside spreadsheets and desktop databases.  When something is out of sight, it is clearly not manageable.  BI need solutions that bring more of the analytical work of the community out of the gray market of spreadmarts and into view.  Until we offer compelling solutions that bring most of the activity into the fold, we cannot complain that Web2 is out of control. We can solve these problems, and in fact there are tools on the market today that can help you get there.

For the Web2 folks, we need a workable Trust model for the enterprise.  Our coarse-grain trust models simply do not fit the complex relationships in the enterprise world, where the dynamism of special projects, insider information cycles, compensation programs, stealth go-to-market plans, and the like mean that Bob needs to articulate a very precise specification of his trust of Sally.  Again, this problem is not insurmountable; models and products exist for solving this problem.  We just have to make it a priority.

BI and Web2 are made for each other.  Web2 can grow BI's reach significantly and quickly.  BI offers Web2 a ready subculture of users who already practice and value collaboration (albeit in the gray market, outside formal platforms).  Experts from both sides need to work together to blend the best of both practices into a seamless experience that can showcase the power of Enterprise 2 for all types of organizations.

Please feel free to use, modify, extend, rant, rave, suggest changes to, link to, talk about, or forward these ideas on the necessary capabilities and how they can be organized to deliver Collaborative Enterprise Intelligence.

Comments

[Jafar Tabaian]

People will inherently be against that which they do not understand. Traceability will be paramount in establishing trust and fostering collaboration.

[scott davis]

Re: [CircaSpecting: People, Tech, and Business] twitter.com/MarkFidelman submitted a comment to D-day Plan for Enterprise 2.0

Mark, Thanks for chiming in. I read your post, an its right on: enterprises like to measure stuff, so ent2 activities absolutely must be measured and reported. So, lets call that Analyzing Ent 2 Activity. Now, what about Ent2-ing Analytical Work? Thoughts?

Scott Davis
Lyzasoft, Inc.
www.lyzasoft.com

[twitter.com/MarkFidelman]

Scott, I couldn't agree more with your Analytics assertion. I actually got into a long debate with Larry Hawes (Gilbane) and Christian Finn (Microsoft) about the merits of E2.0 analytics. Glad to see you pushing this forward.

http://www.seekomega.com/2009/11/dont-worry-its-only-enterprise-20.html