Just back from the 2010
Intranet Insider World Tour in New York City. This event, conducted by Communitelligence and
hosted by Con Edison, was worth every
minute. I was extremely impressed by the quality of both the speakers
and attendees. Neither group was shy and tone was made clear early, “Everyone
here knows their stuff.”
focus. Intranets used to be about content and communication. Now they are about
collaboration spaces, knowledge bases, expertise finders, business intelligence
tools and integrated business systems that connect employees and customers. The
Intranet of today, and for most, tomorrow, is a "workplace web" or
“set of services” that powers up enterprise efficiency, innovation and
productivity. It’s easy to envision, but getting there is another story; a
story that requires equal parts forward thinking and steadfast adherence to
tried and true concepts of the past.
With rapid-fire presentations and interactive dialogue, it
didn’t take long for a few themes to emerge:
- Several corporations are working through the post-honeymoon
growing pains of their SharePoint
marriages. Some are finding extreme bliss. Some are not. - Yammer
usage is spreading like a kind of corporate caffeine, with thousands of
employees reaching near-addition levels daily. Corporate attorneys, concerned
with data privacy issues, are pushing for controlled substance status. - An employee’s personal technology workspace is
their toolbox and should be treated as such. Never tell a craftsperson what
tool they should use. - Intranet video has arrived and flip cam militias
are assembling, recording and posting en masse. The results? Improved
communication frequency, quality, and (wait for it) employee pride and
satisfaction. - The mobile intranet is coming and no one knows how
it is going to get here. Demand is outpacing supply with security concerns and lack
of enabling technologies preventing adoption. I’m putting in my holiday order
early for a mobile corporate directory that aspires beyond rudimentary lookup
functionality.
were grounded interjections of clear and proven communication and human
principles. Know your audience. Give people the ability to choose and
contribute. And, in pure Communitelligence
fashion, all of us are smarter than one of us. Indeed.
Great post Andy. I didn’t get to make the whole conference, but I really appreciate your summary. Enjoyed our roundtable immensely. Thanks!
Thanks for your participation and excellent summary, Andy. I’ve started to go through the recordings and hope to post a follow-up at some point also. The sharing among audience and speakers was great and I left feeling we had really touched this topic in sufficient rigor and depth that we could all go back and push Intranets and Enterprise 2.0 with much more authority and confidence. It’s truly an exciting time to be working in this space.
I agree. Intranet needs have changed. Much more workspace orientated these days. Sounds like an interesting tour…shame i couldn’t be there.
Great summary! I thought it was high caliber people and quality of discussions. Very thought provoking.
Nice summary, Andy. I enjoyed the sessions that were on the docket and loved the informal, yet very informative nature of the conference. It was fantastic to have an opportunity to meet and network with so many folks doing the same things, facing the same challenges and successes. Truly enjoyed myself and the presenters and attendees!
It’s amazing really Andy that mobile intranet has taken soooooooo long to get any head of steam behind it. I remember an IBF member meeting in New York City four years ago with razorfish and we had all these great ideas about going mobile and yet here we are 2010 still wondering where the beef is……….with mobile apps the time has arrived for tech innovators to shape enterprise apps for mobiles…….lets not miss this current opportunity!
I agree. Intranet needs have changed. Much more workspace orientated these days.