It is Keith Fenner's view that many “real world” businesses are ignoring Web 2.0 strategies or, worse, haven't even heard of Web 2.0.
As sales director of Softline Accpac, a member of the Sage Group, a leading supplier of business management software and services to 5.8 million customers worldwide, Fenner is well aware that collaborative technologies are the future. Those choosing to ignore this are in for hard times.
He explains that Web 2.0 generally refers to the highly interactive nature of Web-based access. The Web world has evolved from users simply browsing Web sites, to users being connected to and instantly aware of others. Information is dynamic and highly collaborative, with readily available access to information based on well-documented standards and highly flexible technologies.
The importance of Web 2.0 lies in its ability to create meaningful conversations with prospects and customers so they can interact with your company on their terms. It is also the opportunity to demonstrate your expertise and to leverage the power of the Web to reach your potential and actual client base, and to get customers onto your Web site - and keep them there.
“In our highly globalised economy, CRM is critical to enable businesses of every shape and size to fulfil the needs and expectations of their customers. The recent emergence of Web 2.0 is enabling businesses to utilise new, dynamic, and highly interactive techniques to collaborate with their customers. At the same time, end-to-end business management solutions are connecting front-office and back-office solutions, enabling organisations to optimise their business processes to better support their desired customer experience.”
In conclusion, Fenner says even though services-oriented architecture (SOA) initiatives have the right goals, most efforts have fallen profoundly short of the desired levels of integration and improved business agility.
“SOA was undoubtedly a critical step for business. But the uptake will remain passive if SOA doesn't ride the Web 2.0 wave. The Web-Oriented Architecture (WOA) paradigm is rapidly gaining momentum and overtaking the SOA approach. Opening up our IT systems across the Internet has become a competitive imperative, which is why software development cycles are steadily focusing on WOA, driven by Rich Internet Applications. This evolution is the boost traditional SOA needs to deliver the robust outcomes we've been waiting for.”
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