The 10 Enterprise Elements of Web 2.0

February 19, 2008 · Filed Under Web 2.0

Like all buzzwords, the phrase “Web 2.0″ has taken on a life of its own and it might even soon be supplanted by Web 3.0. But before dismissing it all as pure hype, it is worth making note of the 10 following web 2.0 technologies that were recently highlighted by Information Week magazine. All of these technologies are all quickly finding there way into the latest enterprise software solutions, whether they are BI, CRM, ERP or home grown applications.

Blogs - A communication and publishing tool, blogs work well for individuals or groups, for both internal or external audiences.
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) - RSS delivers content independent of format, allowing simultaneous delivery of information to a multitude of platforms and applications.
Wikis - The new way to collaborate and to capture knowledge, made widely known by Wikipedia.
SQL - There is nothing much new about SQL, but it has taken on greater importance in the web 2.0 world. To quote Hal Varian, “SQL is the new HTML.“
Open APIs - The plethora of available APIs have paved the way for diverse combinations of applications and data, now known as mash-ups.
Widgets - These are small and lightweight applications that reside on the desktop or inside a portal.
Social networks - This is ripe ground for marketers looking to start a “conversation” with their customers. Facebook has prominence in this space, but social networks are popping up all over the web.
Web analytics - As the the corporate web site moves out of Web 1.0, the only way to be sure that things are moving into the right direction is to invest in the new tools that exist for gaining insight into what users are doing (or not doing) when they visit.
Search - Now that Google is a household name, users expect search to be pervasive and accurate: on the web, on the desktop, and from inside any application.
Open source - This is another theme that has taken on renewed importance. The high profile projects, such as Linux and Apache proved the value of open source software. Now, an array of open and mixed source products are available in almost every niche.