IN the age of Web 2.0, Internet users are rewriting the rules of social interaction by harnessing a range of new technologies to create and sustain virtual communities forged around common interests.
With more than one billion users online worldwide, the social networking phenomenon is exploding and having an unprecedented impact on enterprises.
And it's really not hard to understand why.
According to Ovum analyst Steve Hodgkinson, the technology innovations of Web 2.0 are founded on the Internet as an ubiquitous 'always on' platform.
New software like wikis, blogs, RSS (really simple syndication), Asynchronous JavaScript & XML (Ajax) and Flash make the Web easier to use interactively.
There is a transition of software from desktops to the webtop, and new ways have been established to enable mash-ups of data and mini-applications such as widgets and gadgets.
'These technology innovations have created a more writable and recombinant Web experience for non-technical users who can now publish new rich multimedia content to the Web and 'cut and dice' both content and applications on the fly to create innovative new content and services,' Mr Hodgkinson notes.
Interestingly these technologies which make social computing easier is seen as having an immense potential in improving office productivity.
Analysts feel social networking can help businesses build responsive and innovative organisations by finding the shortest path to key information and expertise, and building balanced business networks.
It can also help increase team effectiveness by mapping networks and identifying gaps where expansion beyond immediate work circles is needed.
Social networking also helps improve individual productivity by allowing users to get a high-level picture of their network and easily extends it to include expertise in different areas.
Neeraj Shaabi, IBM Software Group's Singapore GM, told BizIT that Web 2.0 helps extend the value of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) not only within an organisation but also beyond to partners, customers and suppliers.
He noted that just as organisations are getting more familiar with SOA, along comes Web 2.0, as a complementary development environment that further enables businesses of all sizes to more easily communicate and transact business, regardless of original source code or platform.
'People collaboration is a very important business entry point to SOA. It is typically what businesses would consider as a very visible way to implement composite application capability into their business.'
Mr Shaabi noted that the knowledge worker (end user) now has the 'freedom' to mix and match the way they consume IT to suit their business needs, and rigid IT systems have been transformed to become flexible providers of the content they store.
'By linking SOA and Web 2.0, businesses can improve useability of existing systems,' he said.
Businesses can ensure consumability of content provided by IT systems in ways relevant to the business user and finally it allows remixability (the ability to mix and match), content access and representation to meet changing business requirements.
Web 2.0 can also help speed up the productivity of new employees.
Although businesses have long used role-playing games and simulations as learning tools, this new approach permits employees to immerse themselves in a digital realm where learning, collaborating and play are all part of the work environment, Mr Shaabi said.
'As people do not perceive game play as learning, they are more willing to take risks, more flexible in their thinking and faster at connecting with others to help solve complex problems,' he added.
He added that the use of Web 2.0 tools can result in an unprecedented exchange of ideas, involving new learning and collaboration methods as each generation learns from one another.
'Web 2.0 builds upon the principles of SOA to extend its reach and value to partners, customers and suppliers. It leverages SOA for greater usability and consumability.
'Just like SOA, it relies on the principle of loose coupling among reusable services to drive its flexibility. Most important, it should be understood that we don't need to make some kind of 'either/or' choice between SOA and Web 2.0; they are highly interrelated and complementary of each other.' He added that the free flow of ideas will foster greater innovation.
'Companies that get it right will enjoy higher levels of productivity, but those who ignore the power of Web 2.0 could risk being left behind.'
According to research agency Gartner, the combination of SOA and Web 2.0 technologies represents one of the fastest-growing segments of the IT industry, with the worldwide market for SOA, Web services and Web 2.0 predicted to grow to more than US$142 billion by 2011.
Mr Shaabi noted that German company businessMart AG Inc has announced recently that it has significantly accelerated its entry into new business markets thanks to a new Web-based trading platform built on IBM SOA and Web 2.0 technology.
The Stuttgart-based company develops and operates some of the largest and most successful e-business platforms in Europe. Through these venues, the company helps approximately 133 manufacturers and 7,500 dealers process as many as 506,000 order transactions each month.
Mr Shaabi noted that the company by combining a flexible infrastructure with mashup technology, empowered its marketing and IT functions to better communicate and share ideas, streamlining the traditional product development process and cutting deployment time.
'Our initial SOA implementation was essential for us to establish a commanding position in the German trade and industry,' said Thies Frahm, businessMart's chief operating officer, said.
'Based on this success, we are looking to IBM's Web 2.0 technologies to further enhance our offerings and successful entry into new markets,' he added.
Mr Shaabi noted that businesses are also using SOA and Web 2.0 to reach new markets and improve efficiency and collaboration.
'Web 2.0 extends the reach of SOA by making it simple for both business users and less advanced programmers to create or remix their own rich applications and to access services through the Web.'
He added that increasingly, Web 2.0 technologies act as front-ends to SOA-enabled back-ends. 'SOA strategies are changing the way companies compete, conduct business, and improve customer service.'
Enterprises are also using Web 2.0 principles to deliver external websites with richer user experiences and more personalised delivery models.
'We work closely with our clients in helping them leverage Web 2.0 technologies to drive innovation through IBM Lotus Connections, the first social software designed specifically for business. It includes Profiles, Communities, Blogs and Dogear (social bookmarks). Such enterprise software can help drive productivity and innovation by providing a forum for building dynamic networks of co-workers, partners and customers to foster community-based innovation.'
Mr Shaabi said all this comes back to the heart of SOA itself - the development of new values from pre-existing software.
'The availability of adequate pre-existing resources means that developing entirely new applications is deemed unnecessary when the base resources are already in place - SOA is a common sense approach to software development.
'When combined with Web 2.0 mashups, new applications can quickly and easily be written and implemented, at a lower cost. It is able to reduce cycle time and time to market - more rapidly address applications blacklog and serve the business with speed and agility,' he added.
This article was first published in The Business Times on 14 July 2008.
