The document summarizes trends in enterprise adoption of social media technologies like blogs, wikis and communities in 2007. It finds that over half of large organizations use these tools, with blogs being most common. Respondents reported successful uses for communication, collaboration and knowledge sharing. However, limited resources and security concerns pose adoption obstacles. Most organizations plan increased internal and external social media use in 2008-2009 to improve productivity, engagement and knowledge management.

1. Enterprise Social Media:
Trends in Adopting Web 2.0
for the Enterprise in 2007
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2. Trends and Best Practices in Adopting Web 2.0 in 2007
Definitions
For the purposes of this report, the following terms are defined as follows:
• Communities—a group of people who primarily interact via a computer network;
also a supplemental form of communication among people who know each other
primarily in real life.
• Social network—a social structure made of individuals or organizations that are
tied by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as values, visions, idea,
financial exchange, friends, etc.
• Wiki—software that allows users to create, edit and link web pages easily; often
used to create collaborative websites and to power community websites.
• Podcast—a collection of digital media files distributed over the Internet using
syndication feeds for playback on portable media players and personal computers.
• Forum—a web application for holding discussions and posting user generated
content.
• RSS—a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated content
such as blog entries, news headlines or podcasts, enabling users to keep up with
their favorite websites in an automated manner that’s easier than checking them
manually (formally “RDF site summary,” known colloquially as “really simple
syndication”).
• Discussion group—see Forum; may refer to the entire community or to a specific
subforum dealing with a distinct topic.
• Photo sharing—the publishing or transfer of a user’s digital photos online, thus
enabling the user to share them with others.
— information courtesy of wikipedia.com
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3. Trends and Best Practices in Adopting Web 2.0 in 2007
Abstract
This report seeks to explore the adoption of Web 2.0 technologies in 2007 and the
future of social media initiatives in enterprise-size organizations. Discussed herein are
the current uses of Web 2.0 technologies such as blogs, wikis and social networking,
concerns about the risks posed by such technologies and the success rates and
effectiveness of these tools.
Key findings uncovered in the study include:
• More than half of enterprise-size organizations utilize Web 2.0 technologies
(54 percent), as do 74 percent of companies with less than 500 employees.
• The majority of respondents using Web 2.0 technologies employ a combination of
internal- and external-facing tools (64 percent).
• Blogs are the most used Web 2.0 technology (selected by 87 percent of respondents),
followed by communities, wikis, RSS feeds and social networking.
• The most successful uses of Web 2.0 technologies in their organizations are blogs
(44 percent), communities (42 percent) and wikis (39 percent).
• Ninety-six percent report that all Web 2.0 technologies they’ve used have been
successful, with 83 percent reporting no clear failures.
• Limited internal resources to deploy the technology is the biggest obstacle in adopting
Web 2.0 technologies.
The trends and initiatives discussed herein are supported by the “Trends in Adopting
Web 2.0 for the Enterprise in 2007” survey conducted by Equation Research during the
fourth quarter of 2007.
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4. Trends in Adopting Web 2.0 for the Enterprise in 2007
Table of contents
6. Methodology
6. Demographics
7. 2007 Trends in Web 2.0 Usage
9. Personal-use Social Networking at Work
9. Success with Web 2.0 Technologies
9. Obstacles in Web 2.0 Adoption: Resources and Security
10. Ideal Capabilities for Social Media Initiatives
11. Positive Impact of Web 2.0 Use
12. The Future of Web 2.0 Adoption: 2008 and Beyond
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5. Trends in Adopting Web 2.0 for the Enterprise in 2007
Methodology
Because of the large number of professionals who participated in this survey, we are 95
percent confident that the responses of the population to the survey questions would be
+/- 9.3 percent from the figures stated herein.
The survey was sent via email to approximately 60,000 professionals during the fourth
quarter of 2007, and 112 participants completed the survey, which was live for 18 days.
Each respondent answered the questionnaire via an online survey tool and was assured
of his or her confidentiality. Their responses were used to drive the results and
conclusions of this report and will be used only in this aggregate analysis.
Demographics
The demographic composition of the respondent pool provides a representative sample
of enterprise-size businesses. Almost two-thirds of respondents are from enterprise-size
organizations (those with more than 1,000 employees), which provides an accurate and
higher-level assessment of Web 2.0 technology adoption in companies of that size.
Respondents represent a variety of roles within the organization. While almost a quarter
hold senior-executive level positions, 41 percent are from the management level.
Likewise, respondents came from a range of departments, but the greatest factions work
in the marketing/advertising and technology/IT departments of their organizations.
*Respondents were given the option to pick more than one department.
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6. Trends in Adopting Web 2.0 for the Enterprise in 2007
2007 Trends in Web 2.0 Usage
Fifty-nine percent of all respondents’ organizations currently use Web 2.0 technologies,
including 92 percent of professionals in the business development/strategy department
and 63 percent of marketing/advertising professionals. More than half of enterprise-size
organizations utilize Web 2.0 technologies (54 percent), as do 74 percent of companies
with less than 500 employees.
The majority of respondents using Web 2.0 technologies employ a combination of
internal- and external-facing tools (64 percent). Those using a combination of internal-
and external-facing tools include 58 percent of respondents at enterprise-size
companies.
Blogs are the most used Web 2.0 technology (selected by 87 percent of respondents),
followed by communities, wikis, RSS feeds and social networking. Eighty-four percent of
all respondents’ organizations provide information in RSS format, among them 92
percent of professionals in the marketing/advertising department. More than two-thirds
of all respondents’ companies provide them with software to subscribe to RSS feeds
(69 percent). (See graph below for more information.)
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7. Trends in Adopting Web 2.0 for the Enterprise in 2007
Open-ended responses from survey participants about the effectiveness of the most used
Web 2.0 technologies:
Blogs:
• “They help us position our brand and talk with potential prospects/customers.”
• “The blog has become so popular that we’ve added RSS and email alerts so people
can more easily access the information on an ongoing basis when they need it.
We also plan to launch another external blog in 2008.”
• “Helping us share voices of passionate experts, join conversations about technology
thought leadership, collect and reply to public comments, respond quickly to
concerns or issues.”
Communities:
• “As a global company, our community has proven to connect people worldwide
in many ways that traditional mediums like email and IM did not. Community
management and tools helped encourage networking, discussion and collaboration.”
• “Gives people an opportunity to quickly and easily grow their network and get fast
answers to their business problems from peers.”
• “…It’s done a lot to relieve lower-level support challenges because people can help
each other given their shared experiences.”
• “It provides a good platform for evangelistic outreach and allows us to tap into
what our customers really think.”
Wikis:
• “We’ve successfully used wikis as a way to capture documentation and information
sharing internally. Don’t see something? Upload it yourself. Something is incorrect?
Edit it yourself.”
• “Our employees are using it to consistently document our processes and procedures.”
• “It’s a great way to share competitive and market intelligence internally, allowing
us to better track developments in the industry, as well as keep up to date on the
activities of our competitors and industry partners.”
• “…wikis with built-in version control/management are THE way to collaborate
on docs.”
RSS:
• “RSS is great for those who don’t have time to continuously surf the websites for
communities, forums or blogs. It lets them view our content from the convenience
of a single application or interface (the RSS reader).”
• “RSS has helped internal and external customers get the information they want,
when the want it to their preferred delivery method.”
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8. Trends in Adopting Web 2.0 for the Enterprise in 2007
Personal-use Social Networking at Work
Of those respondents whose organizations currently use Web 2.0 technologies, just more
than a third (37 percent) are allowed to use personal-use social networking sites such as
Facebook and MySpace for business purposes at work. Only 23 percent of all
respondents use Facebook for business purposes at work. However, a recent study by
email research specialist emedia revealed that 48 percent of social networking site users
admitted accessing them at work, and one in four reported logging in daily.1
More than half of respondents are from organizations where employees are requesting
to use social networking sites for business purposes at work (58 percent). Five out of
six professionals in the PR department desire this ability, as do 65 percent of
marketing/advertising departments.
Success with Web 2.0 Technologies
Respondents reported that the most successful uses of Web 2.0 technologies in their or-
ganizations are blogs (44 percent), communities (42 percent) and wikis (39 percent).
Ninety-six percent report that all Web 2.0 technologies they’ve used have been success-
ful, with 83 percent reporting no clear failures. These facts lend support to the more
than half of all respondents who say they need quantifiable ROI metrics before deploying
social media for business purposes (59 percent). This requirement is a challenge for many
advocates of Web 2.0 technologies. Despite their success and effectiveness, many collab-
orative Web 2.0 technologies such as blogs and wikis are known for their lack of quan-
tifiable ROI.2 However, this should not deter organizations from leveraging these tools, as
the benefits they provide are evident — even if not quantifiable.
Obstacles in Web 2.0 Adoption: Resources and Security
1 “News Digest: Social Networking Worries.” Two-thirds of respondents say that having limited internal resources to deploy the tech-
PC World Business. December 2007.
nology is an obstacle in adopting Web 2.0 technologies; 83 percent of respondents in
2 “Adoption of Web 2.0 Is Taking Off, but the marketing/advertising department agree. Additionally, a limited budget to deploy the
Some Firms Are Still Reluctant.”
Bank Sysems & Technology.
technology is a challenge for 58 percent of respondents. Another obstacle in enterprise
March 30, 2007. adoption of Web 2.0 technologies is the fact that more than half of respondents report
that they don’t know what social media can do for the company (53 percent), including
3 “Internet and Web 2.0 Creates Unfamiliar
Battleground for HR Professionals.” 73 percent of senior executives. A study of 700 HR decision makers in the United States
Dec. 5, 2007. conducted by content security specialist Clearswift revealed that 23 percent (or nearly
one in four) of HR decision makers are unfamiliar with Web 2.0 technologies.3
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9. Trends in Adopting Web 2.0 for the Enterprise in 2007
Almost two-thirds of survey participants said they are limited by concerns about security,
moderation and control (64 percent), especially those in organizations with more than
5,000 employees and those in the marketing/advertising, creative design and public
relations departments. “The rapid development of communications technologies—and
the potential for both business benefit and employee misuse—poses a significant
challenge for HR professionals,” said Stephen Millard, vice president of strategy at
Clearswift.4 The majority of respondents prohibited from using personal-use social
networking sites for business purposes at work are restricted because there is no security
(61 percent), there’s no content moderation (44 percent) and for fear of leaking
confidential information (39 percent). These security concerns aren’t unfounded: The
Clearswift study showed that 14 percent of HR professionals have had to discipline
employees for such confidential data leakage, and another 7 percent administered
disciplinary actions for employees who had posted inappropriate content on social media
websites, blogs and wikis.5 Of those not currently using Web 2.0 technologies, 72
percent are not allowed to use personal use social networking sites for business purposes
at work because of concerns about lowered productivity (85 percent) and various
security concerns, including the possibility for leaking confidential information (58
percent), a lack of content moderation (39 percent) and the ownership of intellectual
property placed on those sites (31 percent). However, almost half of those respondents
said they would be allowed to use a social networking product if it addressed those
concerns (42 percent).
Ideal Capabilities for Social Media Initiatives
Across the board, security remains the most important capability of a social media
initiative, selected by 88 percent of all respondents. Workflow (chosen by 72 percent of
respondents) came in second, followed by integration with identity management systems
(67 percent). Permissioning (66 percent) and moderation (49 percent) are also important
capabilities, especially for organizations with more than 1,000 employees. Likewise,
almost two-thirds of respondents reported that broad support of Web 2.0 technologies is
important to their organizations (63 percent). Social networking features are the least
important capabilities to all respondents. (See graph below for more information.)
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10. Trends in Adopting Web 2.0 for the Enterprise in 2007
Positive Impact of Web 2.0 Use
Across the board, almost all respondents report that internal-facing online social media
will improve communication and collaboration (91 percent). Further, 78 percent believe
such Web 2.0 technologies will improve knowledge management within their
organizations, and 81 percent think it will aid in locating experts inside the office. With
improved communication, collaboration and knowledge management, as well as better
identification of experts within the office, productivity is likely to increase—and
respondents agree. Approximately two-thirds believe such internal-facing social media
initiatives would have a positive impact on enhancing productivity, including 75 percent
of management and the marketing/advertising and public relations department.
More than two-thirds of all respondents believe that utilizing external-facing online social
media in the workplace will increase customer engagement (68 percent), including 70
percent of senior executives and 75 percent of the marketing/advertising department.
Sixty-four percent think these initiatives will help increase brand awareness and loyalty.
More than half of all respondents believe external facing technologies will aid in
producing effective market research (58 percent), including 69 percent of the
marketing/advertising department and 75 percent of the public relations department.
While just 39 percent of all respondents believe these initiatives will have a positive
impact on generating revenue, more than half of those in the marketing/advertising and
public relations departments believe it will—as do 80 percent of those in the sales
department. (See graph below for more information.)
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11. Trends in Adopting Web 2.0 for the Enterprise in 2007
The Future of Web 2.0 Adoption: 2008 and Beyond
Twenty percent of enterprise-size organizations have a budget of more than $50,000 for
social media over the next 12 months. Almost half of all respondents (47 percent) plan to
deploy an internal-facing community in 2008 or 2009. A quarter plan to do so in the
next six months. The top internal-facing Web 2.0 technologies respondents plan to
deploy are blogs and wikis (56 percent each). Forty-four percent of respondents plan to
utilize an external-facing community within the next six to 24 months. Of those, two-
thirds will deploy online communities, and 62 percent will utilize blogs. In addition, more
than half of respondents plan to revamp their external-facing websites (59 percent).
As respondents’ plans for 2008 and 2009 indicate, Web 2.0 technologies will become
the standard in the near future. As more businesses realize the benefits these types of
solutions have to offer and the success other companies have seen through such
applications, adoption of Web 2.0 technologies will increase exponentially. Security,
however, will continue to be a great concern for the majority of users and non-users
alike. To combat these safety risks, organizations must adopt sophisticated security
solutions that will protect them while still allowing them to benefit from the collaborative
nature of Web 2.0 technologies.
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12. Trends in Adopting Web 2.0 for the Enterprise in 2007
Contact Information: About Awareness
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