Enterprise 2.0 ROI

A couple of weeks ago, Oliver Young from Forrester Research, who is one of the top analysts following Enterprise RSS and Enterprise 2.0 in general, released a document called IT Will Measure Web 2.0 Like Any Other Applications. The document (which also happened to show that RSS had the highest reported business value of any Web 2.0 application), found that 63% of respondents (IT decision makers at companies above 500 people who are using/piloting at least one Web 2.0 tool) will use traditional value metrics like ROI and IRR for measurement.

A number of articles have come out on the heels of that report, the latest being one by Heather Havenstein of Computerworld. Her story, IT Execs Seek New Ways to Justify Web 2.0, shows that while companies are still turning to ROI as a measurement technique, the definition of ROI is changing. William Hayes of Biogen, a NewsGator Enterprise Server customer, notes that IT is "going to be qualitative." He continues, "If we get interactivity and usage of the tools, and we get better communications within the company, then we will consider it a success." Later in the article, he also points out that Web 2.0 projects can be done easily without sign-off from the highest levels of the company. Hayes points out, "We can essentially do [Web 2.0 projects] in somewhat stealth mode as pilots and prototypes. It’s a lot easier to roll things out in a small fashion and allow them to grow in a grass-roots way.”

The article is definitely worth reading as it notes similar stories for getting Web 2.0 tools in the door and quickly demonstrating value. In addition to Biogen, Web 2.0 projects at the Los Angeles Fire Department, the BBC and Northwestern Mutual, another NewsGator customer, (who is using a NewsGator-powered RSS service provided as part of their blogging solution from Awareness (formerly iUpload) are highlighted.

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