MiramarMike - Blog

A fantastic article, How Web 2.0 evangelists make the Microsoft monopoly stronger by Andrew Orlowski , decrying the 'Web 2.0 cult' ("compared the rise of Web 2.0 enthusiasts to the problem the Police has with Freemasons") and how they are now being used by Microsoft to negate the need for regulation. In a nutshell - we're not a monopoly as the Web is now a platform that anyone can/are using. But I also love how the article uses some cracking phrases about those, like myself, that are Web 2.0/Enterprise 2.0 evangelists: cult-like relentless self-advancement "Hive Mind" cult/religion web utopians evangelists Emergent People mighty army of JavaScript-typing, buzzword-spouting monkeys happy-go-lucky Digg crowd There is a hint of truth in what is written. Me using the word "evangelist" is a prime example of how I (and those "like me") are on a wee bit of a mission, even if the mission is for the good of all (but not from God) ... then aga

Classic excuses ("reasons why we can't ...") I have experienced included: You're paying us good money to provide a service ... how can we when ...? You can't expect us to honour the SLA we have all worked hard to gain acceptance for!? (rope in 'business' as a potential ally) This will increase our work load by XXX%, who's now gonna pay for that? (fear of unlimited costs) We are professionals, these people don't know what they're doing - is that the sort of organisation you lead? (implant fear of reputation plummeting) If you're happy for us not to support it then go ahead. Also, any repercussions on the wider network/systems can't be supported by us! (implant fear of a meltdown) We understand the need and if you could only wait until February/March we will be able to supply a systems that both meets ALL of the business needs and we are happy complies with our rigorous industry/government standards compliance (wait for ever because it a

[Updated] I have published my "Enterprise 2.0 definition" A set of references to learn about the underlying principles and technologies driving the introduction of "Enterprise 2.0" in organisations. Web 2.0 definition Web 2.0, a phrase coined by O'Reilly Media in 2004, refers to a perceived second-generation of Web based communities and hosted services — such as social networking sites, wikis and folksonomies — that facilitate collaboration and sharing between users. O'Reilly Media titled a series of conferences around the phrase, and it has since become widely adopted. Source: Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0 Enterprise 2.0 definition The use of Web 2.0 technology and ethos within the corporate boundaries. Source: me Enterprise 2.0 is a new enterprising environment which can be differentiated from traditional Enterprise (say, enterprise 1.0). The new enterprising environment use social software in "enterprise" (business)

You're on Facebook, you've got yourself a GMail account and your putting up photo's to Flickr. Or maybe you've merely heard about this new web thingy called social networking * and are wondering why everyone's inviting you to a "book of faces". If you're an old hand at the Interweb or new to the whole shooting match this post aims to give guidance to keeping your online presence ("persona"*) safe and snug within your own control. 1: Reserve your name in all the right places The number of sites that claim to 'be your homepage on the Web' is growing each and every day with current estimates ranging from 110 , 230+ and beyond . And the usage growth is phenomenal with the top twenty sites growing at 11% per month . Research by Rachel Cunliffe states that the top 5 visited sites for the young uns of New Zealand are (social networking sites, incl. online gaming, bolded ): ... for boys taking part: Bebo YouTube Google Miniclip RuneScape .

Again, working my way through my Google starred items I have four articles that talk about 'the future' of a lot of IT related things. The four articles cover the whole range of "IT" starting at the top with an overview of where we're at and where we are potentially going descending all the way down to the future of software development. I see the articles linked together in a happy wee circle, with the large strategic future being driven by the way consumers/organisations want to use the apps which are created by developers which are driven by the large strategic future ... and around we go again. And so, let's start at the the big picture with a look at the evolution of where we were as well as where we might get to... Web 2.0 Explorer: A simple picture of Web evolution This article and the diagram it talks about highlight quite succinctly the challenge for IT Departments have. The move away from 'user' interacting with 'installed application'

I am. A 'friend of Harry' is wonderfully outlined by Lloyd Davis over at Perfect Path blog and I have a sneaking suspicion it is the attitude of "bypass it" that is at the heart of most IT Departments fear of the Web 2.0/Enterprise 2.0 malarkey. If we (normal, everyday 'users' of computer systems) start to get access to stuff that isn't hosted internally, isn't locked down to one vendor and isn't dependent upon a single user login* then we (the 'user') can suddenly start to "bypass" everything. We can bypass the controls IT Departments have placed upon: WHAT applications can be used WHEN applications can be used WHAT the connections ("information flow") between applications are WHO controls access to the applications and the information For some businesses (I thinking "government" here, in it's widest term) the lack of control of the information flow is probably the scariest. This is a valid business fear/