Forrester's report "Top Enterprise Web 2.0 Predictions for 2008" has been getting some pick up in media outlets. I think the reason is because until now industry analysts have seen Web 2.0 has being primarily the domain of social networks and anyone wanting to jump on the popularity curve for everything the Web 2.0 space implies. I wouldn't be among those considering it a fad but apparently it hasn't been seen as enterpise-grade by industry pundits (this means many things, among them the popularity of a technology with IT consultancies and CTO magazine).
So it's right on schedule for 2008, 4 years after the term was coined, 1/4 of all enterprises (not sure how that was calculated) will now be implementing Web 2.0 technologies. Such as what? Well the Forrester list includes social networks, RSS and mashups. The thing that I would change is rather than this being a prediction, it is probably more of a reality - in some sectors. Certainly there are no shortage of corporate blogs, community forums, and RSS feeds at technology companies, from mammoth IBM to Keynote Systems. No comment on other sectors, a quick gander at Web sites will provide the obvious answer.
Any way, these customer facing technologies are here to stay - no news there. On the other hand how enterprises deal with usability, performance, and privacy issues . . . well, that story is still to be written.
As is almost always the case, the real money is spent and made after the hype. So if you are trying to make heads or tails of what this could mean for your corporate Web performance, check out this Keynote Webcast; it will give you a framework to start understanding the impact of Web 2.0.
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