Splat | WiseTome.com

This post comes in continuation of the series of posts about blog - particularly the uses of blog. In the last post, I mulled over the use of blog as a online magazine. This time around, we will look at the different aspects of blogs in enterprises and companies.

Enterprises or companies, big or small, are gradually moving into the Web 2.0 scenario and are using blogs (and wiki) in basically to different perspectives - internal and out facing. The out facing blogs generally speak of the company and are handled by the PR department of the company. They educate the customers and readers on their new products and services, and provide a way of feedback for them. It is basically an extension of the web-presence of the company. The internal use of blogs are quite handful for an enterprise. The uses basically dwell on enterprise wide communication and collaboration, that provides a catalyst effect for all the employees to innovate.

Blogs with in an enterprise can provide the following:

• Employees are aware of all the people in the organization
• Employees are aware of the happenings in the organization
• Ideas and content created by the employees is given a organization wide appraisal - ideally with proper ownership of ideas given to the employees
• Conversations and dialog allow for the prospective innovators to thrive - the commenting, pingback and trackback nature of the blogs creates such environment

As with any other change, the use of blogs (and wikis) have the resistance to change by the high level corporate management. This comes due to fear of company secrets being leaked, and the possible dissolving of the rigid hierarchy structure with in the organization. But so was the case few years back, when IMs and Email were introduced into the enterprise. The top level management then feared of information leaking out of the company due to use of Emails. But Emails have become the standard structure in the processes followed at present.

In spite of the initial resistance to change blogs would soon be adapted by the companies, and would become integrated part of the processes (along with wikis).
Links:

• Adding enterprise context to blogs by Dion Hinchcliffe at ZDNet
• Chewing Gum, Blogs, and Wikis by David Meerman Scott at EContentMag.com
• Email is critical to Enterprise 2.0 and Office 2.0 by Rod Boothby at Innovation Creators