Leaders & Web 2.0 - creating the means for success
Here is another old post of mine. Written in September of 2009, it talks about our internal adoption of Web 2.0 in deploying OlympicCare, and the adoption of such technology by some of the visionaries within our client base.
Even though we are edging toward the Web 3.0 age, it is still highly relevant to take a look at, and draw inspiration from these nearly 2-year old cases of Web 2.0 adoption. Why? Because only 30% of you (New Zealanders) have a website for your business(i.e. forget Web 2.0, you don’t even have the brochure-like Web 1.0!), despite nearly 80% of you using the internet for vital business processes. That doesn’t add up.
With the marketing power of the web growing exponentially, any inspiration on how you might use the world’s most powerful tool to grow your business should be welcome. Please read on and I hope you enjoy learning about what we, and more importantly our clients, have done with Web 2.0 technology. Cheers – Joe.
Over the last 2 months or so we have been upgrading our Extranet. As usual the technical challenges of doing this overshadow the business purpose behind the upgrade and once into this upgrade mode, we, like most other businesses, take our eye off the ball. For example when our clients seek to upgrade their financial system, (Dynamics GP, Dynamics AX, or Infor SunSystems) the inherent risks and costs of doing so become so all-consuming that we forget that the purpose of the upgrade is to take advantage of new features and functions which deliver the business benefits that we seek.
One purpose of the OlympicCare extranet upgrade is to provide the technology and features that will allow us to publish and share the information and knowledge (that we have privileged access too), with our clients and users who do not have the same level of privilege that we do. The OlympicCare Extranet is a response to feedback from attendees of our annual Connect conferences. The value gained from networking with other users is as valuable as the new information about our systems, the improved techniques and the business capabilities that they enable.
We are well advanced on the gathering and the publishing of the information feeds that flows into our organisation. OlympicCare allows us to pass this information on to our clients directly in a self-service opt-in fashion. In the past, information stopped at our border and clients got access to the information once a year at the annual conference, or by explicitly asking for it, or by accident.
OlympicCare is built on the Olympic Community Server which in turn is built upon Windows SharePoint Services, and capable of being deployed on Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) as well. It has taken 18 months of hard work to get the offering to this stage of maturity and we are now seeing clients beginning to benefit from the exercise. ITM was the first client to get advantage of this work. We had a few technical issues true, but ITM now have a solid engagement platform on which to extend their reach and deliver real benefits to their members. Andrew Ryan-Kidd (General Manager Finance & IT) at ITM is some-one who knows how to get benefits out of technology and who never takes his eye of the ball. They are good for us, not simply because they are early adopters, but because they keep reminding us that it is the business benefit for members that they are after. We are about to launch the next phase of their plan which will provide more content and faster access for members. Therein is another little secret. Andrew not only takes things one step at a time; he takes sure steps. Just watch this space. He is building capability.
Because Andrew take sure steps, one at a time, he would never confirm this; but imagine if you will, information, tips and tricks from ITM's suppliers and other ITM members, delivered by video, kiosk, web interfaces, or whatever, to consumers of the ITM network; that is when you will see an integrated organisation of independent businesses using speed, knowledge, and time as an unassailable competitive advantage.
We are currently undertaking a significant web platform upgrade for Brother. This initiative is being led by two of the company's executive directors; Chairman Graham Walshe, and Financial Director Tony Lenton. Again it is enlightening to see how the focus is on the business benefit. The truly enlightening aspect however, is where the bull's eye of that focus lies; it is not on direct benefit to the business itself, BUT benefit to the customers and consumers of the business's products and services.
Both these clients are intent on using technology to build ecosystems that openly provides knowledge and information so that their consumers are able to make informed choice…… and the real competitive advantage lies in the fact that the openness and transparency they insist on, enables them to build a TRUSTED ECOSYSTEM; an opt-in one in which you feel safe. They truly implement the idea of helping their customers succeed. Who says that the link between values and competitiveness is theoretical? The Brother by-line says it all. "Brother at your side."
Another client who is undertaking this initiative is The Talklink Trust. Now that is an organisation that really does good things in our community, and Ann Smaill, the General Manager is a real leader who also knows how to get value out of technology. I just love talking to her. Here is a person who you just know would be a success in whatever field is chosen, is leading a national organisation, with scarce funding, and yet is on the forefront, applying Web 2.0 technology in a sector of our community that is bogged down by bureaucracy and dinosaurs. How does she do it or even put up with it? Anne recently completed several terms leading the ATANZ organisation. It will ease her workload, but the last thing she did at ATANZ was install the web based collaborative capability for that organisation to draw on expertise from around the world and deliver it to people working on the front line where the rubber meets the road; and that is not all; then for those front line troops to share their experiences and solutions with each other so that their patients can benefit. Again creating the means for success.
This is fascinating for me because I have come to realise that these people are successful because they have one thing in common. They don't focus on their own success. They focus on the success of others. There is almost no ego. They do not take their eye off the ball. They have an end in mind. Their own success is a natural consequence of the way they work.
I cannot finish this post without telling you about our own Heather Roggeveen; another with innate leadership skills. Heather does good in the community via the Girl Guides organisation and last year was selected for participation in the Guides' Worldwide leadership forums; and again this year. Well Heather has recently been in Kenya leading a project and survey of some of the humanitarian work carried out by WAGGGS. I am trying to persuade Heather to blog about the experience. The problem is that people like Heather and Ann are so busy that they have very little time for themselves. Well Heather was charged with planning the Kenyan project. She used our Qwikir platform to plan and collaborate with the Kenyan team who came from all over the globe. Imagine; after returning from a WAGGGS conference in London in June where she was assigned to the Kenyan team, planning her teams' sessions from her home office in Huntly, New Zealand, for a whole month's work in Kenya in August, organising and collaborating with people on the other side of world, and it is a success. What an inspiration she is to us all.
I have given here three examples of WEB 2.0 used within clients for human capital and organisational enablement, and two examples enabling global access and collaboration. My purpose is to get you, to think like the people in these examples and develop the strategic capabilities and competitive edge that focuses on success for your consumers. How I wish that you all could get to engage with these people that I have the good fortune and privilege to work for.
This is WEB 2.0. WEB 1.0 was brochure ware and one-way dialogue. WEB 2.0 is two-way collaboration.
Please don't be fooled that WEB 2.0 is a style of look and feel. That is WEB 1.0 in drag. Also don't be fooled into thinking that SharePoint is WEB 2.0 ready out-of-the box. It isn't. It is certainly WEB 2.0 capable but it needs work, and specialised work at that, to bring it the level of collaboration our clients can experience on OlympicCare.
We also have Qwikir installed at the Business School in the Auckland University. That is a story that will have to wait for another blog because this one was supposed to be an explanation of emergent technology and how that works. Wish me luck in getting to that!