In 2008, Dan Keldsen and I published on behalf of AIIM, a groundbreaking report on Enterprise 2.0. One of the more startling and fundamental facts that we uncovered was that age did not matter as much as folks thought, as it relates to the adoption of Enterprise 2.0. In fact it really didn’t matter at all, and in some situations the exact opposite of what most believed (that with youth came wider adoption and use) was the case. The findings were startling and insightful enough that we were invited to present them at the Enterprise 2.0 conference in Boston in 2008 (video).

Well, despite that, some still believe that Enterprise 2.0 belongs to the young. Earlier this year AIIM published another report on Enterprise 2.0. In it they claim that Millenniums are more apt to use Web 2.0. Huh – could the market have changed so quickly? No, not really.  This research, like many individuals that spoke at the Enterprise 2.0 2009 show in Boston did, confuses or interchanges Web 2.0 and Enterprise 2.0. This naïve misunderstanding often leads to market confusion, and great frustration amongst market analysts and practitioners, (See earlier post which includes further in-sites from Ron Miller on this issue.) Although based on the same basic technologies, Enterprise 2.0 is fundamentally different than Web 2.0 in its audience, purpose, goals, and challenges. This is something that is all too painful to anyone that has implemented these technologies inside the firewall. (More on this below.)

But why am I bringing this up now? Two important reasons.

A recent article in Federal Computer Week reported that a panel of experts at the FOSE conference made the case that, at least in many government applications, the heavy hitters in Enterprise 2.0 are “older people.” In fact, in the case of Intellipedia, the number one contributor is 69 years old. (Wow, that even makes me feel young.) Furthermore, a panelist from Buffalo State College claimed that his graduate students barely even understand, let alone use blogs and podcasts. Sure, the younger set may more readily embrace social networking in the Web world, but Enterprise 2.0 is so much more than that. [Note: The article is entitled “Panel: Age doesn’t dictate Web 2.0 fluency” – OK – good article but again – misuse of Web 2.0 – Intellipedia is Enterprise 2.0). Oh the frustration.]

Information Architected (i.e., Dan and I]) is again embarking on what promises to be groundbreaking and insightful research on the state of the Enterprise 2.0 market. This time we are collaborating with Susan Scrupski and the Enterprise 2.0 Adoption Council. We are in the process of surveying and interviewing the members of the council, ALL seasoned Enterprise 2.0 (and I mean that accurately and literally) practitioners in the throes of implementation and management. Each of these members is pre-screened by Susan, guaranteeing that they speak from real experience with organizations committed to leveraging Enterprise 2.0. Council members have first hand experience with the audiences, purposes, goals, and challenges of Enterprise 2.0 – specifically. (Are you such a person? Want to be a member of the council? Apply – but I warn you, Susan will carefully screen you. Not all who apply are admitted.)

And the results of this research? Well, we all believe that the findings will be as insightful and valuable as those that Dan and I presented at the Enterprise 2.0 2008 show. So, the folks at TechWeb, producers of the Enterprise 2.0 conference,  have agreed to let us release them at the Enterprise 2.0 2009 conference in San Francisco. Like Enterprise 2.0 itself – we hope our research only gets better with age.  I hope to see many of you there, and of course will be blogging and tweeting(@carlfrappaolo) about the findings.