Applying Web 2.0 principles to the information management system ensures your knowledge base is always up-to-date and facilitates collaboration.
The success of Web 2.0 services based on user-generated content has companies sitting up. At the same time, however, there is wide-spread apprehension regarding the degree to which the use of Web 2.0 principles can be applied to professional information management. Hyperwave, a leading provider of Collaborative Information Management (CIM) solutions, presents the chances and limits of Web 2.0 for companies and demonstrates means of improving collaboration.
"The term Web 2.0 has been widely over-stretched in media discussion. However, that should not be allowed to mask the valuable impulses which the concepts and ideas behind Web 2.0 can offer businesses,” says Thomas Lederer von Witten, V.P. Business Development at Hyperwave. "Integrating the principles of Web 2.0 into the information management system allows the entire knowledge catalogue to be rapidly and thoroughly captured. At the same time cross-divisional collaboration is facilitated, which can result in significant productivity benefits.”
Workers need flexibility, companies need control
Traditional Enterprise Content Management (ECM) systems are focussed on documents - especially documents in the end-phase of their lifecycle. The processes surrounding the creation and modification of documents are, by contrast, not intrinsic to ECM systems, as they often require the cooperation of multiple users and collaboration on a single document. This approach, focusing on document management, cannot support a dynamic collaboration between employees and even impedes the publication of unstructured knowledge and information. For this reason, many currently installed ECM systems have failed to gain wide-spread acceptance, as they are incapable of adequately performing their main task of consolidating and supplying company information.
However, it is not possible to employ the Web 2.0 concept for company information systems without modification, as these require a significantly greater degree of control over the published information and over access authorisations (e.g. to protect intellectual property or for legal reasons).
The best of Web 2.0 - Hyperwave Collaborative Information Management
When designing the Collaborative Information Management (CIM) platform, Hyperwave anticipated the success of Web 2.0 and integrated its most important principles into the fundamental structure. To achieve currency of content - one of the key Web 2.0 features - Hyperwave used various real-time collaboration tools (chat, instant messaging, video conferencing, etc.) and an optimised publication process.
Unlike many ECM systems, the CIM platform supports every phase in the document lifecycle, from creation and authorisation through to modification and deletion. Here the particular focus is on simply and quickly publishing documents. A workflow function significantly increases the speed with which content is generated and distributed, without compromising security. Published information can be found within a matter of seconds via the Web interface or using a full-text search. An integrated version management ensures that users receive the latest versions and that employees always use the same document. Document access is channelled using a reliable role-based access authorisation management system. Companies can thus achieve an ideal balance between an uncomplicated and rapid information supply, and content and authorisation control using a CIM platform.
More information on collaborative information management and Web 2.0 can be found in the white paper ‘The Best of Web 2.0 for the Enterprise’, which can be downloaded from http://www.hyperwave.com/d/downloads/whitepapers.
