The Internet bubble that promised a transformation of business marketplaces and then burst at the start of this decade left manufacturing executives skeptical of technology revolutions tied to the Web. That hesitancy has placed collaborative Web 2.0 technologies behind the eight ball, pressed to prove their worth to wary manufacturing leaders. Embedded in this hesitancy is confusion over what exactly Web 2.0 is and how it might improve business operations. Don't overcomplicate things. Web 2.0 technology simply enables an easier exchange of ideas and expertise. Check out the resources below for more insight. Research Reports & Studies "Demystifying Web 2.0" by Karen E. Klein Looking for a primer on Web 2.0? Check out this BusinessWeek column for a review of the basics and advice on how and where this new suite of technologies might fit into your business. "Getting the Most Value Out of Collaborative Technologies" by Oliver Marks Collaboration lies at the heart of a new wave of technologies, and ZDNet's Oliver Marks reveals the underpinnings of the business case for those tools in this blog entry. "Getting Your Foray into Web 2.0 Right" by Kelly Spors This piece from the Wall Street Journal should be useful to companies that have dabbled in internal collaboration technologies and are looking to extend them to customers. "Web 2.0 and Cloud Tech: A Spammers' Paradise?" by Richard Adhikari As you begin to incorporate new social media and cloud-based services into your business portfolio, make sure security factors into all your discussions, notes this article from Internet News. Technology Corner Since collaboration tends to center on the practice of innovation and knowledge sharing, it's no surprise that many of its related technologies fall under the banner of product lifecycle management. And while MA's readers will find specific point solutions among the categories below, it's important to remember that most ERP packages are evolving to embrace more collaborative, Web 2.0-based features. Follow the links below to ManagingAutomation.com's TechMatch tool, which will give you more information on these offerings, plus side-by-side product comparisons and more:
Related Coverage in Managing Automation Web 2.0 Gets Real MA Editor-in-Chief David R. Brousell sifts through the results of a McKinsey survey of 1,900 business leaders and finds some interesting results. Reining in Brain Drain One promising use of collaboration technologies is to help stanch the loss of expertise as older workers retire. This Web exclusive details some of the particulars of that effort. Manufacturing Leaders Take Aim at Collaboration Managing Automation's fourth-annual Progressive Manufacturing Summit brought together some of the best minds in the manufacturing business. Find out what they had to say about collaboration. Innovation Now a Team Effort This article details the best practices and latest technologies top manufacturers are using in their quest to deliver new products to market faster than ever.