Open Source Content Management

Just came across Alfresco ... providers of Open Source Enterprise Content Management (CMS) including Web Content Management ... check them out.

Folk Music and Web 2.0

This analogy just appealed to me ....

Thanks to 'Anon' for this insightful comment ... about the morphing world of users and audience:

"The metaphor I keep coming back to on this is Folk Music. If you look at an open mic session, the "audience" turns up and sometimes, some people join in. People start by foot tapping, after a few ales they might pick up the courage to play an instrument, sing along at a table or even grab the mic. The boundary between audience and artist is practically non-existent. They are also playing, improvising and "remixing" copyright free music. Most importantly, you don't have to do anything, just by being there you feel as if you are participating. Internet participation and the movement from audience to user is creating a new "folk" or "people's" culture."

passed on - with thanks to : Modern Marketing - Blog by Collaborate PR & Marketing: By The People, For The People

Generations need warp drive to cross parallel universes

CEO of Expert Alumni sounds out on Gen Y in the workplace .....

SOMEHOW THERE HAS TO BE UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN X AND Y CAMPS

"Today's business world is characterised not just by dire skill shortages, but also a shift in the priorities of employees. Those who are known as Generation Y (born 1978-98) demand more from their employers than their predecessors. Flatter hierarchies, sophisticated technology and strong values are driving changes in how employers successfully attract and retain good people of all generations."

passed on - with thanks to : The Energy Journal

What Cloud Computing Really Means

"Cloud computing is all the rage. "It's become the phrase du jour," says Gartner senior analyst Ben Pring, echoing many of his peers. The problem is that (as with Web 2.0) everyone seems to have a different definition."

"Cloud computing is at an early stage, with a motley crew of providers large and small delivering a slew of cloud-based services, from full-blown applications to storage services to spam filtering. Yes, utility-style infrastructure providers are part of the mix, but so are SaaS (software as a service) providers such as Salesforce.com. Today, for the most part, IT must plug into cloud-based services individually, but cloud computing aggregators and integrators are already emerging."

Read more at What Cloud Computing Really Means to understand the full picture.

passed on - with thanks to : The New York Times

The Top Three McKinsey Articles From Last Quarter

Seen them before - read them before - but in case you haven't ...

Leadership And Innovation

Eight Business Technology Trends To Watch

Making Talent A Strategic Priority

Command and Control Enterprise ... I'd like you to meet UGC.

Trawling the net over the weekend - and thinking about one of my pet hobby horses - the seemingly contradictory idea of empowering the enterprise with these wacky and way-out concepts of blogs and wikis and 'UGC' and IM and You Tube and Facebook and and and ...

Except I don't think it is contradictory - it is what will happen - and in some lucky enterprises - IS happening.

A couple of posts caught my eye ....

ZDNet reporting on John Chambers from Cisco talking about the importance of collaboration to 'all things Enterprise.'

In fact the article even opens with

“The future is all about the power of “we” and how to collaborate with Web 2.0,” said Cisco CEO John Chambers,

Pretty straight forward huh ? However - read on and you will see that he highlights the essence of the challenge ....

"However, breaking down those hierarchies won't happen overnight. Organizations managed by command and control aren't about to give the keys to the kingdom to the IM, Facebook generation."

So here's the thing. One of the companies I am working with is Expert Alumni. Check them out.

In their words ...

"As half of the current workforce is planning retirement over the next 10 years, an experience gap is being created. This is not a short fall but according to industry observers, consultants, strategists and business leaders alike, it is a gap of unprecedented proportions.

In the past 40 years, corporations have enjoyed a balanced workforce at every level, with succession occurring fairly naturally.  People have been moving through the system and as individuals leave or retire, their replacements have not only brought the same level of experience, but have added value. This is no longer happening.

We now understand that the experience gap is too big to fill naturally and that the ad-hoc succession planning of the past is not enough. This situation is worsening as Baby Boomers retire."

The point is that those 'old' guys at the top - and in the middle - and at the bottom are retiring. They are retiring at a rate that is unprecedented. The skills gap is extraordinary. Talk to the Energy industry about the shortage of people they have. Or wonder who will keep - all the old computers going when the people that know how they work have retired - and the new guys are only learning about mash-ups and XML and ROR ... you get the point.

You see - I think that the "Organizations managed by command and control (who) aren't about to give the keys to the kingdom to the IM, Facebook generation" ... need to understand that if they don't those Gen Ys will simply go somewhere else that they are understood - or even start it up from scratch - they sure aren't going to spend their time sitting in the cubicles that their 'forefathers' sat in ....

Which brings me to the point - why wouldn't a C and C organisation try out a little bit of self organising collaboration. What do they have to lose?

Everything I would suggest - if they don't.

Microsoft Gives Yahoo Ultimatum

Microsoft playing hardball !!

Microsoft Gives Yahoo Ultimatum: Sign Deal In 3 Weeks Or We Cut Bid

ANALYSIS: In this ultimatum Microsoft makes a compelling case that Yahoo's board is violating its fiduciary duty to shareholders by not even engaging with Microsoft. This, combined with the threat of a bid cut, will likely prompt Yahoo shareholders to turn up the heat on Yahoo's board and management. It will also likely prompt Yahoo's board to do some real soul-searching, in which the directors ask themselves again whether they really want to continue down this path.

passed on - with thanks to : Silicon Alley Insider