This will be one of the few times I cross post to the FASTforward Blog, another blog for which I’m a contributor, and the AppGap but the book above is very relevant to both audiences. On my way to Fast Forward 08 I took out my review copy of Making Knowledge Work - The Arrival of Web 2.0 by Jon Husband, a contributor to this blog, and Jim Bair. After the introduction, I went straight to Chapter 6 on Vendors since I have been writing about many of them on this blog and the Fast Forward blog. Jon and Jim provide a nice overview of the market, covering both the big guys like IBM and Microsoft, and the more pure play providers. I looked at the ones I interviewed and certainly agreed with their assessment and descriptions. I also discovered a number of others for the first time, as well as updates on firms I have known in the past.

There are certainly other worthy vendors that are not covered in the book and the authors acknowledge the many additional players in this market. However, their generalizations about how the large suppliers and the smaller firms will play in the enterprise 2.0 are accurate from my perspective. Their work also adds another validation to the market. Not shy, they write, “social computing promises to take over the world of work as participation, ease-of-use- and collaboration grow.” They note the advantage of the large players but acknowledge that some “new very small vendors (are) combining capabilities with industry giants.” The integration of Google Search Appliance with iQuest Discovery is one example they offer that I have written about before. There are many others. They also cover the entry of Google, itself, into the enterprise market with a useful summary of its moves.

Jon and Jim seem to come out on the side of the big vendors as the less risky way to get into enterprise 2.0 with a slight nod to IBM over Microsoft, unless of course if you are already a Microsoft shop. If you simply want to stay with your current enterprise provider as a safe move, there is certainly sound logic here. However, these large providers have had to integrate the new enterprise 2.0 functionality with their existing infrastructure and that can be limiting. The smaller new vendors do not have that burden. So there is a risk of missing out on some good stuff if you bypass them. Risk is in the mind of buyer.

I am looking forward to reading the rest of the book - It is clearly written and takes steps back along the way to look at the big picture and provide an historical perspective. I recommend it as a solid introduction to enterprise 2.0.