Enterprise Blogging... A "Disruptive Technology"? (and Ray Ozzie's blog is back)
Category Blogging
In the latest issue of Computerworld, there's an article titled Blogs Play A Role In Homeland Security. It talks about how blogs ease the sharing of information from the bottom-up in critical infrastructure agencies. It's an interesting article to see how groups are using blogs in the enterprise. But there's a quote from a software vendor that states that enterprise blogs "have all the hallmarks of a disruptive technology". Might that be a little strong?
To be sure, blogs can have some unique applications in an enterprise. They can put a personal face on a corporation, much like Ed Brill's blog for IBM. And Joe Litton has some interesting ideas on the use of blogs in the software development cycle. But "disruptive"? Personal blogs are trendy and have opened up new avenues for communications. But enterprise blogging is a different beast.
I think that this might be another case of software hype falling short of software reality. Maintaining a blog for ANY reason, be it personal or corporate, is as much a matter of culture as of technology (perhaps even more so). There are plenty of personal blogs that started out with great intentions and then haven't been updated in months (thank you, Ray Ozzie!) A software developer who loathes doing documentation isn't going to become a prolific documentation specialist just because he has a blog. People who are hesitant to share information aren't going to start doing so just because the enterprise mandated the use of blogs. This is an issue we're all too aware of with groupware, and it isn't any different here.
So... do you think that enterprise blogging is a "disruptive technology"?
SIDE NOTE: In the process of getting a link to Ray's blog as an example of a "dead blog", I discovered that he has started blogging again after an extended absence...)
In the latest issue of Computerworld, there's an article titled Blogs Play A Role In Homeland Security. It talks about how blogs ease the sharing of information from the bottom-up in critical infrastructure agencies. It's an interesting article to see how groups are using blogs in the enterprise. But there's a quote from a software vendor that states that enterprise blogs "have all the hallmarks of a disruptive technology". Might that be a little strong?
To be sure, blogs can have some unique applications in an enterprise. They can put a personal face on a corporation, much like Ed Brill's blog for IBM. And Joe Litton has some interesting ideas on the use of blogs in the software development cycle. But "disruptive"? Personal blogs are trendy and have opened up new avenues for communications. But enterprise blogging is a different beast.
I think that this might be another case of software hype falling short of software reality. Maintaining a blog for ANY reason, be it personal or corporate, is as much a matter of culture as of technology (perhaps even more so). There are plenty of personal blogs that started out with great intentions and then haven't been updated in months (thank you, Ray Ozzie!) A software developer who loathes doing documentation isn't going to become a prolific documentation specialist just because he has a blog. People who are hesitant to share information aren't going to start doing so just because the enterprise mandated the use of blogs. This is an issue we're all too aware of with groupware, and it isn't any different here.
So... do you think that enterprise blogging is a "disruptive technology"?
SIDE NOTE: In the process of getting a link to Ray's blog as an example of a "dead blog", I discovered that he has started blogging again after an extended absence...)
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Comments
Posted by Richard At 08:15:18 On 14/05/2003 | - Website - |
Posted by Richard At 08:15:18 On 14/05/2003 | - Website - |
Posted by Richard At 08:14:25 On 14/05/2003 | - Website - |
Posted by Richard Schwartz At 15:34:28 On 14/05/2003 | - Website - |