Web 2.0 And Businesses

Blogging is a great tool for communication and collaboration. It can be used by domain experts to communicate with customers and the world at large, as we do with the Symantec security Weblog. It can also be used by employees to collaborate as we do with our internal blog. Then, most employees at Symantec use wikis or Microsoft SharePoint for collaboration within or across groups.

Basant Rajan, Chief Technology Officer,Symantec Corporation, India

Social networking sites help our employees keep in touch with individuals or groups both inside and outside the company, and to continue to make new and useful contacts that will ultimately help them in being more productive.

Web 2.0 technologies are very productive when used appropriately, but as with any technology, there is always the possibility of misuse. It would be prudent to be watchful, and we are. There are a number of policies that govern the exchange of information and the monitoring thereof.

Still, our employees enjoy considerable flexibility in terms of how they use their computers, the Internet, and the intranet. Everything we do at Symantec is ultimately about enabling people to work and play freely in a connected world.

The goal of providing a blog-space for employees has been to ensure that people become part of conversations occurring around the industry. Sun employees, through their blog posts, are now participating in dialogues, be they about technology or otherwise, in a way that transcends geography and time.

Santosh D’Souza, Chief Technology Officer, Sun Microsystems, India

Sun’s effectiveness at knowing what its community is saying has been improved immensely by the blogging process. Blogs serve as a good tool for internal communication as well. For the top management, blogging can be a powerful and highly credible tool to communicate with employees. Blogging serves as an effective tool to attract talent. With companies vying with each other to attract the best talent, we have to prove we are a more vibrant, interesting, and open company. These blogs reflect the quality of the people and that’s the quality of the company. Blogs have authenticated the Sun brand as much as or more than a billion-dollar ad campaign could have done.

Blogging allows employees to get to know each other better, to gain a broader understanding of their co-workers.

Sun has embraced other Web 2.0 means, like YouTube videos, podcasts, and Second Life, to get the message across about our solutions. 

Jay Pullur, Founder and CEO, Pramati Technologies,

Blogging and business social networking are crucial parts of business today, particularly in the hi-tech industry. It would be wise for companies to use the movement to their benefit. We want our employees to be smarter, well-read, articulate, and well-connected. Web 2.0 helps this cause.

There would certainly be part of employees’ time going into non-productive purposes. However, when companies encourage blogging and tell them what areas would help business and the branding cause, at least a reasonable part of the time spent could be productive.

Social networking including professional networking can open up the minds of employees. Traditional channels like conferences and seminars provided opportunities for people to connect with related people. Online communities, technology forums, and special-interest groups all form various social networking opportunities. The value of such social networking is manifold-the most important for us is branding.

Small and medium companies should see blogging and social networking as an equaliser, because on the Web, no-one knows the size of your office. Bigger companies can also benefit, but they probably have the need for regulatory mechanisms.

At Directi, blogging has enhanced the communication give and take among various audience verticals. Employee blogging manages to reach out to a larger credible audience, and allows employees to express themselves in the most creative of ways.

Bhavin Turakhia, CEO, Directi

A blog by a company employee gives an inside view of the company and would hence positively affect the company’s brand image. At Directi, we have employees who write blogs for creative expression, and others who try to address technical and soft issues they face in their work domain. This transforms a nameless and faceless organisation into one with a personal and very live face.

Negative comments about companies on blogs should be accepted in the right spirit and an attempt must be made to mutually understand issues and correct them.

Social / Business networking, too, most definitely works for us. It helps in popularising products and services to the right target audience. Moreover, social networking gives a much-needed personal side to business deals and also opens up thousands of prospective sales leads. Companies must encourage employee social networking.

Rajul Garg ,Vice president, Corporate and People Development, GlobalLogic

We as a company are firm believers in the individual’s power of expression. It’s liberating to be able to speak your mind and have others comment on it. Personal trust and responsibility are integral parts of our culture and blogging has helped us spread that.

The policy of allowing blogging by employees has re-enforced our culture of personal trust and responsibility. Hence, at a macro level, it has helped.

We do not have a formal monitoring mechanism for employee blogs. We may have the need in the future as it gets bigger in scale.

Regarding access to social networking sites for professional purposes, we are working on creating a business community partnering with a popular social networking provider. We think this will act as a social glue and help people relate to each other more as people.

We are big believers in the power of collaboration and how the new, new Web makes it possible. It ties in very well to breed innovation, which is our fundamental need.