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FileMaker Pro 11 has arrived, and we had a chance to try out some of the new features.
The last time I checked, employees are a captive user group. While the good solution provider and their CIO customer should be concerned with providing users with efficient applications that enable -- not impede -- productivity, what would be the business case for a Web 2.0 infrastructure? Why would you want application personalization?
In the commercial world, Web 2.0 is about integrating instant messaging, changing colors and organizing news feeds on a home page, such as Yahoo allows. In the business world, personalization is more about matching users' identities with the applications they use, providing them with transparent access to features and privileges that make easier to use and the users more productive.
OK, this may sound simple and obvious, but understanding and defining the difference to customers and prospects will be critical in the next generation of the Internet. Many businesses are adopting the Web 2.0 mantra and seek applications and online architectures that give them a competitive advantage. Externally, it means providing users with a rich, functional and personalized experience. Internally, it means providing employees with tools that will make them more productive.
Sun Microsystems is among several vendors who see Web 2.0 as a sales driver for premium hardware and software. Under the old way of Web application thinking, a bunch of commodity X86 hardware was good enough to deliver the applications and services users needed. Under Web 2.0, only reliable and efficient architectures can support and deliver the content-rich applications users will demand. If Web 2.0 is to be a competitive differentator, end users must adopt -- and solution providers must deliver -- the architecture and equipment that will deliver reliable, efficient and productive applications.
Some may scoff at the notion of Web 2.0 being a driver for anything with business necessity. But there are numerous examples of IT departments standing in the way of progress and usability, and lines-of-business managers who find the applications and services that make them more productive. There's a reason for the success of companies such as Saleforce.com; it's not because IT adopted them, it's because users sought systems that met their demands.
"If you stay in that notion, the world is going to move around you," says Wes Wasson, Citrix's vice president of worldwide marketing. "There will be more pressure on IT on how they'll deliver enterprise applications that meet the expectations of users."
For solution providers, Web 2.0 is both a concept and an architecture; it's a reason for providing customers with modern IT infrastructures that both satisfies their employees and their customers. And, more importantly, it's a means for changing the typical customer conversation from one of solving painpoints to one of enabling new business.
Is Web 2.0 a factor in your business? Does Web 2.0 drive sales? Share your Web 2.0 experiences with me.
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