Singapore, 13 October 2009 – Findings from independent IT industry analyst research firm, Hydrasight, confirm that a growing number of organisations in the Asia Pacific region have already adopted enterprise web 2.0-based solutions. Almost a third of respondents to the online survey conducted in September 2009 indicated they already have enterprise web 2.0 implementations in place.

More than one-half of all respondents confirm that enterprise web 2.0 is a “must have” for their organisation at some point. Around a third of the survey respondents have examined enterprise web 2.0 but are yet to decide how best to apply the technology in their own organisations. Only around 10% of respondents have no deployment intentions at this time.

Moreover, less than 5% of those in business-oriented roles believe that enterprise web 2.0 will not be important to their organisation.

The findings from Hydrasight’s “enterprise web 2.0 in Asia Pacific (Australia 2009)” study reveal a growing interest in enterprise web 2.0 since the company’s first study on the topic conducted in 2007. Since then, organisations have continued to experiment and invest in enterprise web 2.0 methods and technologies.

John Brand, research director, Hydrasight, said, “Enterprise web 2.0 is a rich and complex matrix of cultural influences, sensitivities and considerations. This applies not only to individual regions within Asia Pacific but also in different organisations within the same or similar regions and industries. Adoption of the technology therefore varies as a result. Our preliminary survey results indicate that Asia Pacific organisations continue to have different views and drivers (compared to North American organisations) and that the cultural differences are both regional and organisation specific. Not all organisations will, or should, approach enterprise web 2.0 the same way.”

A focus on publishing

The study reveals the top three enterprise web 2.0 applications are wikis, blogs and collaborative document management. Twitter is also cited as a significant tool based on its potential marketing value. Given these approaches are all publishing related, the preliminary report suggests that organisations are continually looking for ways to streamline content production, knowledge availability and information dissemination. Organisations also appear to be more aware of, and interested in, increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of their information management practices.

Graham Pullen, Vice President Asia Pacific, Open Text, a leader in enterprise content management said, “Organisations are facing ever-increasing regulatory and legal requirements that are driving demand for records management, archiving, and discovery solutions for electronic content such as email and documents. As people become used to web 2.0 within a public or social context, they are also beginning to realise that web and community content will soon become a compliance risk for the enterprise if it is not managed in an appropriate and reliable fashion.

“There’s still a healthy level of wariness in the market but with around 90% of organisations in the process of, or considering deployment, we expect to see some high profile projects with quantifiable benefits from enterprise web 2.0 in the near future, despite the challenges.”

Around 45% of respondents to Hydrasight’s 2009 survey stated that they have already deployed wiki technology within the enterprise with a slightly smaller number utilising blogs (36%). While improved knowledge sharing within the organisation is a primary anticipated benefit, Hydrasight believes organisations are failing to take advantage of additional enterprise web 2.0 benefits, such as a reduction in overall data volumes, more efficient and effective decision making and decreased compliance risks. These are due to ensuring fewer duplicated documents and the removal of complex email-based approval processes for collaborative business processes.

Twitter was also recognised as being an important web 2.0 technology within the enterprise with almost one quarter of respondents indicating their organisations already use the service. Hydrasight research shows that marketing applications based on Twitter is the primary driving factor. Twitter (and Yammer) provide solutions for publishing micro updates and/or non-critical notifications within and external to the enterprise.

Social analytics within the enterprise

The Hydrasight report notes that while public examples of web 2.0 technologies are heavily ‘social’ in nature, enterprise web 2.0 remains publishing and information management focused. The report analysis highlights opportunities for greater social enterprise deployment in areas such as expertise location and building communities of interest to identify and support organisational best practices. However, the study cautions that collaborative tagging and social analytics are still poorly understood within the enterprise and have yet to make any real impact. Approximately one quarter of survey respondents stated they have no plans to adopt any social analytic capabilities.

Enterprise web 2.0’s missed opportunities

Despite an apparent limited vision and continuing scepticism for some elements of enterprise web 2.0 in the Asia Pacific region, the study also identifies a number of opportunities for organisational improvement based on the technology. For example, approximately half of respondents to the 2009 survey indicated that “improvements to employee record keeping and compliance practices” utilising enterprise web 2.0 were not considered to be important benefits. “Improved decision making and employee productivity” were also undervalued – rated as “somewhat important” by just under half of all participants.

The report suggests that comparisons between public and enterprise web 2.0 initiatives are causing continuing concerns among some organisations such as the fear that a reduction in employee productivity will occur as a result of deploying web 2.0. This demonstrates confusion for organisations with employees’ desire to access public web 2.0 services with the benefits that enterprise web 2.0 can bring. Benefits identified by Hydrasight’s research includes employees having access to better quality information and access to enhanced decision support tools.

“While interest and adoption in web 2.0 has grown in Asia Pacific over the past two years, organisations remain challenged by the difficulties in determining the appropriate application of web 2.0 technologies and suitable use cases. The most likely scenario is that enterprise web 2.0 will evolve in a similar manner to the adoption of email within business. It will continue to flower in spite of any attempts to contain or control it. By embracing enterprise web 2.0 philosophies and related technologies, Hydrasight believes organisations can improve their information management practices and actually enhance their compliance to record keeping requirements,” Brand said.

Open Text’s Pullen said “The Open Text ECM Suite enables organisations to effectively manage communications such as discussions, blogs, and wikis with the same set of security, compliance, and archiving policies that they use to manage email and other content today”.

About the Research

The report, Enterprise Web 2.0 in Asia Pacific (Australia 2009), is based on primary research findings from an online and phone survey conducted by Hydrasight into corporate attitudes and intentions relating to enterprise web 2.0. From more than 600 initial invitations 110 responses were considered in the analysis.

About Hydrasight

Hydrasight is an independent technology-focused IT industry analyst research and advisory firm created by former META Group analysts. The firm serves the strategic information management needs of commercial enterprises, government departments and technology vendors in the Asia Pacific region. The company was launched in 2005 and is headquartered in Sydney, Australia.

About Open Text

Open Text, an enterprise software company and leader in enterprise content management, helps organisations manage and gain the true value of their business content. Open Text brings two decades of expertise supporting 46,000 customers and millions of users in 114 countries. Working with our customers and partners, we bring together leading Content Experts™ to help organisations capture and preserve corporate memory, increase brand equity, automate processes, mitigate risk, manage compliance and improve competitiveness. For more information, visit www.opentext.com.

Records Management Leadership

Open Text is a worldwide leader in records management, furthering its position this year with a range of new solutions that allow companies to extend records management practices across content types stored in multiple systems. Last year, Open Text was first-to-market with solutions that let customers apply records management rules to content in SAP applications and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, and launched a solution with FaceTime Communications that lets customers apply records rules to IM.

Open Text’s records management solutions are certified as compliant with the U.S. Department of Defense 5015.2-STD, a key standard for records management software used in corporations and governments. Open Text’s solutions are also certified under the United Kingdom’s TNA regulations and Australia’s VERS standard.

Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

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