I haven't seen much mention on the Enterpise 2.0 blogs of the R word. Is that because Enterprise 2.0 evangelists are in denial, or are they just such eternal optimists that they shrug such matters off as trivialities?
Anyhow, I've been wondering what, specifically, might be the selling points for an Enterprise 2.0 programme during an economic downturn. Here are my 'top 5' suggestions. I'd like to know what you think - are these right, are there others?
1. In a tough business climate, you need all the tools you can lay your hands on to make yourself more effective. Especially if they are cheap. E2.0 tools are effective and cheap.
2. You'll save cash when you migrate to SaaS from home-grown LANs, data centres, client apps etc. Most E2.0 tools are available as SaaS (and possibly only so).
3. You'll save time and thus money by using email less, and blogs, wikis, RSS etc more. This is because you'll reduce information 'noise' and thus time lost looking for the 'signal'.
4. If it comes to lay-offs, you'll communicate well with your staff about the need for them, and about the process, because you know that everyone in the organisation will know if you don't - and if you do. No more 'disappearances'.
5. You might find that staff come up with creative ways of helping the business ride the trough of the wave.
