Enterprise Web 2.0 predictions from Forrester

Forrester published a report, "Top Enterprise Web 2.0 Predictions For 2008" ($775, about $100 per page), which concludes that blogs, wikis, and social networking will further gain importance in 2008 as enterprises look to Web 2.0 tools to solve long-standing worker problems. Not a big revelation.

The market will remain volatile, according to the report, with midtier software vendors, consultancies, systems integrators, and Microsoft (SharePoint) reaping the biggest rewards this year.

Forrester expects at least half of the 42 percent of enterprises that say Web 2.0 is not on their agenda to make it a priority by year’s end. Here's why:

First, the IT shops that began experimenting with enterprise Web 2.0 tools for their own use in 2007 — for tasks like help desk ticket resolution, standards and documentation tracking and IT project management — will begin rolling out these tools more broadly to lines of business as they pass IT muster. Second, CIOs will concede that they cannot quell passionate employees’ use of consumer-oriented or SaaS Web 2.0 tools and will mitigate risk by deploying enterprise-class tools in their stead. Finally, for IT departments aspiring to be more relevant to the business, enterprise Web 2.0 tools will be a high-impact, low-cost method to show leadership and innovation.

The report also predicts that use of RSS in enterprise firms will rise from about 9 percent to nearly 20 percent by year end, and enterprise mashups will move from pilot phases to deployment. Internal social networking solutions will also be a hot commodity.

In other words, Web 2.0 continue to make steady progress in corporate environments, continuing from the leaps or small steps in 2007. Given the growth of Enterprise Web 2.0, also known as Enterprise 2.0, consolidation will rear its head.

The report suggests that Google and Salesforce.com might fill other their portfolios with smaller Web 2.0 SaaS acquisitions, and Microsoft could take out NewsGator. The primary author, Oliver Young, envisions a potential rollup similar to what happened in the business intelligence market last year.