Collaboration and Web 2.0 with Cisco

CRN: What is Web 2.0? What is the significance?

Radford: Web 2.0 is a phase coined by Tim O’Reilly from O’Reilly Media during the “dark ages” of the Internet in 2003. Just after the dotcom crash there was still a great deal of innovation in the technology sector, but a lot of scepticism about the future impact of technology.

O’Reilly used the term to articulate a change in the way people should use the Internet and the technologies related to it. Since that time, the phrase has been used to describe most “new” initiatives on the web.

I have a very simple way of trying to explain the business impact of Web 2.0, and that is “Collaboration”. If you think back to the late 1990s when Cisco was “Empowering the Internet Generation”, that was really about people getting access to information using the Internet. The next five years was spent putting (mainly) static information online.

Now, we see collaboration in two forms. Firstly, there is collaboration between applications (more commonly known as a mashup), where applications are able to share data. There are many examples of these and they are particularly popular in the real estate and travel industries.

The second form is collaboration between people such as social networking sites, wikis and blogs. Not only are applications becoming more powerful — which in turn enhances productivity — but the “network effect” of greater human collaboration is more powerful, too, and it is transforming society’s ability to create and share knowledge.

The “Internet Generation” of the late 1990s is well and truly empowered, and is now moving to the “Collaboration Generation”.

CRN: What does Web 2.0 and collaboration mean for the channel?

Radford: There are two opportunities for the channel. Firstly, there are internal opportunities where Web 2.0 can transform the way their business operates.

This encompasses the way teams are built and structured, the way that knowledge and information is shared and the way the channel engages with their customer base. There are some obvious technologies that can be applied: Collaboration tools such as Unified Communications, wikis, blogs and podcasts.

The second and most obvious opportunity is in the customer base. This is an area that customers need help with. There are enormous opportunities in this space. While application integration is not new, there are complexities around security and control.

While collaboration is not new, its integration into traditional business process can be challenging. Customers will need help with this and therefore this presents an opportunity for the channel.

But the channel, including vendors, needs to understand that they don’t have five or 10 years to get ready for this transformation in their customers’ business models.

The interesting thing about Web 2.0 is that it is happening fast — at Internet speed. Vendors and the channel have to ramp up their skills in the next 18 months if they want to take advantage of it.

CRN: What are the biggest issues facing a company that wants to embrace collaboration?

Radford: The common perception is that collaboration is just about technology. While there are technology issues and concerns, there are process, management, cultural and organisational considerations as well.

At the heart of collaboration is the notion of creation and sharing
of knowledge.

While most proprietary tools and document formats today do a great job of presenting knowledge, they do a poor job of creation and collaboration on knowledge. Wikis are a great example of a technology that simplifies the processes of creating, collaborating and presenting knowledge.

Finally there are remuneration, recognition and structural concerns. Most organisations today reward employees on their ability to collect and retain knowledge.

Careful thought needs to be given to remuneration and recognition schemes aimed to encourage collaboration.

Structurally, collaboration leads away from the concept of an employee being “owned” by a manager. Employees may be part of multiple teams, and the traditional reporting lines may blur.

More fundamentally, collaboration changes the role of management. Traditionally, management has involved a large amount of communication — taking information from above and communicating down, as well as summarising information from below to communicate up.

Collaboration is founded on the premise of providing open access to knowledge, resulting in a shift of focus in the traditional management role. Cisco’s CEO, John Chambers cites an example of this shift in focus when he speaks about the change in his senior management team from the “Command and Control” of the past to the “Teamwork and Collaboration” style of the future.

CRN: How is Cisco embracing collaboration?

Radford: Collaboration is key for productivity improvements. According to John Chambers, “productivity gains could increase by three percent or more through the next several years, driven by collaboration tools”.

Cisco has many examples of embracing collaboration.

Firstly there are fundamental structural and organisational changes that have occurred. The move from “Command and Control” to “Teamwork and Collaboration” is an obvious change in the senior management team.

The benefit of this is seen in the recent acquisition of WebEx, which John Chambers claims was a deal that would have been done in the past in 45 days, but was done in eight due to the management structure change. Another example is the way that new “emerging” technologies are incubated inside Cisco. The ideas for new technologies, as well as the analysis and business case for them are the result of the application of collaborative networks and teams

These “emerging” technologies are structured and organised like internal startups.

Collaboration also provides a greater level of engagement with customers, particularly in a support environment. The Cisco Technical Assistance Center uses collaboration technologies such as MeetingPlace to share device consoles with customers to reduce problem resolution time.

The most obvious place that Cisco can be seen to be embracing collaboration is seen in the products and technologies that we offer. While the current collaboration market is fragmented, Cisco provides a network-based platform for the integration and unification of collaboration tools.

Recent acquisitions such as WebEx and Five Across, as well as newly incubated technologies such as TelePresence and Cisco IP Interoperability and Collaboration System (IPICS) point to a tremendous focus on collaboration.

There are many benefits of collaboration. Besides the productivity improvements, collaboration if done correctly can reduce travel and greenhouse
gas emissions.

Cisco’s Carbon to Collaboration initiative is an investment of
$US20 million in collaboration technologies to reduce travel. The expected return is some $US100 million in cost avoidance.

CRN: How can resellers benefit from this trend?

Radford: Resellers can look to the benefits that collaboration provides internally, they can look for ways that collaboration enhances the experience of working with their customers, as well as increasing the range of technologies that they provide to their customers.

An example of the changing relationship with customers is if you look at the large number of high-tech companies who are using an external collaboration technology such as WebEx (acquired by Cisco in March 2007).

The majority of them were using the WebEx to collaborate externally with customers. Collaboration occurred at all stages of the product lifecycle, from remote demonstrations in a pre-sales environment, to implementation and training, to post sales support and finally seeking feedback on future product or service development.

This changes the cost model at each stage of the lifecycle.

CRN: How will Web 2.0 blended with collaboration change the channel? What are your predictions?

Radford: The key attribute of Web 2.0 is collaboration. This will change the engagement model with customers. It will increase the relevance of the channel partner in the eyes of the customer. Collaboration is an opportunity for the channel to transform their customers business.

Tips for embracing collaboration
— This is a journey that may not finish. Collaboration technologies will continue to evolve; the integrations between technologies will evolve, so this is very much a long-term play.

— Getting started on a long journey can be daunting, so start with small steps. This may be a simple as adding video telephony or allowing web conferencing.

— Innovation requires some upfront investment. Most innovative organisations have an “innovation fund” to investigate small pilots of new technology. It is important to trial and test technologies to appreciate their full value. Companies such as ING even have a chief innovation officer.

"The Internet Generation of the late 1990s is well and truly empowered."

“Vendors and the channel have to ramp up their skills in the next 18 months.”

“The common perception is that collaboration is just about technology.”

“Collaboration is an opportunity for the channel to transform their customers business.”