Web 2.0 for the Enterprise Powered by Hyperwave

September 3, 2007; 09:13 AM

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The success of Web 2.0 services based on user-generated content has companies sitting up. At the same time, however, there is wide-spread apprehension regarding the degree to which the use of Web 2.0 principles can be applied to enterprise information management.

“I run into a fair number of people who are skeptical about the actual business value of Web 2.0. Sure, they usually agree it’s a terrific new movement. But can you build and grow a real business with these ideas?…. There’s a whole aspect of Web 2.0 that can drive genuine business value and significant competitive advantage. The whole point of Enterprise Web 2.0 is to put best practices for creating Web experiences into the hands of business people, Web designers, and users so that we make the most of the systems, users, and information that we have.” – Dion Hinchcliffe, ‘Creating Real Business Value with Web 2.0’

Hyperwave, a leading provider of Collaborative Information Management (CIM) solutions, has commissioned a review of the opportunities and limits of Web 2.0 for companies. The whitepaper “Collaborative Information Management – the Best of Web 2.0 for the Enterprise” by Frank Kappe, Professor of Innovative Media Technologies at University of Graz, is now available for download. Please visit http://www.hyperwave.com/e/downloads/whitepapers to obtain a copy of this report.

Workers need flexibility, companies need control

Traditional Enterprise Content Management (ECM) systems are focused on documents – especially documents in the end-phase of their lifecycle. The processes surrounding the creation and modification of documents are, by contrast, not intrinsic to ECM systems, as they often require multi-user collaboration on a single document. The approach of focusing on document management cannot support a dynamic collaboration between employees and even impedes the publication of unstructured knowledge and information. For this reason, many currently installed ECM systems have failed to gain wide-spread acceptance, as they are incapable of adequately performing their main task of consolidating and supplying company information.

Web 2.0 technologies provide a significant opportunity to improve flexibility in enterprise information management. However, it is not possible to employ the Web 2.0 concept for company information systems without modification, as these require a significantly greater degree of control over the published information and over access authorisation (e.g. to protect intellectual property or for legal reasons).

The Best of Web 2.0 for the Enterprise – Hyperwave Collaborative Information Management

When designing the Collaborative Information Management (CIM) platform, Hyperwave anticipated the success of Web 2.0 and integrated its most important principles into the fundamental structure. To achieve currency of content – one of the key Web 2.0 features – Hyperwave used various real-time collaboration tools (chat, instant messaging, voice and video conferencing over IP, etc.) and an optimised publication process.

Unlike many ECM systems, the CIM platform supports every phase in the document lifecycle, from creation and approval through to later-modification and deletion. Here the particular focus is on simply and quickly publishing documents. A workflow function significantly increases the speed with which content is generated and distributed, without compromising security. Published information can be found within a matter of seconds via the Web interface or using a full-text search. An integrated version management ensures that users receive the latest versions and that employees always use the same document. Document access is managed using a reliable role-based access control (RBAC) function. Companies can thus achieve an ideal balance between an uncomplicated and rapid information supply, and content and authorisation control using a CIM platform.

About Hyperwave

Hyperwave(^TM) is a 10-year old company and a leading provider of Collaborative Information Management (CIM) software. The Company's solutions manage information for all types of business, compliance and industry requirements in some of the world's largest companies, government agencies and professional service firms. Hyperwave supports over 300 customers worldwide and hundreds of thousands of users in a variety of languages. For more information about Hyperwave, visit http://www.hyperwave.com.