A Web 2.0 Primer

Download the Web 2.0 brochure [PDF, 652KB ]

The component technologies of Web 2.0 (an umbrella term) are new, innovative, largely untried and perhaps slightly scary. Nonetheless, Accenture believes that Web 2.0 will be embraced by those businesses seeking to achieve high performance.

To receive more Research & Insights, sign up for My Outlook, your single e-mail source for all of Accenture's latest ideas and innovation, personalized specifically to your business interests and the industry issues you face.

Web 2.0 is not a very specific term, as it encompasses blogs and wikis, peer-to-peer file sharing and open source, Web services, cost per click and multiplatform delivery.

The full collection of architectures, business models and technologies that are designated Web 2.0 is so broad and eclectic that it cannot fit into a single consistent framework. Nevertheless, the one (nearly) general thing that can be said about Web 2.0 is that its theme is mass participation, where participation takes the form of the creation, editing or ranking of content.

Accenture believes that six Web 2.0 “phenomena,” in particular, will have a significant impact on enterprises. They are:

1. Rich Internet Applications. Information can be updated without having to replace the entire Web page.
2. Mashups. Websites built by integrating data from two or more other sites using an application programming interface.
3. Crowd-sourcing. The recruiting of large groups of (usually unpaid, often amateur) contributors to create content or solve problems.
4. Folksonomies. Instead of a few experts creating a fixed list of index words, anyone can now add words to an existing list.
5. Blogs. Chronologically-organized online journals that anyone can write.
6. Wikis. Documents authored by many people in a collaborative environment, providing those involved in a particular project with a powerful outlet for their ideas.

The technologies and approaches outlined above vary in their maturity, complexity and effective deployment. Potentially, though, they all have significant value for businesses in pursuit of high performance.

• Blogs and wikis: These can create large improvements in collaboration and communication, but companies should move fast or users may deploy them themselves.
• Folksonomies: These can be of considerable use, since poor knowledge management practices have frequently proved expensive.
• Crowd-sourcing: Perhaps the most challenging of the Web 2.0 phenomena, but used effectively it can lead to the very inexpensive creation of high-value content.
• Mashups: Because of their accessibility to less technical developers, they could represent a more productive way to partner with IT.
• Rich Internet Applications: These have clear business benefits, for example in the form of more effective websites, and companies should begin experimenting with them as soon as possible.