Business not yet embracing Web 2.0

A global survey of business executives has found that security and governance concerns are hindering the uptake of Web 2.0 tools within the business community.

by Helen Leggatt

According to a recent survey by KPMG International and The Economist Intelligence Unit, most executives agree that Web 2.0 tools, such as social networks, blogs and wikis would be beneficial to their employees.

In fact, three-quarters of the respondents believe that Web 2.0 tools would foster innovation within their business and even more, 86 percent, see it as a way of improving the sharing of knowledge.

However, the reality is that business isn’t putting Web 2.0 to work. Why? The survey, “Enterprise 2.0: The Benefits and Challenges of Adoption”, found security concerns to be the main barrier to adoption for over half of the respondents, and 45 percent cited a lack of Web 2.0 understanding.

"Web 2.0 is not just about novel consumer technology," said KPMG chairman of technology Crispin O’Brien. "There are real business benefits to be derived from enabling more effective knowledge sharing and collaboration among employees."

"The challenge for the technology industry is to communicate these benefits effectively and address the concerns that remain around security and relevance to different industries,” he added.