Web 2.0 Reference Model

Web 2.0, the second phase in the evolution of Web is based on a set of principles that focus on architecture of participation, user-centricity, collective intelligence, multi-channel and multi-device services, simplicity, openness, transparency, innovation and long tail of economics. It offers enterprises new means to engage and empower different stakeholders more effectively. Though enterprises have started experimenting with different aspects of Web 2.0, very few have actually applied Web 2.0 principles in more than trivial ways. This can partly be attributed to the fact that all the principles of Web 2.0 may not be applicable to all enterprises. Moreover, technology enablers of Web 2.0 are not available out-of-box as a single technology product or as one business application product.

At present there are several disparate technologies available that can be used to realize individual features of Web 2.0. For example Rich Internet Application (RIA) tools/framework like Ajax, Flex/Flash can provide richer and more intuitive user experience, information syndication technologies like RSS/ATOM can be used to aggregate information from different sources, while blogging, wiki enables collaborative authoring/publishing. However a holistic approach towards realization of Web 2.0 in enterprises is lacking. Challenges before enterprises in successful realization of Web 2.0 principles are manifold:

• How to identify Web 2.0 services and initiatives that are relevant based on business and stakeholder priority ?
• What are the basic building blocks required for an enterprise to realize Web 2.0 features ?
• How does Web 2.0 relate to and integrate with other existing computing infrastructure within an enterprise ?
• What services does an enterprise need to support Web 2.0 features and derive business benefit out of it ?

Therefore there is a need for a model that should act as a reference for realizing Web 2.0 principles in an enterprise. In a recent two part article we have proposed a Web 2.0 Reference Model which provides a conceptual model that will allow an enterprise to consider, in an organized manner, the many constituents and factors of Web 2.0, their purposes and inter-relationship.

Check Part I and Part II of the article in Cutter.

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