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According to an Oracle whitepaper, collaborative Web 2.0 technologies enable enterprises to foster employees critical thinking and creativity while providing a platform to capitalize on their innovations for product and process improvement.

But what goes into the process? Web-based end-user content management, user-driven applications, blogs, wikis, aggregation, user participation, collaboration, etc… most features that would complement unified communications technology. And yet are the enterprises adopting Web 2.0?
Dhruv Singhal, Director, Sales Consulting Fusion Middleware, Oracle India admitted that non-enterprise segments are easily adopting the technology. People coming to Facebook or LinkedIn are comfortable using it. he agreed that security continues to remain a concern, but that vendors are introducing tools to address it.

So how mature is the Indian enterprise? Well, they are using Web 2.0 for internal communication. It is used to share information with internal customers, or with partners and dealers. The information is largely regarding a new marketing campaign or a new product launch. Enterprises want to make their people more productive and use Web 2.0 as one more tool.

Oracle has sold its Web 2.0 products to some large enterprises in India, but did not disclose names because of NDAs. Singhal however gave examples of how the automotive, manufacturing and telecom segments could use this technology. The auto giants can direct interact with customers. Blogs can be dry. They are not interactive. Moderated forums can be much more alive. The manufacturer can talk about features and other things, and the users can give live feedback. Similarly, telecom companies can use information to sell products, study user behaviour to form marketing strategies.
Right now our focus is on expanding the customer base and penetration Web 2.0. What will be Oracle s USP when competition such as IBM, Microsoft, SAP, and even Intel has products which offer enterprise and SMB customers with Web experience which enables the management to communicate with workers and external customers on the same lines of Oracle s UC offering?

Singhal said that on the collaboration side, Oracle can integrate the front-end with the backend applications. We support SAP, IBM, Lotus Notes, email, and any other middleware. Java and .Net make interoperability easier. This is a great value proposition. We also have ability to offer rich client interface (also through browser based applications.). This is besides Web 2.0 feature staples like tagging, ranking, and commenting.

And Oracle is also utilizing its business intelligence (BI) expertise to further ease communication and collaboration tools, back-end integration efforts.

Not to be left behind, SAP too lay focus on this technology. None other than Leo Apothekar, CEO SAP at the Sapphire 2009 event said, The digital generation are joining the workforce, and they expect enterprise software to be easy to use, to be rich, and to be collaborative. They even want enterprise software to be fun.

Microsoft too explained its Web 2.0 strategy in terms of its Microsoft Office 2007 and enhancements in products released thereafter.

As you know, Facebook can be an invaluable source of marketing for your e-commerce business. However, keeping up with the ever-evolving social bookmarking service is a challenge. Since we covered Facebook Marketing and Business Pages in our How-To Guide back in February (see Facebook How-To Guide: Create Business Pages and Ad Campaigns), Facebook has rolled out changes to Business Pages that directly influence how you use them and how your fans can interact with you on Facebook.

To help you adjust, we take an in-depth look at recent changes made to Business Pages. Plus, we offer tips on how to use new features, such as status updates and Wall feeds to better connect with your Facebook fans.

The New Wall and Tabs Layout

The new Business Pages are designed to make your page look more like a personal profile page on Facebook. If you think of the new Page layout as being divided into three columns, the left-most column is where your brand logo, information, fans, links and admin tool links are located.

The center column, like the new personal profile pages, is the largest by width and importance. This center column is divided into tabs, with the Wall tab being the default. Here the Facebook mini-feed and Wall have been merged into a Twitter-style update feed that puts an emphasis on “what’s new” updates on Facebook.

As you make status changes, add links and share other information on your Business Page, it appears in the new central Wall feed. Updates and Wall posts made by your fans are also shown in this feed.

You will also find tabs to access the full-length version of your company information (you can duplicate a portion of this in the left-hand column also), as well as tabs for custom Facebook applications that you choose to add to your Business Page— like RSS feeds, and other applications. Business Page admins can rename and customize these tabs.

The far right-side column is now used to display Facebook ads on your Business Page.

Feed News to your Fan’s Feeds

The changes to Facebook Business Pages are tough to digest. While you may find it difficult to adjust your brand pages, there is a silver lining in all this.

he old Facebook Business Pages were static pages that were disconnected from the rest of Facebook and its millions of personal users. With these changes and a new emphasis on news feeds, your Business Page now is more viral, and your brand has more prominence in your fan’s news feed.

Let’s say you update your status or post a new link or photo on your Facebook Business Page. This update is shown on the homepage news feed of all Facebook users who have become a fan of your Business. Your Business Page news appears right alongside the fan’s friend news updates. While a fan of your Business Page is catching up on what’s new with friends, they will also get updates from any Business Page they have become a fan of in the same news feed.

This removes the barrier between personal and commercial information fed to Facebook users.

Getting the Most out of your New Business Page

If you had a Business Page on Facebook before the recent changes, you’ll want to edit your page layout and also change some permission settings. Here are some tips for getting the most out of the new Facebook Business Page options.

• Wall Tab: Remember, the new Wall Feed is now the main focal point for fans and page visitors. It is also the entry point to your Business Page. As an admin you will want to check permissions for what types of updates are sent to your Wall tab.
• Status Updates: Business Page admins can now share a status updates with fans. These updates will get posted to your Business Page Wall and can be seen by fans in their homepage news feed.
• Less Custom App Space: With the new layout you will need to look at the custom applications you display on the Business Page in the far left-hand space. Ensure you use this space only for apps relevant to your business—like links, notes or RSS feeds. Applications you add for entertainment that are not related to your business should be moved to a secondary tab that admins can rename to make navigation easier. Also, some apps may also need to be moved to secondary tabs because it requires a display width that exceeds what is available in the far left-hand column in the new layout.
• Focus on Facebook Content: The recent changes also means you should start adding fresh content and updates to your Facebook Business Page on a regular basis, now that you can blast your updates and status to the homepage news feed of your fans.

Keep in mind that a user can simply click a little X beside your update in their news feed to hide all future news updates about you. While it’s nice to have your brand and updates mentioned in news feeds, Facebook users are less likely to keep receiving your Wall feed if your updates start to outnumber friend updates.

When you update your Facebook Business Page you’ll need to find a good balance between getting your business message across to your Facebook fans without “commercially spamming” them. Keep the updates light and useful rather than advertising-heavy.

Facebook has announced a new partnership with online classifieds ad vendor Oodle, which revamped its social classifieds Marketplace. The new Facebook application uses an Oodle-developed interface that lets Facebook users sell, give-away, buy, ask or search for anything they want.

The Oodle Facebook Marketplace currently has 656,460 monthly active members. You can use the application to see what your Facebook friends have posted for sale and what items are available in your local area. You can also use Marketplace to support charities by selling for a cause.

The Marketplace discussion topics and user reviews have not been overly positive since recent changes to the application.  Annoying existing Marketplace users, Oodle was unable to move existing listings over from the old Marketplace.

Also, the new Oodle-driven Marketplace supports only locations in the United States, which has also led to several negative reviews and discussion on the app’s Facebook page.

In a recent update addressing Marketplace users, Oodle posted, “Frankly, we goofed by not launching full international support right off the bat.”

Marketplace is expected to launch support for the UK and Canada within the next week with global support to follow.

Kyozou Integrates with Bidtopia

Toronto-based online auction and e-commerce management solution, Kyozou, recently announced plans for full integration of its online auction technology with Bidtopia.Currently, Kyozou’s tool works with eBay, Amazon and Overstock, as well as with other popular online marketplaces.  Using Kyozou’s technology, you can control over their product sales on several marketplaces from one application, including the capability to sell items in you own private marketplace or Web site.

The tool will support all three of the current Bidtopia formats — traditional auctions, inverted auctions and fixed price.

Less than a month ago, Meebo announced that it would begin including both MySpace and Facebook into its instant messaging and group chat services. These two networks joined AIM, Yahoo, Google, MSN, and others in Meebo’s repertoire.

However, Facebook has now  requested that Meebo remove its network for the time being, and Meebo has complied. Seth at the Meebo blog writes:

We have been speaking to the Facebook team, and it turns out, they’d like us to connect to their network in a different way - a way that works with their log-in security protocols. In the interim, they asked us take Facebook off Meebo, and we agree with them.

However, we were glad to hear that the Facebook team was genuinely excited to see their network on Meebo, especially since they already have plans to open Facebook Chat. They also committed resources from their Chat and Facebook Connect teams to do extra work with us to get Facebook Chat back on Meebo “really, really soon.”

In December, Meebo’s users grew to about 45 million, presumably as a result of adding MySpace and Facebook connectivity. Seth did not share how many of those are from Facebook, but I would imagine Meebo is eagerly awaiting getting the fast-growing social network back on board.

People are fired in all kinds of rude ways, but they typically don’t make the news. Get fired via Facebook, though, and the world goes “huh?”

Crystal Bell, fortunately, wasn’t humiliated via any public communication; her boss sent notice via private message. According to the Calgary Herald, Bell, who’d been employed at a spa only two weeks, skipped a staff meeting on a day she wasn’t scheduled to work.

This answers Smokey’s question: How the hell you get fired on your day off?

Other questions go unanswered, though, as those who are not self-employed may be taken aback by the impersonal method of termination. Bell’s boss defended the move saying she tried to call but Bell ignored her phone.

Still it raises the question of whether this is an isolated incident or the wave of the future: getting the digital ax via email, social network, instant message, yikes—Twitter? Will someone get fired in leet?

Blaise Alleyne at Tech Dirt plays out that scenario:

unfortunatesoul btw you’re #fired sry

Unfortunatesoul’s likely response: @bgboss i can haz welfare chek?

As someone with a communication background, let me say that this probably isn’t the best way to go about it. If management is unconcerned with the employee who is fired, management should consider the remaining staff and how they perceive the act. As they internalize and empathize, such indifference may contribute to I’m-just-a-cog-in-the-wheel bitter disloyalty in the future.