Jon, Sébastien – you’re spot on. Organizational factors play a huge role in E2.0 adoption (this is what I was alluding to in the post’s last paragraph). Even the best E2.0 software that solves real business needs and creates true value may fall flat on its face if key people inside an org don’t want it to get adopted. Like any major transformation, E2.0 is disruptive and threatening to those whose power built on the existing processes. Any org/person who gets internal capital from controlling the flow of information may feel threatened by tools built on the idea of sharing. That said, some of them will soon realize that E2.0 offers news ways to build that internal capital. It’s the same trend we’ve been observing on the internet and in every information-focused industry (e.g. news and publishing).

Thanks, Ethan. Yes, I completely agree – addressing business pain points through E2.0 tools will deliver measureable ROI. The trick is to identify the right metrics to measure. It’s important to concentrate on should on value-focused metrics, not on the process-focused ones (and in some case this will take an effort). See you at the conference.

Chris – a great post, mapping E2.0 situation of the hype model and POST (which is in particular a good framework that can help avoiding a “now what?” moment).
As for E2.0 entering through of disillusionment, I agree that the signs are there, but hope the situation is a bit brighter (which may sound surprising given the tone of my post). Gartner’s hype model is technology focused, while to me E2.0 is a state of business, enabled by technology. Although what’s been happening with E2.0 resembles “disillusionment” stages for other tech ideas (e.g. SOA), in essence it’s something different. E2.0 is the business world’s attempt to catch up with the global transformation of society. That’s why you may hear an exec saying things like “my kids live on Facebook; we’ve got to try this thing inside”. The change is inevitable, and its scale is huge. It will happen eventually – whether it’s called E2.0 or not. And I think it still remains a great opportunity for all players in the space. So, it’s all about being conscious of the side effects that purely technology focused efforts can create.