Just in case you spent the last monthes on planet Mars, one of the hottest topics about enterprise 2.0 is the question of its ROI.
So what is ROI ? Does it have to be purely mathematical and logical of can it be “soft” and (partly) qualitative. My opinion is that more and more people now agree with the second option, especially since the “Bigs” (and McKinsey above all) have recognized this possibility. This also proves that we’re less looking for a ROI than an excuse, a justification…but this is not the point here.
Perhaprs we should ask ourselves is the ROI is an adequate notion ? And, if not, in which way direction we may start searching.
ROI was comfortably used at the time of repetitive material productions. Such machine produces (or helps his operator) to produce x pieces an hour, this old one only y…and we have our ROI. But things are not as easy when we have to deal with immaterial production where the machine is the individual himself.
The power of web 2.0 tools is not what they do but what they allow people to do. It’s a shared belief that making people interact better (and I prefer this word rather than collaborae) creates a value that’s superior to the sum of all the things each one could do by his own. According to me it’s more about addes value than about ROI.
The notion of ROI can apply to tools that treat information (the tool makes the job), but it’s less obvious when the tools only help people to change the way they work.
Since we speak about people working, the concept of “added value” would be more relevant.
