JackBe's CTO, John Crupi, wrote up an article for Java Developers' Journal outlining what was "In" and "Out" in 2008 for knowledge workers. It's a pretty interesting article.
I borrowed this format to put together a few of my own guesses for what's in for Web/Enterprise 2.0 for 2008. Here goes:
(1) OUT: IT as the gatekeeper to all information. IN: IT as the enabler of good, secure information to the masses. IT is currently seen as the gatekeeper of all information for enterprise organizations; in 2008 I think we're going to see more IT organizations putting infrastructure and process into place in order to provide business users (and mashup creators) with this information (or data) that they need to create enterprise mashups. IT will turn from the gatekeeper of all information to the enabler or provider of good, secure information to business users. I've been blogging about this for a few months since I saw this as a major forcing function of Web 2.0 at Mashup Camp last spring.
(2) OUT: The business user as an observer. IN: The business user as a active player/participant. As mashups products become easier to use, we're going to see more business users actively taking part in building mashup apps they might need, whether it be for sales and marketing purposes, inventory processes, etc. The business users are going to be actively participating and developing the apps that they need to be successful.
(3) OUT: Vendor struggles to own the entire Enterprise/Web 2.0 market. IN: Vendor products and ecosystems working together. Right now I'm not really seeing a lot of vendors partnering up if they are each offering mashup or Web 2.0 platforms to users. What I think we're going to see more of in 2008 is partnerships starting to evolve in these areas, based on which user types vendors are targeting as well as what features are being offered. I see vendors starting to take steps to do this (including IBM), but the user community will also be a major player here encouraging this to happen at a faster rate. This also could easily play into our current thoughts about Open Innovation.
(4) OUT: Heavy, expensive integration platforms. IN: Lightweight, inexpensive Enterprise/Web 2.0 types of applications. Bottom line: Integration platforms are heavy, expensive, and pretty damn difficult to implement. Enterprise 2.0/Web 2.0 isn't the answer to all of the problems that a full integration platform can solve, but is sure does alleviate certain pain points in this area.
(5) OUT: "Web" mashups. IN: Data-driven mashups. We keep talking about Web 2.0. But what is really being mashed up is data - and data is where the core value of the mashup really is. Google, for example, isn't a web/search company, it's a data company. Companies/users that find ways to utilize this data in ways that cut costs, save time, give them a competitive edge, etc is where we'll see value in the mashup ecosystem in 2008. This is also where Info 2.0 and IBM Mashup Starter Kit come into play (as you'll be seeing lots more of in 2008 as well) :)
/LC