Mckinsey have released their quarterly report regarding the business use of Web 2.0. For those of you who have no idea who or what Mckinsey are all about : Mckinsey & Company are a collection of consultants that monitor global trends in various business sectors and report their findings via their quarterly reports and various web articles and posts. Being the smartest of the smart means that we should be paying attention to their findings.

So, what does the report say about Web 2.0? It seems as if there are two very distinct things happening. Firstly, companies that are finding their implementation of Web 2.0 successful are investing more time and effort into these technologies, using them to change the way they interact with their clients, and with the constituents of their businesses.

There are companies that have had negative experiences with Web 2.0. The truth is that Web 2.0 can still be considered a relatively new technology, so there are bound to be situations where there will be poor implementations (usually due to concrete business practices that the powers that be refuse to change), indifference, and of course resistance to change. As the report states, the companies that have seen the most success with Web 2.0 actively encourage its use, use manager mentoring programs, and integrate Web 2.0 into existing workflows. So does the future of Web 2.0 hinge more on education than the actual power of the technology itself?

Using Web 2.0 tools and platforms, companies are finding that they have better interaction with suppliers, customers, and outside experts. Quite clearly these companies are beginning to understand what Web 2.0 is all about. Communication. The more you have it, the better prepared you are to do business in the modern world.

With these points in mind, the future of Web 2.0 looks exceptionally rosy. There are challenges and hurdles to overcome, but such is the way when pioneering anything.