Web 2.0

As described in our last segment on Wagner Design Associates, the firm started as a print design shop. However, by the late 1990's, it was clear that the web would play a more significant role, at least partially displacing print, so Jill Wagner began the move toward the web. Some highlights from this segment:

• Shortly after the start of the current decade, Jill approached Kathy Roeser because she felt she needed more web expertise.
• Much like Carrie Hensel at Inner Circle Media, Kathy had become a self-taught web guru with a grounding in design and she was actively engaged in teaching others.
• Kathy's design background also fit well with the culture of Wagner Design, smoothing the firm's transition from print to web.
• Wagner Design Associates now does about 50/50 print and web work.

In this brief segment (download 3 minute iPod compatible video, 14MB), Mark Ford, Principal, Deloitte, describes how single sign-on took off in the enterprise market after web applications became wide spread, creating a sort of Enterprise 2.0. In a web application like Google docs or Yahoo Finance, the user signs on one time and has access to many underlying applications.

However, the access model for enterprise applications is more complex. For instance, students in university can access the courses they are taking but cannot access the system for assigning grades. Professors can access the grading system but not the students' billing records.

(n.b., As used in this article, "Deloitte" means Deloitte & Touche LLP, a subsidiary of Deloitte LLP. Deloitte's site (www.deloitte.com/us/about) outlines the legal structure of Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries.)

Mark Ford, National Leader of Deloitte's Identity and Access Management Practice, recounts how the practice has emerged over the past decade (download the 7.5 minute ipod compatible video, 39MB). One of the driving forces in its creation has been the emergence of the Internet as a daily fact of business life. Once internal and externally facing systems are opened to the Internet, they face hundreds of different permutations in having to verify identity and grant access.

Just as the Internet has given rise to a whole new array of identity and access challenges, identity management systems that are designed for the Internet, like openID, may be part of the solution. Generally, the choice of solution will be based on risk assessment that weighs the potential increase in business from open access against the financial damage a breach would bring. A good example is the credit card industry that takes on the risk of sending out unsolicited cards in order to gain business.

In future segments, we will discuss Deloitte's innovation model and trends in Internet security.

(n.b., As used in this article, "Deloitte" means Deloitte & Touche LLP, a subsidiary of Deloitte LLP. Deloitte's site (www.deloitte.com/us/about) outlines the legal structure of Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries.)

Root Learning's business is about enabling strategic change in organizations. What may not be immediately apparent is the central role of communication in this process, and communication is Root's core competency.

In this 8 minute segment (download iPod compatible video, 41MB), Rich Berens describes how Root Learning evolved from essentially a publishing business to one that has its feet firmly planted in interactive online learning environments. A key driver in this move has been customer needs. Initially customers were looking to move to online environments to drive down the cost of bringing people together to interact around a strategy. As customers became more proficient at online environments, they began to want to move toward simulation and most recently gaming.

Root's strategy has been to avoid the purely experimental and move into these delivery mechanisms as market demand makes itself apparent.