Web 2.0 - What Is It?

You might have heard some of the buzzwords such as blogging, rss and wikis. All of these terms come under the umbrella of Web 2.0. But what is it and how can it benefit your business?

The term "Web 2.0" was first coined by Tim O'Reilly of O'Reilly Media in 2003. The basic definition of Web 2.0 is:

"Web 2.0 is a term often applied to a perceived ongoing transition of the World Wide Web from a collection of websites to a full-fledged computing platform serving web applications to end users. Ultimately Web 2.0 services are expected to replace desktop computing applications for many purposes."

Web 2.0 websites generally have some or all of the following characteristics;

• "Network as platform" - applications are delivered entirely through a web browser as opposed to the desktop.
• Ability for users to add value to an application using technologies such as RSS, AJAX, APIs, Ruby on Rails and others.
• Leveraging of popular trends such as blogging, social tagging, wikis, and peer-to-peer sharing.
• User generated content.
• Similar visual design.

Web 2.0 In Action

Here are some popular examples of Web 2.0 in action:

• Bloglines - RSS/blog feed reader.
• Flickr - online photo sharing.
• Google Docs & Spreadsheets - create and collaborate on files of every kind.
• Propsmart.com - real estate search.

How RA Can Help You

RA can help you integrate Web 2.0 technologies into your business, including:

RSS Integration

RSS, or Real Simple Syndication, is a type of web feed used to publish frequently updated content such as blog entries, news headlines, product news or podcasts. The updated content is contained in an RSS document (also known as a feed or web feed) and can contain a summary of the content of the associated website or the full text. The RSS feed can then be read using software such as an RSS reader, feed reader or a content aggregator. Users can subscribe to feeds and read them in their preferred reader. As well as independent feed readers both Microsoft's Outlook 2007 and Internet Explorer 7 can be set-up to monitor and read RSS feeds.

RSS has been around for a number of years and has become increasingly popular in business. RA can help you integrate RSS into your website - it will allow customers to define a criteria (what they want to monitor on your website) such as new products or news items. When new items match this criteria they are sent to the customer via their RSS feeds. Think of this mechanism as a "saved search" that notifies people of new items or products when they are loaded onto the website.

RSS feeds can be implemented on an existing website search or can be linked to customer's profiles and saved searches.

Gadgets and Toolbars

Gadgets and Toolbars are another great use of Web 2.0 technologies.

Gadgets or Gizmos - are small applications developed to perform a specific purpose like displaying the weather, time, notes or even information about your computer’s performance. Windows Vista has sidebar gadgets and for those of us still on Windows XP, we can use Google's sidebar with its many available gadgets.

Toolbars - are great for internet browsers when you need to give people extensive functionality. Many toolbars exist for internet browsers like Google, eBay, Yahoo and dictionary.com. Most internet providers have developed toolbars that allow you to monitor download usage.

Both of these mechanisms allow end users to access specific information from websites. This could be to search for products with filters or remember who a user is (to bypass authentication) which allows end users to see information much faster.

Web Services

Web Services allow systems to communicate with each other in real time. Web services are great for pushing and pulling data between in-house systems as well as for B2B applications. Web services can help you automate manual tasks and allow customer and supplier systems to better communicate in real time.

An example of web services in action is the ability of a customer being able to check the price and availability of a supplier's product in real time, automatically.

Benefits of Web 2.0 Technologies

Web 2.0 technologies can help your business in a variety of ways from running more efficiently and reducing costs, to providing additional services to your customers and giving them the information they want when they want it. For more information on Web 2.0 technologies and how they can benefit your business please contact Philip on (03) 9844 3021.

Software Trial: Microsoft Dynamics CRM

We're currently trialling an exciting new product from Microsoft - Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a customer relationship management (CRM) solution that provides the tools and capabilities needed to allow you to manage your customer relationships from first contact through to purchase and post-sales.

Offering modules on sales, marketing and customer service, Microsoft CRM offers a fast, flexible, and affordable solution to help you manage your business and customer relationships.

If you would like more information on Microsoft CRM and how it can help your business please contact us on 03-9844-3021.

It's a Wrap

That's it for today. Our next newsletter will look at Dot Net Nuke. In the meantime we hope you all have a great Melbourne Cup Day.

Regards,
The Team @ RA

About RA

RA provides IT consulting and software development services to mid-market companies Australia wide. Based in Melbourne, we pride ourselves on our high level of staff retention - that, and the quality of our staff, ensures you receive the very best personalised, stable and professional computer consulting services available.

Feel free to visit ra.com.au or call us on (03) 9844 3021 if you have any questions.

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