An unconference within a conference. Sounds cool, right?

Well, that’s exactly what’s happening next Tuesday, June 10, at Enterprise2Open, a four-hour unconference built into the Enterprise 2.0 Conference at the Westin Boston Waterfront Hotel.

I’m looking forward to taking in the proceedings, which, according to the event wiki, will include a mix of case studies, product demos, and how-to discussions.

One of the discussions I have my eye on is “Barriers to Enterprise Adoption in Large Enterprises,” which will be led by Keri Pearlson and Susan Scrupski from nGenera (the unconference sponsor).

In the brief interview that follows, Keri and Susan offer some insight into their unconference session.

Bryan Person: Can you give us a preview of what you’ll be talking about?

Keri Pearlson/Susan Scrupski: We envision a very open, lively discussion, rather than a “presentation” at our E2Open session. We do a lot of work with executives from some of the largest companies in the world. We’ve noticed that while many people talk about Enterprise 2.0 and about all the tools they hear about on the Web, very few are actually using them, either personally or in their work life.

We wondered why. For the past few months, we have been engaged in a research project to look at redefining employee computing with some of our colleagues at nGenera, and part of that project is to understand the barriers to adoption. We’ve found barriers such as lack of awareness (execs just don’t know what is out there, or they have heard but don’t see the business value), technology (their systems are locked down, so they can’t get to many websites from their corporate computers), security (there is a lot of concern about company IP getting lost, stolen, or just removed from company-controlled assets), and culture (there is a reluctance to change to something so foreign to so many seasoned workers).

We’ve noticed that the new generation of workers come ready to use many Web2.0 tools in their corporate jobs, and that’s putting pressure on companies to reconsider their positions on using these tools. We suggested this session so we can have an open discussion on the barriers to adopting E2.0, what is works and doesn’t work when trying to overcome them, and how we might manage these barriers and bring the benefits of E2.0 to our corporations.

BP: What unique challenges do large companies face in adopting and rolling out Enterprise 2.0 technologies?

KP/SS: All companies trying to make a “change” to E2.0 face similar challenges. Size doesn’t stop companies from having cultural barriers, technological barriers, or security concerns. But large companies have some unique issues such as pockets of adoption and pockets of resistance, corporate policies restraining use of web2.0 tools that affect local decisions, and strong or centralized IT departments. We hope our discussion at E2Open will raise awareness of the barriers many corporations face.

BP: Introducing Enterprise 2.0 initiatives in a company is one thing, but achieving widespread adoption is often quite another. Are there two or three key steps that businesses should be taking to ensure an effective rollout of Enterprise 2.0 tools?

KP/SS: At this point in our research, we have found very few large corporations with widespread adoption of Enterprise 2.0 tools. We primarily have seen spot implementations, experimentation, and “renegade” users who use these tools individually or on their home computer. We’d like to hear from E2Open attendees what their experience has been to ensure effective rollout.

From those who have rolled out Enterprise 2.0 tools, we’ve found that the most effective process is one where a small business experiment was created to prove the value and concept, build a business case, and identify change management issues. The experiment was followed up with a larger pilot and ultimately with rollout to the enterprise. This process isn’t unique to Enterprise 2.0 tools…it’s the process many have followed to successfully implement change initiatives.

BP: Apart from your unconference presentation, what other conversations are you hoping to have at the event? Are there other burning issues you’re planning to explore or discuss with colleagues and customers?

Keri: I’m personally interested in the vendors’ vision of employee computing…what is their vision for how large corporations should manage the increasing pressures for a more open, individualized, personal employee computing environment, and how are they helping their clients achieve this vision?

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