IT Will Measure Web 2.0 Tools Like Any Other App

Much of the value of a Web 2.0 deployment is incremental and "soft" in nature, and as a result, clear business value measurement remains elusive. Despite this challenge, the 275 IT decision-makers that Forrester recently surveyed indicated that not all Web 2.0 is created equal. Among current users, Really Simple Syndication (RSS) and podcasting show the highest average business value, while social networking and blogging show the lowest. We do find, however, that those firms with the largest number of tools deployed see the best value, although no "killer combination" of tools has emerged. In addition, most firms continue to use traditional value measurement techniques like ROI and total cost of ownership (TCO) when evaluating Web 2.0 deployments. For tech marketers, this means a dual challenge of accommodating clients' corporate value measurement expectations while helping them onto the right track for incremental and softer value realization from the onset.