Web 2.0 'central' to high-performance workplace

Staff need tools to pull information from external sources and each other, argues Gartner

Gartner stressed the need for elegant solutions that people want to use

IT chiefs were urged today to follow some big name early adopters and find new and innovative ways of enabling more collaborative working within their organisations.

At the annual Gartner Portals, Content and Collaboration Summit in London, analyst Carol Rozwell described how new Web 2.0 technologies are central to building a " high-performance workplace".

She highlighted the example of consultancy Accenture, which has compiled repositories of podcasts so that staff in different practice areas can share and learn information from each other.

Rozwell also pointed to Michelin, which is using a Second Life environment to boost collaboration among its enterprise architects, and an un-named government agency which has created a virtual operations centre where staff can interact with business intelligence simulations.

"We need to make sure when we're designing a high-performance workplace that we provide the infrastructure which gives workers … the tools to pull information from sources and each other," she said.

"We need to provide elegant solutions that people want to use and can [use to] be more effective in their jobs."