Another killer asynchronous communication feature is to structure help text as a wiki. This allows users to change the help text and augment it with documentation of the business process flow they are automating. This lets you become a learning organization and, in a more immediate and practical sense, gives you the organizational memory to avoid making the same mistakes twice. As stated earlier, using the wiki to record your processes can also support lean process change documentation requirements.

Most of us have found that social media tools are extremely effective tools when it comes to facilitating communication. However, they are so powerful that many of us block access to sites like Facebook from our offices.

The time has come to stop fighting the tide towards social media and instead harness its power within the enterprise. As the system of record within a company, ERP is the natural place for social media tools to enter. Enterprise 2.0 features will result in increased utilization of ERP, increasing the amount and quality of information available to managers and executives. It will also eliminate potential security risks and productivity drains that result when employees use public social media sites to facilitate business discussions.

As Director of IFS Labs, David Andersson is responsible for the strategic direction of research and development including newly available Enterprise 2.0 and social media functionality within IFS Applications. Prior to his role as Director of IFS Labs, David was Program Manager at IFS where he was in charge of several research & development projects and has been a Principal Research Engineer and Project Manager in charge of innovation of platforms and infrastructure. Andersson holds a masters degree in corporate finance from Lund University.