New research from TowerGroup finds that the Web 2.0 movement is poised to dramatically change the software applications used by securities firms by promoting greater collaboration and participation.
The term “Web 2.0,” coined by O’Reilly Media in 2004, refers to the second generation of Internet-based services that use the Web as a platform, employ rich user interfaces, involve some level of collaboration, and rely heavily on user-contributed data.
TowerGroup projects that leading securities firms will benefit from Web 2.0, along with its offspring Enterprise 2.0, by adopting a variety of new tools and technologies for knowledge management and collaboration, data gathering and distribution, and interactions with clients and business partners.
“The most obvious potential for Web 2.0 within securities firms, as well as other business enterprises, is in knowledge management and collaboration,” says Matt Nelson, a senior analyst in the TowerGroup Investment Management practice and author of the research. “Enhancing a company’s current data repository tools with a wiki or blogging platform can greatly improve the quality, timeliness, and collective power of the data, as well as reduce corporate e-mail volumes, improve customer satisfaction and retention rates, and improve time to market with new products. TowerGroup sees several other areas for fruitful application of Web 2.0 in the securities and investments context, including investment research, information distribution, client interaction, and business partner interaction.”