Social Software - a twitter moment

on a sunny Thursday.

James Governor spurred a 140 char restricted discussion by mentioning some (preposterous?) claims by JBoss about their future marketshare for Enterprise Middleware. Ric picked up the ball and I piped in.

aqualung: @monkchips in 2015 there will be a crapload of middleware workload ... 50% could be a staggering number - beyond JBoss scale?

sig @aqualung Or there will be little middleware... that depends on keeping or not the "workshoppish" nature of the app based architecture..

aqualung @sig I lean the other way - I think it will ALL be "middleware" ... but connecting people rather than apps

sig @aqualung think we say the same - but that would be a new definition for "middle", like that

sig @aqualung If you saw my last post, I'm into "social software" - connecting people, organising the connections... same as you say I suspect

sig @aqualung Thus the middleware of the future will be entirely something different and today's players not the future ones, or what?

aqualung @sig Yes - I see "middleware" as what carries the connections and enables the relationships (WWW as the ultimate "middleware"?)

aqualung @sig and I think the future middleware, although different, will be recognisable; but the players? Open season has begun!

sig @aqualung Add the purpose of the organisation (social) you need to add "workflow" to the "relationships" and you have "enterprise"

sig @aqualung The definition of "social software" is wide enough, the current understanding of what it can be is too narrow though

aqualung @sig it could be argued that our current understanding of anything will be proved too narrow ;-0

I think we're onto something there - social software is what it's all about - in particular in the BRP space where knowledge workers are all dependent on fast and efficient connections with their fellow knowledge workers, obviously in such a way that the ongoing is captured for future use.

Now when I bring up the need for a framework for such creative work I get frowns - we've found after all that letting the brain loose is conductive for creative work. While restrictions are counterproductive in a wholesale fashion.

Yes and no I say. The moment the social group has a purpose (like delivering a service or a product or a value), limits and flows have been introduced. And with the slightest set of limits or need for flows a framework is required. Then from the purpose comes a strategy, from the strategy comes goals - each steps that could make good use of a process framework without messing with the creative freedom.

That day social software will be truly enterprisey and the non-social apps oriented enterprise software a thing of the past.

Comments

[James Governor]

with that in mind I think it more likely Google takes 50% of the new workloads....

[sig]

James, quite, with their server farms and reach not an impossible thought.

Although, despite the infrastructure and user base they would need the holistic process part - ad-hoc apps like today would not cut it methinks. And the ERP ability one day... and... :)

If they try to mash up the apps with workflow'ish links, a path I suspect would be the natural way forward, I humbly think they will miss the long term solution - that way they would only be copying the MS way and annoy the Seattle'ese (but perhaps that's their overall purpose? :D)