Go Orange: RSS Feeds in the Enterprise
Web feeds in general, and RSS in particular, are so simple to implement and use. The publish-and-subscribe model provides a powerful mechanism for communicating directly with a large number of people, without pushing more data onto overburdened email systems. If you’re not familiar with RSS, I encourage you to view this video as an introduction. To learn more, use a consumer tool such as Google Reader, and subscribe to a few feeds from a familiar site such as CNN or ESPN.
I’ve been a huge proponent of web feed technology inside the enterprise for some time. In 2006, I worked on a solution that converted PeopleSoft workflow notifications to individualized RSS feeds. Back in 2006, businesses weren’t quite ready for something like this, but I believe the tide may be turning. I’m looking forward to 2008 as a banner year for consumer adoption of web feed technology, and the beginning of adoption inside the enterprise.
Last week, with tongue firmly planted in cheek, I issued the following challenge to folks on Twitter:
“Let’s all reduce our SMTP Footprint in 2008. A reduction in email, with a move to cleaner, more-efficient web feeds, will benefit everyone.”
My subsequent post was an attempt to rally everyone to “Go Orange” next year with RSS and RSS-hybrid solutions. Although these posts were laced with geek humor, the sentiment is an important one. Web feeds can improve communications within an organization by reducing dependence on email.
Internal Distribution
Although enterprise spam filters have helped tremendously in our efforts to trim our inboxes, we are still generating vast amounts of internal emails (which some refer to as internal spam). Important communications are constantly delayed, lost, or simply ignored. By moving some of these messages outside of the inbox, employees will have an easier time identifying what’s important and responding.
RSS provides us with an easy way to unburden our email systems and promotes a more direct route for internal communications. I’ve identified a few prime candidates for items that could be done just as well, or better, using RSS feeds:
- Newsletters
- Workflow Notifications
- Event Reminders
- General and Executive Announcements
- Status Reports
- System Logs and System Health Reports
- Change Control Notices
- Handbook Updates
- Emergency Notices
- Job Postings
- Individual and Team Availability
- Form Changes
- Audio and Video Distribution
Technical Challenges
The first challenge to implementing RSS within your company is technical, but it may not be what you’d expect. The challenge is not in the creation of new RSS feeds. The RSS format itself is very simple, so converting your communications to make them RSS-compatible is not difficult. However, implementing a standard solution for reading the feeds will take some time. Online readers such as Google Reader, which are very popular with consumers, are not suitable for internal web feeds. Google Reader must have access to the feed over the Internet, but your internal RSS feeds will not be visible outside of your firewall.
There are a few business solutions for reading web feeds. You should certainly review them, but you might also want to look at consumer-grade readers. RSS is a simple format and your reader can be simple as well. Products such as SharpReader are freely available and easy to install. There are also solutions that integrate with email clients such as Outlook. This type of solution might make it easier for your employees to transition to web feeds using a familiar tool. However, as long as it works in your environment, there’s no need to spend a lot of money on something designed specifically for business.
Business Challenges
The next major challenge is adoption. A few of your employees may be wondering why you’ve waited so long to implement web feeds, but most of them will will probably be reluctant to make a change. To alleviate the pushback, focus on the positive benefits of email reduction. Everyone wants to reduce the number of emails they receive. Introduce web feeds incrementally and present plenty of training opportunities.
Because some of your RSS feeds may be updated infrequently, it will be important to promote regular usage by including at least one item that will be of interest to your employees on a daily basis. Don’t throw your monthly newsletter into an RSS feed and expect people to remember to check for updates. Pick something like expense reimbursements or timekeeping workflow in addition to other infrequent items. Move those items out of email and into an RSS feed. Your employees will start checking their feed readers and the reader will become a normal part of a daily routine.
You can also encourage your employees to use their feed readers for personal web feed subscriptions. This may seem counter-intuitive to employers who are concerned about distractions. However, allowing your employees to follow personal content alongside corporate content will increase the adoption rate of the feed reading technology. Many employees are probably already receiving this personal content in their email. You’d actually improve the situation by moving this content off of your email servers and into a feed reader.
2008 Resolutions
We have many issues with the way we communicate using internal email. Email is a great tool for interpersonal communications, but we’ve abused it by overloading inboxes with notifications, announcements, and mass messaging.
Join me in 2008 by Going Orange. Working together, we can make a difference. Inbox Overflow can be eliminated in your lifetime, but you have to act now by implementing RSS feeds in your enterprise.
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