Rather than talking about backward-compatibility, enterprise now has to embrace forward-compatibility, designing systems based on new technology to meet evolving user needs and creating customer value.

FORBES: The Value Of An 'Outside-In' Strategy

So Hulme encourages companies to start with the human need, develop a prototype designed to meet it, and once the end-user is happy, expand to other network participants such as retailers, wholesalers, and partners.

FORBES: IDEO Helps Big Companies Learn From Start-ups

Social media is only as valuable as its ability to meet business goals such as aggregating and understanding social data and user preferences, building an online reputation for stakeholders, listening and engaging to increase loyalty and providing a means for like-minded consumers to engage about your brand and its products.

FORBES: Community Beyond Facebook: Making Every Brand Social

Watch for patterns across different user bases and develop generalized solutions that can be tailored to meet specific needs.

FORBES: From Annoyance to Harmonizer: Cloud Computing's Maturity Curve

Microsoft and Ask.com issued a joint statement over the weekend calling on members of the search industry to meet and discuss ways they can work together to define privacy principles and protect user information.

FORBES: Magazine Article