Are we there yet? (Web 3.0)

Web 2.0. You’ve heard us talk about it before. It’s a concept that has transformed the internet. IAC-EZ uses Web 2.0 concepts now (and our roadmap includes even more concepts for the future). So I want to answer the questions: What is Web 2.0 and How is IAC-EZ using it?

What is Web 2.0?

The first iteration of the web was all about bringing offline data online. Businesses would put up websites about themselves that have since been called “brochureware”. That is, the sites were one sided – businesses telling the world about themselves. The standard “old school” website is a good example.

With all of this information online and more being added every day, something needed to be done. Simply put, the amount of information was making the internet unmanageable. Not only that, businesses were realizing that they needed to do more than simply talk TO their prospects and customers… they needed to talk with them.

And that’s where web 2.0 technologies and concepts come in. While new information is continually being added, it is now being sorted, managed, and clarified through the wisdom of the crowds. In other words, it’s being used. A great example of this is a blog: An organization adds information (which might be its own information or it might be linked information or multimedia), and that information can be accessed though tags, it is commented on by others, and in some cases, it can be republished elsewhere and “mashed” (that is, reconfigured with other information).

At IAC-EZ, we love the web 2.0 concept. Some of these ideas and technologies incorporated into our site include:

• This blog, of course!
• You can tag your accounts with labels that will later allow you to observe their impact in your reports
• You can sync your IAC-EZ and your Freshbooks account so that invoices and payments in Freshbooks are reconciled in your bookkeeping.
• Even our design is reflective of web 2.0, which is marked by clear simplicity with a dash of lightheartedness!

What does tomorrow hold? If I were to gaze into my crystal ball and look into the future (or just look at the IAC-EZ roadmap), I can tell you that there are more web 2.0 features coming. We want to sync with other people, broaden the use of tags, labels, and categories, and allow you to not just put information into your IAC-EZ account but USE that information for your business? success.

We might not be there yet, or tomorrow… but we are getting there and hopefully will be ready the second ‘Web 3.0′ is released.

Best,

Heather Villa