Forrester Research has issued two important studies for those interested in implementing Web 2.0 strategies for internal communication and knowledge purposes.

G. Oliver Young, along with Eric G. Brown and April Lawson, authored “Passionage Employees: The Gateway to Enterprise Web 2.0 Sales,” which notes that employees are beginning to use Web 2.0 tools in their day-to-day lives, often without the sanction of the company. Young co-authored “Web 2.0 Social Computing Dresses Up for Business” with Rob Koplowitz, suggesting that social computing has a clear place in the enterprise.

In this FIR Interview, Koplowitz and Young talk about the studies and the issues associated with implementing social media on intranets.

Rob Koplowitz is a principal analyst, leading Forrester’s research in the areas of basic content management, instant messaging, blogs and wikis as they relate to enterprise usage, as well as the emerging trend of using Microsoft Office as a front-end for line-of-business information processes. Before joining Forrester, Rob was director of product management with Microsoft. He also had stints with Oracle and Lotus/IBM. He holds a B.A. in economics from the UC Davis.

Oliver Young, a Forrester analyst, contributes to Forrester’s offerings for the Technology Marketing professional, and is a frequent contributor to the Strategy and Marketing Research professional. Responsible for Web 2.0 and Social Computing technologies, he regularly helps technology vendors refine product concepts, segment markets, and target their messaging. His research focuses on blogs, wikis, RSS, social networking, podcasting, mashups and the impact of emerging technologies on technology vendors and their customers. Oliver is a graduate of Kalamazoo College with a B.A. in economics and English. He has also studied at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

The research is available to Forrester customers; others can use the “contact us” feature of the Forrester website to request copies; a follow-up call from Forrester’s sales staff is likely.

Download the 21-minute conversation here (MP3, 9.7 MB), or sign up for the Interviews RSS feed to get it and future interviews automatically. For automatic synchronization with your iPod or other digital player, you’ll also need a podcatcher such as the free Juice, DopplerRadio, iTunes or Yahoo! Podcasts, or an RSS aggregator that supports podcasts such as FeedDemon. To receive all For Immediate Release podcasts including the twice-weekly Hobson & Holtz Report, sign up for the full RSS feed.

If you have comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future interviews, email us at fircomments@gmail.com; or call the Comment Line at +1 206 222 2803 (North America) or +44 20 8133 9844 (Europe); or Skype: fircomments; or comment at Twitter: twitter.com/FIR; or at Jaiku: fir.jaiku.com. You can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments, if you wish (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

Podsafe intro music – On A Podcast Instrumental Mix (MP3, 5Mb) by Cruisebox.

(Cross-posted from For Immediate Release, Shel’s and my podcast blog.)