While web 2.0 senior positions often appear slanted towards technical expertise, I believe there’s a strong argument for clients to consider people who’s strengths are grounded in a deep understanding of how web 2.0, online communities and social networking works, as this is what brings in the business. IT skills come second to that.

IT people get the technology but making that pay in the web 2.0 world is a lot tougher, partly because traditionally IT culture is often ‘object-orientated’ rather than user-centred. Online community development requires the skills of IT management, but crucially the very best people possess a different mindset. This is because it involves working *with* customers at every level in a fully collaborative approach, so that the end web 2.0 product achieves the user-centric result aligned fully with business objectives. Matching means to ends to achieved the desired results requires this end-to-end understanding. And it is something I’ve worked hard to achieve myself.