I think we are turning a corner as companies begin to think more broadly about applications for Web 2.0 applications and social media.

What I mean by this is that once folks “get it,” they begin to realize that nearly every people-facing process can be augmented by social media and they want to know more, more, more. It’s an exciting time!

Although most of the attention is still on customer-facing functions, we’ve found that when humans are connecting with humans, there is probably a way to leverage the hyper-connectivity of the social platforms to help anybody do their jobs better. Thinking bigger about the opportunities of the social web is what we call the “socialization of the enterprise.”

We’ve found exciting, relevant and game-changing social applications for legal, finance, HR, and many other traditional functions. We feature many of these free applications on www.freesourcing.org but the real magic happens when you apply them creatively — singularly or in combination — to solve problems, collaborate, and create new business models.

For example, we’re employing effective, secure tools to guide clients through complex contract negotiating processes. Think about the advantages of combining free collaboration, document management and security tools to replace a traditional process centered on faxing contract versions back and forth.

If you allow yourself to re-think some old paradigms and assumptions about effectiveness and security you may really have an opportunity to re-create your business. We’ve developed a core competency of helping customers through this process and it’s been such a rewarding experiences to combine our love of technology with helping people!

And I’m convinced we’re just at the beginning of this revolution. I have no doubt that even complex enterprises can be started, administered, and scaled using combinations of free or low-cost Web 2.0 and social platforms. The rate of change and progress over the next few years will be breath-taking indeed!