Remember in The Graduate where Dustin Hoffman’s character was told to get into plastics?  Today, we’re telling you “Newsfeeds” are where you want to be.

Need intelligence for clients? The scoop on competitors, or information by industry? Soon, newsfeeds will be the focus of any organization’s business intelligence and operations, providing unprecedented access and control over information. Once there was the photocopied news clippings distributed throughout the company, supplanted by e-mail subscriptions to a number of web sites and Google News Search. Now newsfeeds--XML files broadcasting the latest news, developments, or information straight to Google Reader or a similar newsreader--will be the channel through which business intelligence comes into your firm.

Soon every website, blog, and search engine will have a newsfeed. Most already have at least one (we have two and growing). Want to know what the client is up to? Subscribe to their newsfeed of press releases and news stories. What about the competition? Create a custom search on Google News or Technorati and get a newsfeed on any stories about your competitors. What are co-workers bookmarking on the Web? The newsfeed from the firm’s Del.ic.ious account will let you know. Want to be informed of updates to the client matter folder or extranet? A newsfeed could keep you informed.

Newsfeeds promise your organization access to vast amounts of information that can be funneled to departments, practice groups, and even individuals. What newsfeeds deliver is also the promise of targeted personalized information that have been the Holy Grail of Intranets and portals since their inception, but be far easier to manage. Stay tuned for more about this exciting technology.