Most enterprise software I’ve ever encountered seems to have one design objective: to frustrate the end user to the point of making him or her consider quitting the organisation. I’m speaking here of even the most straightforward software, the kind designed to automate tasks like totting up billable hours for a particular client or filing expense claims, the kinds of tasks we used to do with pen and paper.

When I was at Reuters, every month or so we were all required to pull up an SAP spreadsheet for the purpose of filing our expenses. It always started out in an alluringly simple fashion. ‘Date’, ‘expense amount’, ‘expense description’, ‘expense type’ read the fields from left to right. The feeling of comfort was fleeting. Invariably, every piece of data we submitted in a field to the right of the date would trigger a flag, or generate a completely illogical question or unhelpful instruction that would freeze the whole task. “Did you stay at an authorised hotel?” or “Is this a ‘tier-1’ travel expense?,” the software would want to know. Or, there was the equally baffling, “If this is an approved meal you are expensing, submit the code.”

These roadblocks necessitated a call to a help desk staffed by a crack crew that would walk you through your missteps with such helpful pointers as “You mean you didn’t read the update about new transport codes?” A disapproving sigh followed. Then, with growing impatience, “Ok, I’ll walk you through it.”

After 90 minutes, my seven-line report was complete. I’d have no idea if I’d ever get back the £63 I was trying to claim, but I couldn’t care less. I just wanted my life back.

The problem with most workplace applications – whether it be software designed for expense report filing or software designed to get disparate parts of the organisation to collaborate and share ideas – is that too often it is written with attitude. A nasty attitude. The first incorrect assumption of enterprise software is that because it is written for professionals it should be complicated. Otherwise, a company would never buy it. Wrong. Secondly, to be truly effective, the software should make use of vocabulary and codes that only a small group of people in the accounting department understand. Wrong. Third, that by forcing employees to learn archaic new codes, procedures and vocabulary to reach a desired objective (i.e. to get your money back) this leads to better workplace cohesion. Wrong. It leads to resentment and continued snubs at the office holiday party.

I was reminded of just how needlessly complicated workplace applications can be when given a simple demo this week by a new Israeli-American software company, WorkLight Inc.

WorkLight is one of a growing number of software developers who adapt the simple, customisable and collaborative elements of Web 2.0 software design into workplace applications to make them more flexible and easy to use. It does so with a twist. The company currently adapts 14 of the most common social networking platforms and tools including Facebook, MySpace, Netvibes, and iGoogle to create enterprise-grade applications.

For example, the company said it was approached by a major US bank recently to develop a collaboration tool for thousands of its employees spread across the country so they could share ideas and work on projects. The bank came to WorkLight after it had installed IBM’s Lotus Connections, but couldn’t seem to get employees to use it in any meaningful way. The solution? WorkLight built a collaboration application based on Facebook.

Dubbed “WorkBook”, the software allows employees to perform the functions you find on Facebook – form groups, share information and ideas and search for employees with specific expertise or experience – but houses it securely on the company server. Because it is essentially an enterprise version of Facebook, uptake is no problem. And, because so many worker drones are already familiar with Facebook, (some employers might say too familiar), it requires no training, says Shahar Kaminitz, chief executive of WorkLight.

“The Vision behind the company is simple,” says Mr Kaminitz. “The kind of tools we have as consumers – RSS feeds, iGoogle, Myspace and Facebook – they are so much more sophisticated than what we have at work. This huge gap needs to be closed”.

For another banking client in the United States, WorkLight has begun a trial to allow customers to view their credit card and bank account transaction history on their personalised Netvibes or iGoogle or Yahoo homepage. It’s as simple as it sounds. Imagine a box on your iGoogle homepage. To the left of your customised headlines, the weather forecast and the horoscope, blinks your savings account balance. By adding your password, up pops more detail, including transaction history and even alerts from the bank about suspicious transactions.

WorkLight says ease of use is just one aspect of the development process. Because the software deals with highly valuable personal or corporate information, a series of security layers are built in. The applications are hosted on the company server. In the case of WorkBook, user access is limited to those presently on the company network or who sign in via a VPN.

WorkLight also has a piece of software that appeals to me. It enables employees to fill in their expenses from their personalised homepage. After just a few clicks, pull-down boxes appear where an employee can input expense claims. There are no flags, no codes to memorise, and no need to involve a help desk. What a novel concept: a workplace application that involves little work.

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Bernhard Warner, a freelance journalist and media consultant, writes about technology, the internet and media industries. He can be reached at techscribe@gmail.com

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