WebProNews

Tag: IBM Connections

  • IBM Announces Social Analytics Services

    IBM Announces Social Analytics Services

    IBM unveiled today a new set of software and services for social analytics in the enterprise.

    The main software product is IBM Connections for analytics, real-time data monitoring, and collaborative networks through IBM’s SmartCloud services. Included in the new offerings, as described by the company, are:

    • New social analytics software that integrates wikis, blogs, activity streams, email, calendaring and more, and flags relevant data for action. It allows for instant collaboration with one simple click and the ability to build social communities both inside and outside the organization to increase customer loyalty and speed business results.
    • New software that integrates social networking capabilities with enterprise content management to better connect people with information so they can make informed decisions and act quickly.
    • The new IBM SmartCloud for Social Business simplifies access to business-grade file sharing, social networking, communities, online meetings, instant messaging, email and calendar. In addition, IBM SmartCloud for Social Business will deliver a cloud-based productivity suite allowing users to co-edit documents in real-time.
    • New messaging and collaboration software that brings the power of embedded experiences to the Web and mobile devices providing a single point of entry for all business processes.

    “There is boundless opportunity for social business to transform how we connect people and processes, and increase the speed and flexibility of business,” said Alistair Rennie, GM, Social Business at IBM. “A successful social business can break down barriers to collaboration and put social networking in the context of everyday work, from the device or delivery vehicle of your choice, to improve productivity and speed decision-making.”

    IBM also announced the beta release of IBM Lotus Notes and Domino, Social Edition for “acting on any work flow process directly within the email inbox.”

    The company says it intends to support mail, calendaring and contacts in a beta release of IBM Lotus Notes Traveler for Microsoft Windows Phone on Nokia and HTC devices within the first half of the year.

  • New IBM Platform Helps Businesses Feel Comfortable about Social Media

    New IBM Platform Helps Businesses Feel Comfortable about Social Media

    While there are many benefits involved with social media, there are also a lot of potential risks, especially for regulated industries. Businesses that want the easy way out choose not become involved in social media, which is often to the disappointment of consumers.

    Rene Schimmer, the Offering Manager for Social Software for IBM Collaboration Solutions, told us that shunning social media might not be a long-term option.

    “Avoiding it is not going to be an option for much longer,” he said. “We [IBM] see these tools as a fundamental instrument to work.”

    Is social media becoming a necessity in business? Let us know your thoughts.

    It is completely understandable that businesses are concerned about the risks, but, as Schimmer said, social media is becoming fundamental in just about everything. People today that are hired are not going to be able to abandon all their social media practices and rely solely on telephones and email.

    IBM is very aware of these potential risks, as well as the benefits, and recently expanded its social software portfolio in an effort to better meet business needs. The platform is called IBM Connections and is an offering for social collaboration within a business.

    The main focus of this platform is to help businesses with compliance concerns. For this reason, IBM partnered with Actiance, to bring logging and archiving to the offering. Together, the companies provide a social networking platform with real-time compliance capabilities.

    For example, if someone comments on a wiki, the action is logged. If that same person goes back 5 minutes later and deletes the comment, that action is also logged. In other words, there is always a trace, which is very beneficial when it comes to auditing.

    Schimmer told us that platforms such as this help businesses feel comfortable about using social media. Every business knows there are risks involved, but having a way to manage those risks is comforting.

    “If we can provide a solution that allows organizations to know that their employees cannot circumvent the system, either by intent or just not knowing how to do it properly, that creates that comfort level, so they are able to roll out social systems and work with them,” he said.