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Tuesday, July 31, 2012

How To Customize the IBM Connections Mobile App for iOS, Android & BlackBerry

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Today IBM has published documentation on how to customize the mobile apps for IBM Connections. To customize the mobile apps, you need to have IBM Connections 3.0.1.1 CR2 installed (which you can get from here). As the IT admin, you have the control on the following settings:

  • Allow iTunes Sharing - whether iOS users can transfer files to the app via iTunes
  • Allow Web Sharing - whether uses accessing Connections via a browser should be re-directed to download the native app
  • Remember Password - whether to allow end users to store their passwords in their device
  • The ability to enable/disable different components of Connections (e.g. enable Files but disable Wikis)
  • For Files, there's a set of additional configuration options:
    • Encryption - whether downloaded files should be encrypted
    • Allow Upload/Download
    • Allow Export - whether downloaded files can be shared with other apps/folders
  • The name of the app and module can be fully configured
  • SSO authentication options (Siteminder, SPNEGO, etc)
  • Ability to add new applications to the app

If you haven't seen them yet, I've recorded a demo showing the latest Android and iOS apps. Here they are again.

iOS (iPad):

Android:

To access the documentation, click here http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21606189

Friday, July 27, 2012

Have a Feature Request for IBM Connections? Now Is the Time to Submit It!

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As I hinted in my previous entry, IBM Connections Next++ planning is well underway now. The IBM Connections Product Managers are leveraging an ideation area set up in the IBM Connections Users community in Greenhouse. (Kudos to IBM Champion Simon Vaughan for setting up and running this community).

Of course, we have our own ideas on where we want to take the product, but we are looking at what our users would like to see as well. I can't guarantee that we'll do them all, but certainly those with the highest number of votes will get our attention

So if you have ideas on what you would like to see, go out to the ideation space and submit your idea. And, of course, vote for the ideas already in the system. I can't wait to see your input.

Can't wait to see the suggestions you have! Click here to start voting and submitting ideas now.

Chances Are Becoming a Social Business WILL Benefit Your Organization

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This week I've been heads down working on several projects (and anxiously trying to pull away to install Mountain Lion on my Macs).

This week has already consisted of two analyst briefings, a recording for the Taking Notes podcast (to talk about IBM Connections App Dev), Connections "Next" launch planning, Connections "Next"++ planning (more about this later) and, of course, the typical customer meetings.

Last night, I stumbled onto the latest presentation from my colleague Louis Richardson. The presentation asks the question "What are the chances... ?" and I'm sure that you will all find yourselves in at least one of his slides.

For example, as a mobile worker it could be difficult for me to stay "in the know" about the latest information, projects and topics that interest me.  My solution?  I use IBM Connections, IBM's social business platform, to stay in the know (and its awesome mobile apps). If it wasn't for Connections I just couldn't be as effective as I am given I work mostly from home.

If you are still "on the fence" about whether your organization should embark on a social business journey, take a peek at the presentation here: 



Did you find yourself in a slide?  Maybe in more than one?  What did you think?

Friday, July 6, 2012

TemboSocial announces The Hive for IBM Connections

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TemboSocial has just enabled their product The Hive to integrate directly into IBM Connections.

The Hive delivers social recognition in real-time, resulting in more engaged and productive employees. Recognition is shared with everyone, creating a collaborative environment that builds on the knowledge and achievement within your organization. The Hive is a system of social recognition that changes how you motivate and retain employees, how your company celebrates success, and how you reinforce your corporate culture and values.

TemboSocial says that it's important to recognize employees as a recent Gallup poll has found that 71% of employees do not feel recognized.

To demonstrate the integration, TemboSocial has created a demo which shows how TD Bank is using social recognition to celebrate customer successes. TD Bank has called their local implementation "WOW Moments". You may remember that TD Bank joined us in Orlando earlier this year to talk about their IBM Connections rollout and the successes they have achieved with it. TD Bank has also been featured in many press articles given their success in becoming a social business. Here's what Karey Stanley, Manager of the Global Recognition Program at TD Bank had to say:
"Our President and CEO Tim Hockey was concerned that, while the heroic stories were important, what’s really important to us is the little things that people do every day that enable them to connect emotionally with customers – and those are the things we wanted to share with each other."
The Hive for IBM Connections integrates either at the community level or at the profile level or both. The Hive also provides an administrator dashboard where admins can configure badges, awards, and much more.

Check out the demo below:


If you are interested in learning more, reach out to the team at TemboSocial.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Gamification for IBM Connections: Some Updates

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Currently, there are a couple of gamification solutions for IBM Connections that I've talked about in the past: Kudos and Bunchball. A couple of weeks ago, Badgeville announced a connector to layer Badgeville's game mechanics into IBM Connections as shown in this screenshot to the right. For this integration, Badgeville wanted to focus on rewarding behaviors that supported key business processes that companies are looking to make more collaborative with their Connections’ investments — not just onboarding or learning the software itself.

Yesterday, ISW, the first vendor to offer a gamification solution on top of IBM Connections, announced the latest release of their software: Kudos v1.4 . In this latest release, Kudos adds Kudos Thanks which allows you to publicly thank colleagues and show that recognition directly in their profile. Here's how they put it:

There is nothing quite as simple as saying "Thank You" to provide some recognition of great work. Think about it for a moment...when somebody thanks you for your great idea, or for putting in that extra work to meet a deadline, or maybe for just being a good team mate, it makes you feel great and more motivated to stay engaged.

Check out a sample screenshot below:

And ISW has even put together a video

These partners have been doing some great work on top of IBM Connections which clearly shows how extensible and powerful is the platform. If you are interested in gamification for IBM Connections, definitely check out these solutions.