Webinar: Addressing the Crisis in Employee Engagement

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Today, studies estimate that there's a $500 billion lost in productivity and higher attrition since only 37% of global workers are considered to be engaged in the workplace.

IBM's #NewWayToWork Futurists Insights share that 74% of respondents to a survey define a "social" business as one that uses social technology to foster collaboration among, customers, employees and partners yet, only 45% of companies are using social to identify internal talent or key contributors.

IBM Connections is a great way to mine talent and engage your workforce. Teams can self-organize and come together to get work done faster; with less barriers.

On top of IBM Connections there are various solutions that can help further drive usage and adoption to accelerate the returns on investment. For example, the team over at Badgeville has created a solution called MotivationMetrics. Badgeville quotes that companies who successfully use gamification programs have seen an ROI of over 260% with a payback of less than 1 month!

If you are interested in learning more, on Thursday March 17th, 2016, I'll be co-hosting a webinar with the team over at Badgeville at 12pm  ET. To sign up, go to: http://info.badgeville.com/addressing-employee-engagement-crisis-webinar

Webcast: What's New in IBM Connections & IBM Docs (on-premises)

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As we wrap up the year, and given there are only 20 more days in the year, I can safely say that we are just days away from announcing the next major on-premises release of IBM Connections and IBM Docs. In fact, next week is going to be HUGE ! (if that's not a reveal, I don't know what is).

Next week we will be hosting two events that you'll definitely want to join to get up to speed with all the details around the release.  First, we'll host a webcast to talk about all the new capabilities for IBM Connections, including the always favorite demos!  Here are the details:

• Title: What’s Coming in the Next Major Release of IBM Connections & IBM Docs (On-Premises)
• Date: Wednesday, December 16, 2015
• Time: 11:00 AM Eastern Standard Time
• Registration link

Next, as a follow up to the webcast, the IBM Connections Product Managers will host a "Ask the Product Managers" session (it's a good opportunity to ask us what you want to know before IBM Connect 2016). Here are the details:

• Title: Ask the IBM Connections Project Managers 
• Date: Thursday, December 17, 2015
• Time: 11:00 AM Eastern Standard Time
• Registration link

Want to learn more about IBM Connections and Docs ? Check out this video and start a free trial today:



See you next week!

Save The Date: Enterprise File Sync and Share is Just the Beginning of a New Way To Work

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Save the date. In less than a month, we'll be hosting a webinar to take you through the latest capabilities available in our IBM Connections Files offering, the IBM solution for organizations that are looking for enterprise file sync and share (EFSS) capabilities in the cloud.

IBM Connections Files on Cloud is designed for today’s mobile worker, providing a secure, easy-to-use, collaboration and file management environment for all size businesses. This cost-effective, secure file sharing solution is easy to implement using software-as-a-service (SaaS) on our cloud (or you can run it on-prem too). A user centric design allows anyone to confidently share files with their network of customers and partners, as well as sync online files to their favorite mobile devices and tablets (supports both Android and iOS mobile devices). Here's a quick video I had shared earlier of the IBM Connections for Mac app:


Ready to learn more? One of the Product Managers for IBM Connections, Jim Puckett, will be hosting a webcast. Check out the details below:

Date: September 24, 2015
Time: 1-2pm Eastern Time
Registration:  To register for the event, click here.

See you there!

Next Week: Join Me at the IBM Connections Files and Communities Webcast

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Next week, I'll be participating in a webcast to talk about all the new capabilities that we've added to IBM Connections Files and Communities. The webcast was put together by the team over at SocialBizUG.org.

David Brooks, the lead architect for the IBM Connections platform, will be joining me just like he did at IBM ConnectED earlier this year. Our goal is to give you an update of all the cool things that are now part of the product.

As a reminder, back in March, we introduced IBM Connections Files on Cloud, an easily accessible file sharing and sync offering.  We'll talk about this new offering and recent upgrades to Connections Communities that allow seamless team communication and collaboration beyond traditional boundaries.

Join this webcast to find out how these new capabilities allow users to:

• Stay in sync across mobile devices (including both Android and iOS devices) using different personal settings
• Leverage the new file sync and native mobile app capabilities to work anywhere and access content anytime
• Securely collaborate with customers and business partners 
• Improve productivity with content that is provided in context 
• Stay connected with colleagues using profiles that provide business cards to their contacts

To register for the webcast, click here. See you next week! If you missed it, here's the recording.

Get Ready For An Extreme Mail Makeover and see IBM Mail Next

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Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to be part of the unveiling of IBM Mail Next at IBM Connect 2014. Now it's time to get your hands on it!  Below is a copy of the webcast invite so you can check out the latest details on how to be an early adopter and all the latest integration into IBM Connections, IBM's market-leading enterprise social collaboration platform. See you there!

Every day, emails flood our inbox: tasks are left undone, messages go unanswered, and meetings overwhelm us. Why does work have to be such hard work? The truth is, it doesn’t have to be. Join our live video panel discussion on Thursday, November 20, 2014 at 11:00 AM ET and hear how IBM’s latest solution offers an easy way to take back control of your day.

Using advanced design thinking, the latest in social analytics and delivered from the cloud to your mobile device or desktop, this new solution:

• Understands your needs, working style and priorities—and anticipates what you need and when you need it. VP and Principal Analyst Alan Lepofsky of Constellation Research, will discuss the critical importance of re-assessing the way we are currently working and what the future of work holds. 
• Provides less clutter and more clarity with an interface that shows only what you need, so you can make quicker, smarter decisions. Hear Phil Gilbert, General Manager, IBM Software Group Design, explain how the IBM Design Studio developed an entirely new experience from the ground up. 
• Enables a shift from “me” to “we” through intelligent, secure and engaging social apps that foster real-time understanding, cooperation and communication. Jeff Schick, General Manager, IBM Enterprise Social Solutions, will talk about why information from our social networks is crucial for collaboration and innovation, and why email must evolve to accommodate it. 

As an added bonus, watch for details on becoming part of the beta! Register now and get ready for an extreme mail makeover: re-imagined for the future of work. Register now!

Jabborate Brings Jabber and WebEx into IBM Connections

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This is one of those cases were timing couldn't have been better.  Just a few days ago someone was asking me about the possibility to integrate Cisco's Jabber and WebEx with the market leading social collaboration platform IBM Connections.

Anyway, then as I was catching up with my feeds I ran into a new presentation from Jabborate.  Don't you just love it when knowledge comes to you instead of you having to go out and search for it?

So here's the deal.  There are 3 types of integration into IBM Connections provided by Jabborate:

• Jabborate - Adds presence, instant messaging, audio and video calls to IBM Connections via Cisco's Jabber
• Jabborate WebEx - Adds virtual meetings and conference call management to IBM Connections via Cisco's WebEx
• Jabborate Exchange - Adds a calendar and scheduling app to integrate IBM Connections with Microsoft Exchange 

Here's a deck that describes in more detail what's possible:

Jabber integration with IBM Connections from Jabborate

For more information, check out Jabborate for IBM Connections. 

IBM Connections 5.0 Is Ready for Download

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I just got confirmation that IBM Connections 5.0 is now ready for download ! This has been quite an exciting quarter as we've been building up to this day ever since I published the trailer back in April.

When I initially joined the product management team we were just launching IBM Connections 3.0.1.   I was then managing another component of the platform.

As time went by, I started to influence more of the platform and with this release, it was the first time that I was completely involved all the way from the first planning session to the release of the software. Of course, it's been quite an experience and it's what I've wanted to do for a long time.  I'm grateful for the opportunity that I've been given to bring this new product to market and for everything that I've learned in terms of what it takes to plan, build, and launch a product.

Here are some links you'll probably need:

• The IBM Connections 5.0 Reviewer's Guide is available here
• IBM Connections 5.0 and why it matters
• Mobile apps have been posted to the Apple App Store and Google Play. Check out what's new here
• The desktop plugin is available here
• Replay of the IBM Connections 5.0 Launch Webcast
• Want to migrate from Jive or SharePoint to IBM Connections 5.0? Webcast with solution
• Storyboards to drive the social business transformation are here
• The IBM Connections 5.0 InfoCenter is here
• The IBM Connections 5.0 API Documentation is here
• The IBM Connections 5.0 System Requirements are here
• IDC's take on IBM Connections' market leadership is here
• Forrester's view of IBM Connections' leadership is here
• How our customers are using IBM Connections 

I'll be updating those links as necessary.

I've also started collecting videos about IBM Connections 5.0 and will continue to update this playlist as they become available:

Now that you have the code, I'm anxious to know when you upgrade!! 

IBM Connections in the Cloud and Mobile Apps Have Been Updated

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This was an extremely busy for us for sure.  On Friday, my colleague, Baan Slavens announced the latest release of the IBM Connections Mobile app. And a few hours later our multi-tenant deployment of IBM Connections in the cloud was updated as well with the latest and greatest code.  The timing couldn't have been better!

And speaking of timing, we are just 2 days away from the May 21st webcast where we will be unveiling IBM Connections Next.  If you haven't registered yet, go ahead and register now and invite your friends, family, customers, partners, colleagues and everyone else.

So let's start with mobile.  I had given a quick preview of the new mobile app a couple of weeks ago in this teaser that I created.  The reaction over the weekend has been tremendous in the various social networks. I've captured a snapshot of the reactions below:

So go check out the new mobile app that's probably already updated in your device, or just go to the app stores and get it from there ( iOS or Android ).

And what did we do in our cloud? Well, you can see what's new in this presentation that I prepared below:

What's New in IBM SmartCloud Connections - May 2014 from Luis Benitez

Now in the next couple of weeks, we'll take the code that's already in the cloud today, make a few adjustments and ship it to customers who would like to run this on-prem as IBM Connections Next.  See you on the May 21st webcast for IBM Connections Next!

Have Questions About IBM Connections Next? Join the Live Q&A on May 22nd

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We are just 9 days away from the big unveil of IBM Connections Next. On May 21st, we are going to be host a virtual event to showcase the latest evolution of IBM Connections, the enterprise social network. Maybe, you've already watched the teaser by now?  Anyway, if you haven't registered yet, register now!  And if you are a customer already using Connections in our cloud, you will get to see it this weekend.

At the May 21st event, you'll hear from various speakers such as Steve Mullen, the Director of IT for DAI, Elizabeth O'Brien, Global Sponsorship Manager for IBM and Jeff Schick, Vice President for Social Software at IBM.  Of course, you'll also get to see demos!! And of course, you'll be able to ask questions.

Following the May 21st event, you'll have a chance to participate in a Live Q&A with Suzanne Livingston, one of my peers in the product management team, and myself, on May 22nd. So how is it going to work? It's going to be like office hours where we'll go through all the posted questions and answer to the best of our abilities.

Here are the details:

Date: May 22, 2014
Time: 11 am - 12 pm ET
Registration: Click here to register

The Live Q&A is going to be hosted by the Social Biz User Group. Check out their blog posting to learn more about it.

Can't make it ? Don't worry! You can submit your question ahead of time as per the instructions here. Otherwise, see you there!

New Release of IBM Connections in the Cloud Coming Next Week

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Next week we are going to be upgrading our cloud deployment of IBM Connections.  Many of these updates will be rolled into our on-premises IBM Connections Next release later this quarter.

Speaking of which.... on May 21st, we are hosting a virtual event to do the official unveiling of IBM Connections Next.  Therefore, you should go and register today and invite your family, friends, neighbors and all!

So what's new in this quarter's release of IBM Connections in the cloud? I've created a presentation to walk you through it.

What's New in IBM SmartCloud Connections - May 2014 from Luis Benitez

As you can see in slide 14, we are adding a new thumbnail view of files.  This will help you quickly identify the file that you are looking for.  This feature will be progressively rolled out so it may take 1-3 weeks before you see it enabled.

With all these great updates, don't forget to wake up early on May 19th and enjoy the latest experience. And don't forget to join us on May 21st so go and register now!

To see the full list of new updates across our cloud infrastructure, click here.

Mark your calendars: Introducing IBM Connections Next !

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In less than a month, IBM will be introducing the newest, latest, and greatest release of IBM Connections.  Some of the latest capabilities were shown during the keynote demo at IBM Connect 2014.

Now, it's time to unveil everything that we've been working on for the past year or so and bring it to you.  The official unveiling will happen on May 21st so mark your calendars !

As we've done in other years, we'll host a virtual web conference and walk you through the new business challenges that IBM Connections can help solve for you.

At this point, I can't say too much about the new release besides what you may already know from IBM Connect 2014.

Having said that, I thought it would be good to give you a sneak peek at what we'll be announcing in less than 1 month.  Check out this preview that I created:



If you liked that, feel free to take the video above and embed in your own IBM Connections blogs, wikis, forums, etc. Spread the word!

To learn more and register for the event, click here.

Social + Mobile + Cloud Transform My Work

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Today, IBM held a virtual event to showcase the latest release of their Enterprise Social Network. The event kicked off with the following video which we made available late last night:

Then, Erik Brynjolfsson, Director of the MIT Center for Digital Business and co-author with Andrew McAfee of Race Against the Machine, did a keynote with his take on how today's technologies are transforming the way we do work. In his keynote, he argued that it's not about inventing new technologies but inventing better ways to work with them.

I can definitely validate that if it wasn't for the social solution that I use every day, IBM Connections, I wouldn't be as productive as (believe) I am being a mobile employee for one of the largest companies in the world. It gives me the right capabilities to remove obstacles and barriers, and just move business forward ! Time and time again, I continue to find examples of how productivity increases by leveraging these new tools. That's what makes me passionate about doing what I do at work. I want everyone to benefit from a social business transformation!!

If you missed the event (and my mobile demo from my iPad), you can catch the replay here: http://ibm.co/reinventwork. And to continue the conversation, tomorrow, I'll be participating in a Twitter chat so if you want to participate, you can get all the details here.

See you tomorrow in the Twitter chat!

IBM Positioned as a Leader in the 2013 Magic Quadrant for Social Software in the Workplace

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As we come close to our next big launch I have some great news to share. Analysts at Gartner have positioned IBM in the Leaders Quadrant of the 2013 Magic Quadrant for Social Software in the Workplace(*) -- for the 5th year in a row! IBM’s placement is based on its ability to execute and completeness of vision. As you know, earlier this week, IBM deployed the latest IBM Connections release to the cloud, continuing to build the core of the IBM Social Business Platform.

This new report adds to the recent analyst reports from Forrester and Aragon Research which also list IBM as a Leader in their respective research reports. IBM Connections has also been listed as the worldwide market share leader by IDC.

I'm extremely proud to be part of the IBM Connections team! To walk you through all the great new features and watch demos of our new capabilities (spoiler alert: I'll be doing one of the demos), please make sure that you attend the following webinar. It will be on September 18th and that's where we'll go into more details about our amazing latest release. Click here to register for the webinar.

To get a copy of the report, click here.

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*Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Social Software in the Workplace, Nikos Drakos, et al, September 10, 2013. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose

Watch out: We are updating IBM SmartCloud Connections. Say hello to File Sync!

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We have started the process to upgrade our cloud deployment of IBM Connections, IBM's Enterprise Social Network.

As announced here last week, we are updating our social business offerings and this quarter's release will be the biggest release ever! Interested to learn more? The first step is to register for our webinar in 2 weeks (see link below).

While there's tons of new features and capabilities that we are deploying over the next few days, I wanted to briefly call out our new file synchronization capabilities. As you may recall, Forrester cited IBM Connections as a Leader in File Sync and Share. For some time now, you've been able to download files, store them offline, edit them, and then manually re-upload them back to the server. It was time to automate this whole process. With File Sync, you can now travel stress free knowing that all your files are automatically sync'ed to your mobile device and that you always have the latest and greatest version of that very important presentation.

I've also gone ahead and updated my overview presentation with the latest content and you can see that here:

IBM SmartCloud Connections Overview - Q3 2013 from Luis Benitez

To walk you through all the great new features and watch demos of our new capabilities (spoiler alert: I'll be doing one of the demos), please make sure that you attend the following webinar. It will be on September 18th and that's where we'll go into more details about this amazing new release.

From the event registration page:

Workers are more dissatisfied and less engaged than ever before. But did you know that using social technology can increase efficiency by up to 25%? (source: McKinsey) . Additionally, 69% of employers believe employees are engaged, while only 34% of employees claim to be. (source: Kenexa blog) Since people now determine your success or failure, it's time to use social to rethink how work works.

To register, go here: http://ibm.co/reinventwork

Mark Your Calendars: Webcast - Engage Your Customers with Exceptional Digital Experiences

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Next week, we'll be hosting a can't miss webinar on building Exceptional Digital Experiences. While the pace of business and the speed of content continue to accelerate, so does the demand to reach your audiences through a rich and robust digital experience on multiple devices. Customers and Employees alike expect the same high quality experiences whether externally on the web or internally on the company intranet.

Cars.com, for example, increased web site traffic by 145 million visits using an Exceptional Digital Experience.

Retailers, on the other hand, lost about $44 Billion in sales due to online customer experience problems:

At the webinar, Larry Bowden (VP of IBM Digital Experience Software), Nicole Carrier ( Chief Strategist of IBM Digital Experience Software), David Apanovich (Sr. Analyst of Forrester Research) and Aaron Pickrell (Director of Online Systems for Performance Bicycle) will share strategies to listen to your customers, deliver exceptional service and engage individuals and customers.

The webinar is on July 17th @ 11am ET. To register, go here.

Webcast tomorrow: Transform your Business into a Social Business

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Tomorrow I'm going to be participating in a webcast to talk about the business value of IBM Connections 4.5.

At the webcast, I'm going to spend a good portion of the time talking about the benefits of deploying a social collaboration platform in the enterprise. In fact, we are seeing our customers really benefit of becoming a social business. In fact, here's a quick snapshot of some of the benefits you can achieve:

And as I talk to many customers across all industries and geographies, I know there's a set of concerns that organizations have when it comes to using social media within the organization. Here's a view of those top concerns and tomorrow I'll be talking about ways to overcome those:

So if you are on the fence on becoming a social business and/or want to learn more about the newly released IBM Connections 4.5 make sure you sign up for the webcast tomorrow! To sign up, click here.

See you there!

Replay of Monthly ICS Webcast featuring IBM Connections 4.5 &Connections Content Manager Webcast Now Available

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Yesterday I presented at the monthly IBM Collaboration Solutions webcast. The topic? Of course: IBM Connections 4.5 and IBM Connections Content Manager.

As Joyce Davis posted late last night, the replay is available for those that missed it (tip: you should never miss a Joyce Davis webcast) or for those who want to see it again.

There was a technical glitch with my computer where it decided to alert me that I had run out of disk space (must be all those demo movies!). After several minutes, I was able to recover and you can enjoy the fun below. I was also very happy to know that more than 80% of the attendees were planning on upgrading to version 4.5 to enjoy the new content management capabilities. Remember, the download of 4.5 will be available this Friday!

Webcast replay:

I have also shared the presentation over at SlideShare:

What’s New in IBM Connections 4.5 and IBM Connections Content Manager from Luis Benitez

If you want to download a copy of the original presentation, you can find it here on Greenhouse.

Replay of the IBM Connections 4.5 Launch Webcast Now Available

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Last week was a busy one with the launch of IBM Connections 4.5, and the enhanced IBM Connections plug-in for Microsoft Outlook. To kick off the launch, we had a webcast to showcase the business value of IBM Connections 4.5 and IBM Notes 9 called: From Liking to Leading - Transforming your Business with a Next Generation Platform for Social Business.

If you missed the webcast, or you want to watch it again, you can do so here (even if you hadn't registered for the original webcast). In the replay you also have the option to download the broadcast presentation from the “Resources” widget of the broadcast replay. I had fun getting ready for the launch and creating the demo of IBM Connections 4.5 where I focused on the importance of mobile and real-time collaboration.

Also a quick reminder that if you are looking for the two demos that were shown during the webcast, you can access those quickly here.

Here's a storify that summarizes the webcast:

Enjoy!

Demos of IBM Notes 9 and IBM Connections 4.5 Launch Now Available

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By now you know that this week we launched IBM Notes 9 and IBM Connections 4.5. On Wednesday, we had a webcast to launch these two products.

At the webcast we had Ray Wang, from Constellation Research, kick things off by talking about the 9 C's of collaboration.   

During the webcast, Scott Souder and myself did demos of our respective products. Those demos are now available online in case you missed it (or you want to see it over and over and over again! )

Here's the IBM Notes 9.0 demo:

Here's the IBM Connections 4.5 demo:

The full replay of the launch webcast is also available here.

Enjoy!!

Announcing IBM Connections 4.5

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Today is a big day ! Following up on our previews at IBM Connect 2013, today we have updated all of our ibm.com pages to reflect this new release: IBM Connections 4.5! This release comes exactly 6 months after the huge release of 4.0 back in September of last year.

I've already talked a little about IBM Connections 4.5 and of course I showed it at IBM Connect. If you weren't at IBM Connect, or couldn't get to my session, here's the slides that were shown:

ID301 - What’s Coming in IBM Connections from Luis Benitez

The big focus of IBM Connections 4.5 is the new Content Manager add-on which brings the power of content management and combines it with the power of the IBM Connections social platform. The add-on is part of the core IBM Connections installer so there's nothing else to install! Content Manager:

• Combines the ease of use of social tools with the power of a structured hierarchy.
• Includes document check-in and check-out, version control, approval routing, metadata, taxonomy, document types and nested folders.
• Makes content management tools as easy to use as social networking tools.

The feedback so far from customers has been overwhelmingly positive. So now, to really learn everything about IBM Connections Content Manager, you should come to the live webcast tomorrow. I'll be in the webcast to do a demo so you MUST attend.

Click on the button below to register!

One final note, there are now three license levels you can buy:

• IBM Connections Suite 4.5 - social + content + unified communications (this is what I'll demo tomorrow)
• IBM Connections Content Manager 4.5 - social + content
• IBM Connections 4.5 - social networking and collaboration platform

Get your servers ready !