IBM ConnectED 2015 Keynote Recap - the IBM Connections Demo

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It's hard to believe that just a week ago was the keynote (aka OGS ... aka the Opening General Session) at IBM ConnectED .  This year I again had the opportunity to demo during the keynote and present IBM Connections Next, the next iteration of our market leading enterprise social collaboration platform.

Prior to the demos, some interesting stats were shared. The one that caught my attention the most is that the IBM Verse announcement gathered more impressions than any other IBM announcement, including Watson, the IBM + Apple partnership and the IBM + Twitter partnership. That's HUGE!

The onto the demos. This year, Scott Souder focused on IBM Verse and I focused exclusively on IBM Connections. I wanted the audience to take a way a few things: 1) our focus on design, 2) our focus on helping people understand what's important so you can work on what matters, and 3) our focus on reducing interruptions.

(photo credit: Ed Brill)

Updated 11/Feb/2015: Here's a recording of the OGS (and you can skip to 37:30 for the IBM Connections demo):



For another perspective, one of the attendees in the first row captured the keynote and made it available in YouTube. Enjoy the keynote here (and you can skip to 54:00 for the IBM Connections demo):



And here's a sampling of the tweets during the OGS:

Beyond IBM Connections Next, there was also an announcement for a new IBM Connections offering that's just for Files. This will be the lead offering to compete in the Enterprise File Sync and Share space.  This is in response to many users loving our file sync capabilities, and in some cases asking for just that (without the other collaboration aspects from Connections such as Communities, Wikis, Blogs, etc). Analysts have also already highly rated IBM as a leader in the Enterprise File Sync and Share space.

This new offering will give you Files only, along with expertise search, social analytics and access to our desktop and mobile apps.  Users will have the option to buy upgrade to other cloud offerings such as Chat, IBM Verse, Web Meetings, IBM Docs, etc. The offering will be available as part of our March 2015 deployment.

Additionally, customers looking for compliance will be able to start using the Actiance Vantage offering with IBM Connections Cloud soon.

From the OGS, I headed over to the Dolphin for the What's New and Coming in IBM Connections and IBM Connections Mobile.  I'll cover that in the next post.

IDC MarketScapes Name IBM a Worldwide and European Leader for Enterprise Social Networks

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In late 2014, IDC released its IDC MarketScape Worldwide MarketScape Enterprise Social Network 2014 Vendor Assessment and their 2IDC MarketScape: European Enterprise Social Networks in 2014. IBM Connections was positioned as a leader in both reports.

Also in 2014, IBM was also named as the market share leader in the IDC Worldwide Enterprise Social Networks 2014-2018 Forecast and 2013 Vendor Shares report.  I'm extremely excited to see how IBM was positioned.

Also evaluated in the IDC MarketScape: European Enterprise Social Networks in 2014 is HYPE Innovation who IDC positioned as a Major Player.



You might recognize HYPE as an IBM Business Partner (Suzanne blogged about them last year) and their offering complements the IBM Connections solution. You can check out the demo here:



HYPE will also be at IBM ConnectED next week so make sure you go to their session and check out their announcement of their new integration with IBM Connections Social Cloud.

IBM ConnectED 2015 - Two Weeks To Go and Where To Find Me

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We are now two weeks away to start IBM ConnectED 2015. Last week, I returned from vacation and travelled to Boston to work on the keynote demo.  Things are looking very cool and can't wait to show it to everyone.

I'm also starting to work on my calendar for the week.  I know that many attend the conference to get a chance to speak to the development, design and product management teams of your favorite product (such as IBM Connections).

To make it easy, I've created this table with dates, times and locations where one of the IBM Connections Product Managers will be presenting. Mark your calendars!

If you want to connect with me, my sessions are ID103, AD102 and CHALK105.  Like the previous two years, this year I'll have the opportunity to present the roadmap for IBM Connections. So if you want to know what's coming in the future for IBM Connections, you can't miss ID103.  It repeats twice on Monday so you have two chances to see the content!

If you want to set up time with me ahead of time, contact me !

Additionally, if you were in the US and happened to be watching one of the football playoff games, you may have seen the new IBM Verse ad which you can play here.  If not, check it out here:



See you in two weeks! I'm looking forward to connect with the community.

Employee Recognition Comes to the IBM Connections Cloud via KangoGift

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KangoGift continues to expand their integration options with IBM Connections, this time, bringing their employee recognition module to the IBM Connections Cloud. Once enabled organizations could allow their employees to recognize each other and perhaps include a recognition certificate (maybe a $25 gift card for Amazon).  This is one way to encourage the use and adoption of IBM Connections.



Some key capabilities provided in this release are:

• Analytics highlight employee performance
• Increase engagement with a fun way to give praise via recognition certificates
• Support peer or manager programs
• Manager reports summarize contributions
• Tie recognition with other HR initiatives
• View and give recognition from profiles
• Share recognition via activity streams including mobile
• Ensure budget compliance
• Enable users to give spot awards according to business rules

Check out the quick 30 second video for an overview below:



To learn more, check out the IBM Connections Cloud on KangoGift.

New IBM Connections Pattern for IBM PureSystems Now Available

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On December 9, IBM announced an updated PureSystems Pattern for IBM Connections 5.0 as well as a brand new pattern for IBM Connections Content Manager 5.0. Both patterns have been built to reduce the installation and configuration time down to a couple of hours by deploying a pre-configured system into a PureSystems environment. IBM PureSystems combine the flexibility of a general purpose system, the elasticity of cloud and the simplicity of an appliance. Learn more about IBM PureSystems here.

Both patterns are based on the latest versions of IBM Connections and IBM Connections Content Manager and while the IBM Connections Content Manager Pattern is a brand new offering, IBM Connections 5 Pattern is a replacement for the previous IBM Connections Hypervisor Edition 4.0. Customers with entitlement to the Hypervisor pattern will be entitled to an upgrade to the new IBM Connections Pattern 5.0.

For more information on IBM Connections, IBM Connections Content Manager and the new patterns click here.