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IBM Brings Its Clout To Social Software

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IBM is well-known for its hardware, software and consulting, but Big Blue is also making a big push in social networking.

IBM has about 10,000 customers using its social networking software, IBM Connections and is leveraging its clout in other areas of enterprise software and consulting to bring its social offering to enterprises.

IBM recently announced new compliance features for IBM Connections. Now companies that have regulatory or compliance requirements can save and archive data, and track and trace  it. This information can be gathered and analyzed in real-time, rather than having to wait for hours or days for reports.

This is useful for, say, financial services companies that have traders or brokers. Just as email and instant messages are discoverable, social tools such as blogs, wikis and discussion forums are as well--even if they have been deleted by the user. For traders and brokers who wanted to use such tools but were prohibited because compliance tools did not exist, the new feature will give them access, says Jeff Schick, IBM vice president of social software.

"That info can be captured, archived and leveraged in the context of the discovery process," Schick says. "Every submission is captured in real-time and is observable in real-time."

This could be used not only in financial companies but for any companies to monitor incidents of workplace harassment, Schick adds.

CEMEX, which provides building materials and produces cement, first rolled out IBM Connections about one and a half years ago to its 45,000 employees worldwide, says Gilberto Garcia, innovation director at the Mexico City-based company. CEMEX, which had been using IBM's Lotus Notes for years, replaced its legacy Intranet with IBM Connections. CEMEX chose IBM Connections because of its ability to handle collaboration of employees globally and also its strong mobile component, Garcia says.

The service has improved collaboration and sped up the efficient spreading of knowledge, Garcia adds, citing a colleague in the Philippines who asked a question on the software about how to improve energy in one of his plants. "He quickly received 20 answers and documents and videos with possible solutions on how to incorporate those ideas into his operations in the Philippines," Garcia says.

IBM Connections, which first launched in 2007, can be used for companies to collaborate while using other IBM products such as IBM's Cognos business intelligence and data analytics product. Other uses include collaboration on technology application development, customer service or in content management.

IBM has been using its own social software internally as well. The companyhas 430,000 people with profiles, 40,000 active bloggers and 29,000 communities on every industry and topic IBM covers, Schick says. "Social gets a lot of attention within IBM," Schick says. "The idea of being a social business and talking with organizations about how to become a social business resonates across our entire business."

A number of other companies are in this space including Jive Software, Microsoft, Yammer and Salesforces.com's Chatter.