IBM Builds LOTS of Social Apps

May 29, 2008 · Comments

My friend Luke sent me this BusinessWeek article about enterprise social network tools. There’s lots here.

First, take away from this that the social network technologies you know about in the consumer space are being rebuilt inside the firewall for business. Why? Those apps are perfect for business, because they do a better job of communicating information the way humans figure it out.

Second, understand that there are people looking for more from their social applications than food fight and super fun wall. If you’re developing, consider what might make for good business applications.

Third, bear in mind that what you might be doing for fun and leisure right now on the social networks might give you an edge on using collaborative technologies in upcoming months. It might just be the thing you’re doing at work, and not just the thing you’re doing at home.

What do you think about all this?

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  • It's about time! I always thought it was so funny that businesses would hold on to old and clunky technology (a la "reply all" variety" instead of implementing solutions to make them smarter and more efficient. I couldn't believe the up hill battle I fought to implement a wiki to reduce email and deal with version control of documents.

    R
  • definitely cool...37 signals already has a great product for something like this (basecamp)

    a 'facebook for business' might not add to productivity as much, but it could be good for a larger company. small companies prob wouldnt need such a tool.
  • Three simple but important points there Chris.

    First, more and more enterprises are recognising that using a collaborative, non-linear pattern to communicate is highly effective, and see that what engages the human mind and fascinates it is simple: other people and their interests - not procedures, instructions or rules - just people.

    Second, the most effective (and if handled correctly, most profitable) applications lie within business networks when they allow complex tasks to be completed more easily. T and the direction where I see the biggest opportunity is in creating and allowing intuitive access to semantically meaningful information about suppliers colleagues and customers.

    Third - it's always good to know that what might be viewed from the outside as wasting time on geeky stuff can become a core skill. When I was learning HTML and setting up basic web sites 13 years ago, I had more than a few questions from colleagues about what on earth I was wasting my time on - now, that knowledge and insight puts food on the table.

    And Fourthly - IBM is full of clever people.
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