IBM Connections

IBM Connections is a social software platform which helps the companies to provide effective internal knowledge sharing, including out of a traditional framework of hierarchy, to improve decision making process, to increase productivity and to accelerate time of a release of solutions for the market.

2018: IBM sold Connections

In the first half of 2019 the company HCL Technologies will become the full owner of products Appscan BigFix, Unica, Commerce Portal Connections, the focused on the markets e-commerce and human resources. In more detail here.

2017: IBM Connections Engagement Center

In June, 2017 IBM announced completion of the transaction on acquisition of the solution XCC (expansion for work with web content and creations of customized applications) – a digital working hub of Timetoact Group company. The technology will become a part of a cloud platform of IBM Connections Cloud and will be used by the organizations around the world thanks to start of the solution IBM Connections Engagement Center – the uniform center of the involvement for corporate news and content.

The solution will provide to the company of any size uniform space and the intranet for the personalized communications between the organization and its employees, exchange of news, creation of the built-in applications and other tools for effective working interaction.

IBM Connections Engagement Center, as expected, will be started in the third quarter 2017 and will allow the organizations:

• increase the level of the involvement of employees by drawing attention to important news, information materials from the senior team members and specialists of any level, to handbook data, actions, documents, links and applications. For this purpose the website arranged taking into account a role and location of each user will be used
• create lending-pages for the senior team members, for example, of the Chief information officer, and for divisions. These websites can be integrated into the uniform portal and be administered by separate divisions
• encourage joint work and dialog between employees by means of integration into already used tools
• give the chance to any user it is easy to create and save content which can share on the home page

Financial parts of the transaction were not disclosed. Detailed characteristics and information on the cost of the solution IBM Connections Engagement Center for local and cloud deployment will become available within the next months.

2016: IBM Connections updating

IBM enters new features for the Connections platform which will allow the enterprises to obtain valuable information on the basis of the employees given on social composition and will make decision making process quicker and more effectively. New improvements will allow users:

• Personalize communities depending on their role and functions: Specialized communities for users of business applications in the field of marketing, HR, sales and other areas – grouped in imposition, existence of mobile widgets and various content – help the organizations to accelerate joint work process.
• It is easy to manage files: The personal enclosed folders available on Connections offer users function of a preview of files before their loading and allow to move quicker information from Connections on a desktop.
• Be productive drivable: New improvements allow to conduct surveys and researches using mobile devices and in the safe mode to edit documents, the presentations and tables on smartphones Android or iOS. Besides, administrators improved a control system which allows to use the application in the safe mode, using the password at the level of applications, but not credentials.

2014: IBM Lotus Connections 5.0

On July 21, 2014 IBM corporation submitted the new version of the service available through a cloud or locally.

Solution IBM Lotus Connections 5.0 helps the companies to build more effectively processes of cooperation in the organization and beyond its limits – with partners and clients.

IBM Connections 5 is available at the cloud online exchange IBM Cloud Marketplace now, allowing clients quicker than ever to develop complex platforms for cooperation. IBM Connections 5 relies on the leading positions of corporation both in social, and in cloud computing, including using more than 100 SaaS of services from IBM. The tool helps the organizations to personalize relevant content and to share it, both in the organization, and out of it, using file sharing and the integrated social tools. The platform is quickly developed at the local level, in "cloud" or on the basis of hybrid model, helping the international teams to solve urgent problems in real time. Synchronization and joint work over documents gives access to the latests version of files, regardless of time or the place of access. Using these new opportunities of the company can integrate instruments of cooperation, analytics and content management into already existing business processes of the organization.

In January, 2014 IBM announced integration in a cloud of all tools for mail, social interaction, chats, meetings, content management and productive office work, including a possibility of video transmission of high definition, under one IBM Connections brand.

2013: IBM Connections 4.5

Exit of IBM Connections 4.5 is appointed to March, 2013. The means of analytics included in the new version allow to monitor different indicators of system operation — for example, development of joint work of employees and customer interactions through social networks. Control functions by content will strengthen Connections positions in a competition to a packet of Microsoft SharePoint in which next version integration with corporate social network Yammer will be implemented. Besides, in Connections it is going to improve interaction with Microsoft Outlook that users of this system could be connected to Connections directly via the Outlook interface.

Both corporate social tools, and personnel applications of Kenexa will enter a packet of IBM Employee Experience Suite. Purchased this IBM company in December for 1.3 billion dollars.

The packet will provide the simplified means of the publication of materials for marketing departments of IBM Customer Experience Suite on social networks.

Profiles

The Lotus Connections profiles allow people to find other people having special interests or experience, to look for a key word (tags) connected with it subjects as experience, skills, the current projects and duties. The stored data of a profile can be expanded and configured according to specific needs of the company, such as type and industry terminology. Profiles reduce geographical and structural barriers, allowing employees to develop and maintain the personal relations with other people in all organization. Besides, profiles can include a photo of the person, the structural reporting, audio of record of pronunciation of his or her name, working time, interests and many other things.

Communities

By means of Communities Lotus Connections users can create, find, join and carry out discussions with communities of people which separate common interests, responsibility or knowledge domains. The user of IBM of Lotus Sametime Advanced2 can begin to communicate with community and to add a subject to a chat, a forum of community. Integration into the Wiki, Socialtext3 and Confluence4 allows the user to edit and browse the updates made on the wiki page. Besides, by means of other opportunities of Lotus Connections, including Dogear and actions, communities can share useful tabs and manage the general actions.

Blogs

In many organizations, it occasionally is difficult - to give to people the vote and to express the ideas, opinions outside their direct working groups or the company. Blogs give the chance to people to provide the ideas, to receive a feedback from others. Users can easily find blogs in network and study at experts, without interrupting experts and without littering with e-mail boxes. Users can recommend records and notify others on records which can be useful. The blogs Lotus Connections give you full control over the one who can get access, create and edit specific the blog. For example, you can limit access to certain users in your firewall, or you can open access to partners, clients or the general public.

Dogear

Even with the participation of difficult modern search engines, occasionally it is difficult for people to find the websites and other resources necessary for effective implementation of the work. Applying Dogear, it is possible to save, organize and share tabs, to look for tabs which were defined by others, with similar interests and activity. (Users also have an opportunity to save personal tabs). They can also send and receive notifications on interesting tabs and lists of favourite users and tags for quick access to the corresponding tabs.

Actions

Lotus Connections is beyond the simple help to people in link establishment and information exchange. The component of the Action gives opportunities which help people to carry out the standing tasks quicker. People can organize the work, plan further steps and it is easy to use expansion of their professional network to help to execute projects quicker. Besides, they can use templates of Actions to receive the best practice, they can configure templates with subjects of sections which are related to specific business objective. Other people in the organization can then use the configured templates.

2012: Connections 4.0

IBM released fall of 2012 of Connections 4.0, the new version of a system of the organization of corporate social networks. Among improvements — more detailed reports on use of a system and also integration into the calendar and Lotus Notes e-mail/Domino and Microsoft Exchange.

The place of the low-interactive list of news in the user profile is taken now by a tape of activities which can be filtered at discretion and also to program on different actions. For example, in a tape pop-up messages with notifications of a system and the last comments on this or that file can appear. It is also possible to look who published the new version of the file and to add to it tags. It is possible to import to Connections for collective discussion of the web page of any website, including blogs, posts of Facebook and a tape of Twitter and also data from third-party applications.

Client applications of Connections for different devices on the basis of iOS, Android and Windows Phone are added.

A system represents the server software and is available via browsers. Connections is offered both in locally installed, and in cloud option which hosting is performed by IBM or its partners.

2011: Connections 3.01

The IBM corporation announced in the summer of 2011 further development of the portfolio of the software designed to help the organizations with use of potential of social business and presented a new solution — IBM Connections, the platform of social networks with a possibility of operating control of observance of regulatory regulations and requirements.

New software of IBM Connections 3.01 uses microblogs, wiki-resources, communities and other functions and processes for the organization of interaction between personnel, clients and partners. The platform of social networks gives opportunities of a corporate class for support of observance of regulatory requirements, allowing to exercise monitoring, control and extraction of necessary information from on-line forums, messages in blogs and the loaded files in real time. Such "electronic tracking" of on-line interactions helps the organizations to solve successfully a problem of ensuring compliance with established policies, at the same time working with the speed of social networks, emphasized in IBM.

It is planned that in the third quarter IBM, within cooperation with Actiance company, will present the solution Actiance Vantage for IBM Connections which registers, writes and archives "social" content to provide observance internal the politician and the state establishments and requirements. According to IBM, software products of Actiance use the organizations for security, controllability and observance of regulatory requirements in the field of unified communications, in Web 2.0 environments and in channels of social media worldwide.

New features in IBM Connections also help to provide broader participation in communities through practice of moderating, allowing heads and editors of online content to browse materials before their publication that is an important element of policy of administrative support of observance of regulatory requirements, says IBM. In order that the organizations could seize the opportunities of social business, IBM Connections also offers means of social analytics which help users to look for and find in communities of specialists in the necessary areas, to comment on the ideas or to vote on topical issues. So, the blog Connections Ideation Blog is specially created for implementation of model of intellectual "crowdsourcing" (involvement of volunteers for generation of the ideas and solutions) with broad participation of members of the working groups and clients.

"Advantages of social business are too big that to ignore them —Alistair Rennie, the general manager of IBM on solutions for joint work [[Rainier Alistair|]] emphasized. — Thanks to these new expansions and improvements of opportunities of support of observance of regulatory requirements, social business can involve with confidence the networks integrating people in use of the most different tools for collective work to accelerate and increase efficiency of innovations".

New software is a component of a solution portfolio of IBM for the organization of collective work and business interaction.

2010: IBM Lotus Connections 3.0

The IBM Lotus Connections are the social software. It is developed especially for business. Lotus Connections can help people with receiving broader access to experience and knowledge necessary for achievement of the purposes in business, by providing a forum for creation of dynamic networks by employees, partners and clients to promote generalization of innovations.

The software consists of six components: profiles, communities, blogs, Dogear (social tabs), actions and homepage. These components are previously integrated to accelerate deployment and to reduce ownership cost. Besides, Lotus Connections is designed to facilitate work to end users, allowing them to create such elements as activity, blogs and communities so your company can quicker implement advantages. Better than all Lotus Connections works with e-mail, instant messaging systems which at you are already probable for eating.

The platform of social networks with enhanced analytical capabilities which accelerates access to necessary information and helps people to gain the important knowledge increasing performance of their work. The new software facilitates to users of communication, simplifies creation of global communities, helps to find the necessary information and resources. IBM Lotus Connections 3.0 provide tools, such as online communities, forums, wiki-resources and blogs, helping users to discuss and improve the ideas. Using opportunities it is similar to the advanced analytics, users can expand the network with the new recommended contacts on the basis of former communications and similar interests. Content which is connected with their activity is also recommended to users of Lotus Connections and can potentially interest them – for example, the specific blog or the target Website. The new software allows users to investigate people and content in network, to create powerful extensive networks for achievement of new experts and resources, especially such with which the user was unfamiliar earlier. The social software developed in the research center IBM Research in Haifa, Israel is the cornerstone of these advanced analytical opportunities. Along with it, expanded mobile support provides to users access to their house Web pages, tabs, communities, forums, blogs, wiki-resources and files from such mobile platforms as Apple iPad or iPhone, Android and S60 Nokia.