Social software to be a major theme at Lotusphere for 4th year running
In a social software update for analysts last week, IBM provided a preview of some of the news and updates it is planningto deliver at this year’s Lotusphere event, which takes place next week. And it was particularly interesting to see that, once again, Lotus Connections is playing a central role in the company’s efforts to emphasize that IBM Lotus is about more than just Lotus Notes.
First launched at the Lotusphere event in 2007, Lotus Connections was – and still is – an innovative piece of software which takes advantage of Web 2.0 technologies and brings social software into an enterprise setting – something which you might not expect from a huge vendor like IBM. But it is the fact that, three years on, IBM is still capitalising on this head start that is most interesting, with Microsoft’s socialised version of Sharepoint not due for release until mid-2010.
The company’s social sotware story for this year focuses on the “Social Everywhere” theme, which involves integrating Lotus Connections into business applications and systems at all levels – including IBM’s other Lotus applications, particularly Quickr and WebSphere Portal, and other non-Lotus IBM products such as WebSphere Commerce 7, Rational Team Concert and Cognos, as well as third-party products such as Microsoft Office, Exchange and Sharepoint, and SAP Portal. And it is this focus on integration which will prove a real differentiator going forward, and will shield it – at least in the medium term – from the chasing competition. As we discussed in our premium report Social software for the enterprise, a major challenge of social networking tools is that their real value will come from enterprise-wide adoption, and this will only realistically happen if the tools are part and parcel of the applications and systems that employees use on a daily basis.
Another area which IBM will be talking about at Lotusphere – and one which I am particularly interested in hearing more about – is how it intends to resolve the awkward overlap between Lotus Connections and the more established Lotus Quickr product. To date the two products overlap in several places, plus there remain some questions over if and how the two products will co-exist in the long run as the lines blur between “team workspaces” and “online communities”. New versions of both products are due out this year, although the issues above are unlikely to be fully resolved in the short term.
Lotus Connections is clearly the new poster child for IBM, outshining the Notes brand in this new social world, but the company still has many challenges ahead in terms of both strategy and competition. That said, it looks as though it’s on the right path.
As well as the role of social software in the overall Lotus positioning, it will be interesting to see what captures the loyal Lotus fanbase’s attention and approval at Lotusphere this year – I’ll be particularly looking to gauge their reaction to IBM’s latest email venture, LotusLive iNotes, as well as seeing how successful the company’s efforts to broaden Lotus brand perception beyond Notes have been. I will be blogging (and tweeting) more on the key stories coming out of Lotusphere over the next week or so, so stay tuned.
You can read our Capability Summary and Overview of IBM’s collaboration software offering here. Advisory service clients can read the Full Vendor Assessment here.
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Tags: Industry news
Posted by Angela Ashenden on January 13, 2010
