E L S U A ~ A KM Blog Thinking Outside The Inbox by Luis Suarez

Web 2.0 Goes to Work for Business

Over the course of the last few weeks, and as more and more people out there are getting exposed to everything related with the social phenomenon on 2.0 (Whether you are talking about Social Computing, Social Networking, Web 2.0, Enterprise 2.0, Social Media -Yes, I know! Far too many definitions for the same thing!), I keep getting asked what IBM is doing in this very same 2.0 space and share some further insights on how it is helping shape the corporate world of such a large enterprise as IBM itself. Both from a bottom-up and top-down approaches.

So I thought I would take this opportunity to let folks know that during the course of 2009 I will be sharing plenty more information details on how that IBM 2.0 transformation is taking place, specially since that is part of what I am currently doing in my own job. And to get things started, here you have got a couple of interesting and relevant resources, IBM related, that will help you get a much better overview of how Enterprise 2.0 is impacting the company I work for:

• Web 2.0 Goes to Work for Business: Probably where it all starts regarding IBM’s approach towards everything 2.0; outside of the corporate firewall, that is. Interesting link, indeed, where you would be able to find plenty of resources, general information, various specific articles, success stories on making use of social software tools within a corporate environment around the world of Enterprise 2.0, etc., etc. Worth while a bookmark in your favourite social bookmarking site. For sure.
• The Web 2.0 Goes to Work blog: Secondly, it couldn’t have been any other way, here is another worth while checking link that explains what’s happening around the topic of IBM 2.0, but this time around through the shape of a blog where a bunch of very smart and talented IBMers get to share with you their experiences and views on how that 2.0 movement is changing the way we work within the enterprise. Highly recommended subscribing to it, if you would want to keep up with what’s happening in this space and at such large enterprise.

Oh, and, finally, if you would want to check some more resources, perhaps more on the visual side of things, have a look into this YouTube video "Web 2.0 Goes to Work for Business", which lasts 3.30 minutes and which will give you some hints as to how Web 2.0 is shaping up the business. Any business.

In that video you would be able to get a little bit exposed to two different Enterprise 2.0 tools: Lotus Connections and Bluehouse, which, believe it or not, have been rather instrumental in helping me, and quite a lot!, with my own quest of giving up on e-mail at work. But more details on how I have made that happened at a later time… For now, go and enjoy the embedded video below that I am certain you are going to enjoy. I surely did!

Tags: Enterprise 2.0, Social Software, Social Networking, Social Computing, Social Media, Collaboration, Communities, Learning, Knowledge Sharing, KM, Knowledge Management, Remote Collaboration, Innovation, IBM, Networking, Social Networks, Social Networks, Networking, Conversations, Dialogue, Connections, Relationships, e-mail, email, Productivity, Communication, Re-purposing E-mail, No-Email, Challenge Your Inbox, Progress Reports, Thinking Outside the Inbox, Information Overload, Web 2.0 Goes to Work, Web20work, Lotus Connections, Connections, Bluehouse

Tumblr – elsua’s Clippings

If you would remember, a couple of days back I mentioned how the Lifestream section from elsua.net, my personal & business blog, was going to start feeding content from the various social software spaces where I usually hang out;  most of which you folks are already very much aware of: Twitter, Flickr, Ma.gnolia, etc. etc.

I also mentioned how there would be a new (To me) social software tool out there I would be using during the course of 2009 and which I always wanted to take for a spin, but never found the opportunity. Well, I think it is now time for that to change!

As the title of this blog post states it is, of course, Tumblr! Welcome to elsua’s clippings!

Yes, that’s right. For the last few days I have already been using Tumblr and enjoying the experience quite a bit! It is incredibly easy to use and one of the things I like the most is how pervasive it is. You can post to it directly from the Web, or from various mobile devices (Including the iPhone ), from the desktop (With a widget), etc. So I just couldn’t say No! I have been wanting to dive in for quite a while, but never found the chance. Till now.

Thus what would you expect to find in elsua’s clippings? Well, to put it in very simple terms, everything that may be shorter than a blog post, but longer than a tweet! and which would very much deal with the stuff I’m interested in, both from a business and personal perspectives.

So far, for instance, I have been sharing some of my favourite YouTube videos, as well as some very interesting quotes I have bumped into, both from the online and offline world, and which, I think, are worth while noting. That would include relevant quotes from books I may have read till now.

Finally, you may be wondering what made me take the plunge and dive straight in, right? Well, three different folks I admire dearly, who have been using Tumblr for a little while already and whose tumblrings I have been enjoying quite a bit! (As well as their blogging and twittering!). Check out Stowe Boyd‘s /Ambivalence, Jay Cross’ & John Tropea‘s Snippets. Worth while subscribing to, don’t you think?

If you would want to follow up on elsua’s clippings, you can do so directly from the main Web site, its RSS feed or elsua.net’s Lifestream section. Hope you enjoy it just as much as I am sharing across all of those tidbits and interesting clippings one gets exposed to on a daily basis. Far too many to keep them private!

Tags: Enterprise 2.0, Social Software, Social Networking, Social Computing, Social Media, Collaboration, Communities, Learning, Knowledge Sharing, KM, Knowledge Management, Remote Collaboration, Innovation, IBM, Networking, Social Networks, Social Networks, Networking, Conversations, Dialogue, Connections, Relationships, Productivity, Communication, WordPress, Lifestream, Twitter, Flickr, Ma.gnolia, Tumblr, elsua’s clippings, Web Clippings, Quotes, iPhone, Stowe Boyd, /Ambivalence, Ambivalence, Jay Cross, John Tropea, Library Clips, Snippets, Cajón Desastre

A Conversation with Léo Apotheker and Andrew McAfee

Yesterday, a very interesting and enlightening conversation between Léo Apotheker, SAP co-CEO, and Andy McAfee got aired on TV with the ever resourceful Charlie Rose as the host and getting down to business right away. In that 23 minute interview, which I can highly recommend watching, the topic of whether IT -specially Enterprise Software- can help in the current crisis or not came up and I must say that although I enjoyed listening to the answers, I think that they are still missing an important point that, I can’t believe, yet again, has been taken for granted.

Andy talks about Enterprise Software vendors being process factories working on a rather competitive business world, but still they are driving the adoption of different business processes. Léo, on the other hand, talks about how IT can help by embedding the best possible processes into the best possible technology. So, in a way, agreeing to a certain extent with what Andy mentioned.

Yet, I am not buying it. If you have been reading this blog long enough, you will know where I am heading. Once again, and like it has been happening all along, we keep forgetting one single key aspect that will make it all work out rather well. Yes, indeed, I am talking about the people! Why are they left behind once again? Haven’t we learned anything from the past so far? In fact, isn’t leaving out the people from the equation perhaps the main culprit from the financial crisis we are going through at the moment?

I just wished that once and for all people would understand that no matter whether you have got the best processes or the best technology in place, if you don’t have the right people with their innate ability and skills to share their knowledge across, learn, experience and applying that new knowledge in whatever the context, you haven’t got anything!

That, to me, is how the IT world can surely help out with the financial crisis we are going through. Always as an enabler of how knowledge workers collaborate, share and execute what they know with their peers. And from that perspective we are in the unique position where, for the first time in a long while, social software can surely get things right from the start. Let’s not spoil it. Please.

(Check out this excellent blog post, by the way, from Mike Wing, over at A Smart Planet‘s “The Individual on a Smarter Planet” to get some further insights on the topic. Definitely the space where we should be heading within the enterprise. Excellent read!)

Tags: Enterprise 2.0, Social Software, Social Networking, Social Computing, Social Media, Collaboration, Communities, Learning, Knowledge Sharing, KM, Knowledge Management, Remote Collaboration, Innovation, IBM, Networking, Social Networks, Social Networks, Networking, Conversations, Dialogue, Connections, Relationships, Communication, Léo Apotheker, SAP, CEO, Andy McAfee, Andrew McAfee, Charlie, Rose, Interviews, Process Factories, Technology, Information Technology, Enablers, Mike Wing, IBM, Smart Planet, SmartPlanet