Social Business Consulting

The Traditional Company Dilemma

In a traditional business environment different groups of employees can act like silos inside the organization with little-to-no intra-company communication. Even within the same group, time zone differences and hectic schedules can cause a communication breakdown where the team dynamic can suffer as a result.   The challenge for so many companies, big or small, is to create a social workplace where employees have an easy way to, not only share ideas, provide feedback, work in teams, or just simply interact on a regular basis with each other, but also with the organization’s customers, partners, vendors and suppliers.

XPages Portal Application

Consider the factory worker who comes up with an idea to improve the assembly line process.  How does she share this idea with the rest of the company, let alone the supplier, without possibly first  needing to follow a rigid chain of command before ever receiving any feedback?  How does an executive search the skills of every employee in the organization to find one or more that might fit the bill for a new or ongoing project?  How does a team member easily collaborate on creating and updating documentation with other team members spread all over the world?

Breaking Down the Barriers using Social Business

The role of social business is all about breaking down the traditional barriers and creating a new way for companies to move and function more effectively as one cohesive unit.  With proper planning, design and implementation, a business can be transformed from the conventional silo approach to one where every division is interconnected and information can, not only flow freely, but also follow a properly structured format that will complement the strategic goals and direction of the organization.

The IBM Social Business Platform

IBM is the current undisputed leader in providing a cohesive set of software tools to make Social Business a reality for any size business.  At the heart of the IBM social business platform is IBM Connections, defined by IBM as social software that lets you access everyone in a professional network including a company’s colleagues, vendors, customers, partners, and suppliers.

IBM Connections allows all members of the Connections community create and maintain wikis and blogs, set status updates, maintain profiles, join in communities and forums, microblog, share and manage team activities, and so much more.  Combined with IBM Sametime, IBM’s unified communications and collaboration software, IBM Connections becomes even more powerful with integrated awareness and chat capabilities that allow members to communicate with each other instantaneously without ever picking up the phone.  Both software applications can then be woven together using the IBM XPages development environment running on top of IBM XWork Server.  The flexibility of developing applications in XPages allows companies to leverage their own internal developer resources to customize and tailor IBM’s Social Business platform to fit their own unique environments.

IBM Connections Custom Widget with XWork server

Tapping the Experts for your Next Social Business Implementation

Computer Architechs International has been developing and administering the tools of the IBM Social Business platform since before the concept of Social Business even came of age. Leverage the knowledge and skills of our certified and experienced IT specialists to give your company an important strategic advantage by embracing the benefits of social business so you position it to be a leader instead of a follower in the new social decade.  Contact us now to discuss how we can assist your organization on embarking on the new Social Business journey.