Infotech Lead India: IBM said more than 60 percent of the Fortune 100 has licensed IBM social software to activate their workforce to improve productivity and gain insight on data.
IBM’s social software platform – IBM Connections – incorporates analytics capabilities, real-time data monitoring, and collaborative networks both inside and outside the organization, whether on premise, in the IBM SmartCloud or using the broadest range of mobile devices.
IDC ranked IBM number one in enterprise social software for three consecutive years.
Forrester Research said the market opportunity for social enterprise apps is expected to grow at a rate of 61 percent through 2016.
According to IBM’s CEO Study, 16 percent of CEOs are using social business platforms to connect with customers, but that number is poised to spike to 57 percent within the next three to five years.
A recent IBM study of more than 1,700 chief marketing officers reveals 82 percent plan to increase their use of social media over the next three to five years.
“To truly realize the full potential of a social business, leaders need to empower a company’s most vital asset – the information being generated from its people,” said Himanshu Goyal, Country Manager – IBM Social Business & Collaboration Solutions IBM Software Group, India/SA. “Now is the time for business leaders to embed social into their key business processes to shift their business from the era of “liking” to “leading.”
There is strong demand for IBM’s social business platform in regulated industries, with 41 percent of Connections 4 beta participants in banking, finance and healthcare institutions.
In the fourth quarter of 2012 IBM will open two social business customer support centers to serve IBM’s Asia-Pacific and Latin American clients. Located in Manilla, the Philippines, and Sao Paolo, Brazil, these centers will support the adoption of social business tools in these growth markets. The Philippines and Brazil centers join a roster of IBM social business centers in North America, Dublin, Japan, China and India.
Available on premise, in the cloud, and on mobile devices, IBM Connections integrates activity streams, calendaring, wikis, blogs, a new email capability, and more, and flags relevant data for action. It allows for instant collaboration with one simple click and the ability to build social, secure communities both inside and outside the organization to increase customer loyalty and speed business results. The new Connections mail capability provides simplified access to email with the context of the social networking environment.
