IBM Sanity Validation Tool for IBM Connections 4.5

by with No Comment Misc

A new and very neat IBM tool has been added to the IBM Collaboration Solutions Catalog in the last week or so:
[titled_box title = “The Sanity Validation Tool for IBM Connections 4.5”]The Sanity Validation Tool for IBM Connections 4.5 release was developed to help developers, system administrators, support engineers and eventually customers during their deployment of Connections. The tool was designed with the ability to run Pre-install, During and Post installation to verify a handful of common configuration requirements and settings. Refer to the Read Me file for list of System, Websphere, Database, IHS configuration settings the tool validates. The tool supports installation on Linux/DB2 LDAP.[/titled_box] You can download by clicking through from the Catalog, or by going direct to the ‘Lotus Business Solutions IBM Download site‘, logging in with your IBM ID and then searching for ‘Sanity’ to find the download in the very long list of tools on that site (there’s all sorts of interesting stuff on that list, something to investigate on a rainy day!).  You then need to fill in the obligatory IBM survey (‘Select which best describes your plans to use this software’ etc.), agree to the license and then you get to download the 176KB zip file.

Unpacking the zip file gives a folder named ‘sanity as of 9 16 2013’ (so this code has obviously been kicking around inside IBM for a while now!). This folder contains the code to be installed on your Linux server, plus a rudimentary README.txt file:

Sanity Tool unzipped

This is the first I’ve seen of this tool, so these are my comments as I go.

  1. Put the ‘sanity’ folder from inside the unpacked zip file somewhere memorable on your Connections 4.5 server (I used /opt/IBM/sanity).
  2. Check you have Python 2.6.x installed by running ‘python’ as root, e.g.
    [root@myserver sanity]# python
    Python 2.6.6 (r266:84292, Aug 28 2012, 10:55:56)
    [GCC 4.4.6 20120305 (Red Hat 4.4.6-4)] on linux2
    Type “help”, “copyright”, “credits” or “license” for more information.
  3. Make a backup and then edit conf.json using your favourite text editor, correcting these default values: [titled_box title = “Default configuration values”]”params”:{
    “connections.pathCon”:”/opt/IBM/Connections”,
    “connections.pathShare”:”/opt/IBM/Connections/data/shared”,
    “connections.pathConInst”:”/root/IBM_Connections_Install_Linux”,
    “db2.servers”:[
    {
    “name”:”activities”,
    “location”:”ictools2.swg.usma.ibm.com”,
    “username”:”db2inst1″,
    “password”:”password”,
    “path”:”/opt/ibm/db2/V10.1″,
    “dedicatedUser”:”lcuser”,
    “wizardsLocation”:”/Wizards”,
    “port”:”50000″
    }
    ],
    “driver.saveResults”:1,
    “driver.saveResultsPath”:”testResults.json”,
    “driver.quietDependencyCheck”:0,
    “IHS.pathIHS”:”/opt/IBM/HTTPServer”,
    “IHS.pathKey”:”/opt/IBM/HTTPServer/keys/ihskey.kdb”,
    “IHS.pathStash”:”/opt/IBM/HTTPServer/keys/ihskey.sth”,
    “ldap.java”:”/home/lcuser/jre1.7.0/bin/java”,
    “ldap.server”:”ilyavm.swg.usma.ibm.com”,
    “ldap.port”:”389″,
    “ldap.user”:”cn=root”,
    “ldap.password”:”lcsecret”,
    “ldap.base”:”o=renovations”,
    “ldap.filter”:”(&(objectClass=inetOrgPerson))”,
    “system.pathDB2″:”/opt/ibm/db2/V10.1”,
    “system.pathInstMan”:”/opt/IBM/InstallationManager”,
    “tdi.location”:”local”,
    “tdi.username”:”db2inst1″,
    “tdi.password”:”lcsecret”,
    “tdi.path”:”/opt/IBM/TDI/V7.1″,
    “websphere.pathWAS”:”/opt/IBM/WebSphere”,
    “websphere.server”:”ictools2.swg.usma.ibm.com”,
    “websphere.srvName”:”server1″,
    “websphere.profile”:”AppSrv01″,
    “websphere.cell”:”ictools2Cell01″,
    “wsadmin.user”:”Dmgr01″,
    “wsadmin.pass”:”passw0rd”[/titled_box] This is a little bit of a faff to get right initially, but once done can stay static for all future testing, and most likely can be used as a template for future installs of the tool on other systems.
  4. Run ‘python cmd_frontend.py’ as root (or as the user you use to run Websphere and Connections).  This kicks off a whole series of tests, e.g.: [titled_box title = “Running Sanity Check from the command line”][root@myserver sanity]# python cmd_frontend.py
    Welcome to the Sanity installation validation tool.
    Configuration File Location (default is conf.json):
    Loading config file at /opt/IBM/sanity/conf.json
    Loading test modules in the folder /opt/IBM/sanity/tests
    Loading test groups
    Verifying tests dependencies
    Starting tests…
    Starting test group: System Pre-install Check…
    Starting test: Determine if all required Linux libraries have been installed
    Searching for library packages…
    Found: compat-libstdc++-33.x86_64
    Found: compat-libstdc++-33.i686
    Found: compat-libstdc++-296-2.96
    Found: libcanberra-gtk2.i686
    Found: PackageKit-gtk-module.i686
    Found: gtk2.i686
    Found: libXtst.i686
    Test finished with result: LIBRARY ERROR: Missing library ‘libpam.so.0’Starting test: Determine if enough disk space exists to install Connections (114GB recommended)
    Getting disk space…
    Total free disk space: 14GB
    Test finished with result: Warning: Free space is less than 114GB; problems may occur when installing ConnectionsStarting test: Determine if enough memory exists to fulfill the recommended amount (8GB recommended)
    Getting total memory…
    Total memory: 7GB
    Test finished with result: Warning: Total memory is less than 8GB; problems may occur when running ConnectionsStarting test: Determine if permissions to required directories are set properly
    Checking if path exists: /opt/IBM/InstallationManager
    Path exists
    Checking access rights for /opt/IBM/InstallationManager…
    Checking admin permissions for /opt/IBM/InstallationManager…
    Admin permissions enabled
    Checking group permissions for /opt/IBM/InstallationManager…
    Test finished with result: PERMISSION ERROR: Nonroot user denied write permission for ‘Installation Manager’Starting test: Determine if uLimit is set to at least the recommended value 8200
    Getting uLimit…
    uLimit: 10240
    Total memory is greater than recommended amount (8200)
    Test successful
    Test finished with result: PASSFinished running test group: System Pre-install Check

    Starting test group: WebSphere Pre-install tests…
    Starting test: Determine if security is enabled
    Checking WebSphere for wsadmin.sh…
    Found wsadmin.sh
    Getting WebSphere security status…
    Test finished with result: SECURITY ERROR: Security is not enabled[/titled_box]This was run on a server that has been successfully running Connections 4.5 for a year or so.  As you can see from the snippet of output above, it has already picked out some things that can be improved.  The script took about 30 seconds to run in all.

  5. The tool can also be accessed via a web page which is rather cool.  Simply run ‘python web_frontend.py’: [titled_box title = “Enabling Sanity Check via a browser”][root@ssconnus sanity]# python web_frontend.py
    Starting Server
    Press ctrl+c to stop the server[/titled_box] And then access the Connections server on port 8000, e.g. http://connections.myorg.com:8000:

    Sanity Check via web browser

    This allows the administrator to add parameters to be applied to the test, and also to select the tests to be executed:

    Sanity via web - options

    Once the tests have been run, the output is displayed in the browser, and is then stored for review later.

As I mentioned above, getting the config file correct took a little while initially, but once this is done, the tool produces some excellent output and has already proved to be very useful.  I can imagine running it on all my servers (most Connections platforms I’ve worked on are Linux/DB2 so this fits the bill for me), and using it on a regular basis – particularly during upgrades and migrations.

Whilst this is a ‘USE AS IS’ tool and is not supported, I can imagine it becoming part of most Connections admin toolkits…  It only supports Connections 4.5 today, but should in theory work on Connections 5.0 as well, perhaps with a few minor tweaks to deal with the newer version of WAS involved. I haven’t had a chance to test this yet though.  It obviously isn’t supported on Windows, AIX or System i either.

I’m not sure who in IBM is responsible for the tool, but kudos to them!  I’d love to see it included in the default Connections install for Linux, then many of the parameters could be set automatically during the install.  Till then, download it and install ASAP.  Recommended!

TemboSocial Ideas for IBM Connections

by with One Comment Misc

I’ve long felt that ideation is a prime use case for IBM Connections and other social collaboration platforms.

Others clearly feel the same way, and whilst standalone tools such as Yambla, BrightIdea and even Elguji’s IdeaJam have been very successful, in my experience it is when ideation is at the centre of a well-designed ESN (Enterprise Social Network) that it becomes not just a one-off task for a particular ideas generation campaign but instead core to the way that an organisation operates day-in and day-out. Of course, the orgnisational culture has to be aligned in that direction too – as you might expect, ideation is not simply a technology play!

That’s why IBM adding Ideation Blogs to Connections a few versions ago was such a good step forward – users could now publish their ideas and gather feedback in the form of comments and votes in favour of the idea.

However, whilst Ideation Blogs cover some of the principal requirements, there are a number of areas in which other platforms have gone further… For example, voting down as well as up (a very important aspect for me personally), analysis and trending of key ideas, grading of comments as well as the ideas themselves and so on.

TemboSocial logoTherefore I am delighted to see TemboSocial fully integrate their cross-platform ideation technology, Ideas, with IBM Connections.

Supporting Connections 3, 4 and 4.5 (support for the just released version 5 is coming soon), plus WebSphere Portal, TemboSocial Ideas is the ideation platform that Connections has been calling for!

[TemboSocial Ideas is now listed in our Solutions catalog]

Watch out for quotes!

by with No Comment Misc

Just a reminder to be watchful of non-standard characters in IBM Connections user names, and also to thoroughly review your IBM Connections TDI logs on a regular basis.  This is a current APAR (IBM ID required):

[titled_box title = “IBM APAR LO81076”]LO81076: USERS WHO ARE REGISTED WITH QUOTATION MARKS IN THEIR NAMES CANNOT USE CONNECTIONS PROPERLY
APAR status 
OPEN
Error description
Users who are registered using identifiers that are in quotation marks (Jennifer “Jen” Doe) cannot use most of the functions of profiles.

Internet Explorer displays many errors after the user logs in and the Profiles home page is displayed. Firefox simply doesn’t show certain features such as the search entry box[/titled_box]

I’m sure that this particular APAR will get resolved in an upcoming fix for Connections 4.5 (I’m not sure if 5.0 is similarly afflicted?), however these types of issue do crop up every so often, so be ready for them!

Greenhouse now running IBM Connections 5.0

by with No Comment Misc

This was a pleasant surprise this morning:

Greenhouse at Connections 5.0

Yes, the IBM Greenhouse has been upgraded to IBM Connections 5.0.0.0.

New features including External Collaboration (which isn’t strictly relevant to the Greenhouse), improvements to Files and file-sync (using the new mobile apps and desktop plugins), plus significant significant enhancements to the activity stream and @mentions should all now be visible on the community test/demo platform.

Check it out!

PS. As the Greenhouse was already running the NextGen theme there aren’t too many changes visually…

PPS. The Greenhouse has over 100,000 members… Pretty amazing:

IBM Greenhouse members

IBM InterConnect

Innovate + Impact + Pulse = ?

by with 2 Comments Events

Last week I ruminated on the future of IBM Connect, and mentioned that a number of the IBM software conferences had been consolidated for 2015…

IBM seems to be consolidating its software conferences across brands. We have seen Impact (the Websphere conference), Innovate (Rational) and Pulse (Tivoli) all announce that they will merge for 2015 for a very large conference in Las Vegas:

Mark your calendar for February 22 – 26, 2015. We’ll meet at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino and the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Next year’s expanded conference, with 20,000 attendees, will deliver even more compelling sessions, deeper insights from industry thought leaders, more meaningful networking opportunities and our biggest EXPO ever!

Since then, IBM has announced the new name for this consolidated conference:

IBM InterConnect 2015 - Bringing Innovate, Impact and Pulse together for one powerful event

So IBM InterConnect is the new brand for this 20,000 attendee Las Vegas conference, thus aligning with the name used for the consolidated event that took place in Singapore in October 2013.

I guess it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to imagine that eventually the equation for the Las Vegas event might be:

Innovate + Impact + Pulse + Connect = InterConnect?

Time will tell!

Time (image from http://www.vectorelectronics.eu/s_allo.php)

32 slots

by with No Comment Misc

Mark McCormack:

1440 minutes per day …

480 minutes of sleep – 480 minutes of family time – 480 minutes of work … which gives 32 x 15 minute bites.

What’s the best and most profitable use of these 32 slots?

I’m going to start to plan my day in this way – allocating work to 32 slots each day… Divide and conquer!

(Quote via Michael Sampson)

IBM Connect 2015 dates

The future of IBM Connect

by with 19 Comments Events

Disclaimer – I have no insider knowledge on this topic, these are just my personal thoughts

There has been a fair bit of discussion regarding what might happen to IBM Connect (the conference previously known as ‘Lotusphere’) in the near future…

IBM announced in 2008 that they had signed a contract with the Swan and Dolphin hotels to host the conference in Orlando until 2015, and as far as has been publicly stated, no extension has been signed.  Therefore the consensus seems to be that there will need to be a decision made by IBM as to what they might do with the conference beyond the next event.  Here’s my thoughts on what might happen next…

1) At Connect 2014, IBM announced that Connect 2015 will take place from 25-29 January 2015.  Given that this was such a public proclamation, I cannot believe that IBM would change this plan now.  Therefore we are looking at what might happen post-January 2015.

IBM Connect 2015 dates
Connect 2015 dates (image courtesy of Chris Miller)

2) The audience for IBM Connect is clearly shrinking over time.  Efforts such as the rename from Lotusphere and the consolidation with Kenexa World haven’t made a significant difference to this trend, at least as far as I can see.  In broad and probably over-simplistic terms, as new business-level attendees have been added, loyal technical-level folks have departed.  That’s not to criticise any decision that’s been made, it’s just the state of the union – whether as a result of changes in the product lines, competitive positioning, loss of market share, marketing focus, cost of travel etc, the sad fact is that Connect doesn’t sell 10,000 tickets as it once did.

3) Let’s look at other similar IBM conferences:

a) IBM seems to be consolidating its software conferences across brands.  We have seen Impact (the Websphere conference), Innovate (Rational) and Pulse (Tivoli) all announce that they will merge for 2015 for a very large conference in Las Vegas:

Mark your calendar for February 22 – 26, 2015. We’ll meet at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino and the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Next year’s expanded conference, with 20,000 attendees, will deliver even more compelling sessions, deeper insights from industry thought leaders, more meaningful networking opportunities and our biggest EXPO ever!

b) Amongst the SWG ‘pillars’ (to use an old phrase), just IBM Insight (the DB2/Information On Demand conference) still stands alone, though it is also based in Las Vegas.  It is scheduled for 26-30 October 2014.

c) Also, IBM Edge (Enterprise Infrastructure) is based in Las Vegas, scheduled for 11-15 May 2015.  The IBM Partnerworld Leadership Conference is lined up for February 9-12 in Las Vegas.

d) Given the above, the primary location for all large IBM global conferences is clearly now Las Vegas, and in many cases, bigger is better.

4) The Lotus IBM Collaboration Solutions brand no longer exists as a standalone entity.  Under Craig Hayman it was made part of Software-as-a-service and Industry Solutions (or Industry and Cloud Solutions to keep the ICS moniker), but with Craig departing, there are suggestions that this will change once again.  Either way, when was the last time we saw specific marketing for the collaboration product line from IBM? This means that the distinct brand and following are no longer reasons to have a separate conference with all the effort and cost that this entails.

5) The shift to the cloud.  IBM’s ‘cloud first’ policy and the general direction in the marketplace is toward pre-packaged software-as-a-service offerings rather than on-premise ‘middleware’.  This changes both the audience and the technical content of conferences as a result – I would posit that attendees are more likely to be line-of-business rather than IT-focused, and the emphasis will be on solutions and ISVs that can plumb multiple SaaS offerings together rather than the nuts and bolts of installation or application development.  In the future, it could be suggested that there will be more commonality between say SoftLayer, IBM SmartCloud Connections and a Tivoli product for SaaS monitoring than there is between multiple ICS solutions today. Therefore larger conferences that bridge the gaps between the different brands that exist right now makes sense as we go forward.

Given all the above, it is relatively easy to predict that IBM Connect as we know it (January in the Swan and Dolphin in Florida) will no longer exist after the previously announced event in 2015.

This would be deeply sad in a lot of ways – so many of us have returned there on a regular basis over the last couple of decades, built business relationships, been exposed to new technologies, gained knowledge that has helped us build careers and perhaps more importantly, we’ve made and spent time with true friends around the world.

However, it would also bring to a natural close the process that started perhaps five years ago, with the shift away from the Lotus brand.  The name has gone, many of the people have moved on, the products and technologies have changed, and really the only physical thing that remains of the ‘glory days’ is the conference date and location.  Shifting to Las Vegas as part of a packed global conference would be different for sure, but could offer real opportunities to customers and partners to make connections and gain knowledge and insight way beyond the traditional confines of the Connect event.

Once again, I don’t know what IBM will do – I have no inside track.  However, as I gaze into my virtual crystal ball, that’s what I expect will happen.

However, I do have one major concern.  All that I hear from the IBM financial results suggests that the USA is at best a static market for IBM – all the growth is taking place in Asia Pacific and in the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China).  Therefore I wonder why all the major conferences look as though they will be located in one USA city.  Surely as a global brand operating worldwide, it seems odd (to me at least) that customers and partners in all areas of the world should be asked to pay to travel to a bizarrely located party-city in the Mojave desert to collaborate and associate with their peers.  I do realise that many of the key IBMers that would attend are US-based, but even then, many of the R&D and support teams are being shifted to locations in other areas of the world.  It would make more sense for these global conferences to be either located in Asia on a full time basis, or ideally, to be shifted around the world so that other sets of customers get the chance to attend.

So that’s my 2c – IBM Connect 2015 will be the grand goodbye to Orlando, and we’ll be invited to attend a new conference in Las Vegas.

However, what do you think?  Is this the plan as you see it?  Will you be sad to say goodbye to the memories made at the Swan and Dolphin in the past? Or will you look forward to new opportunities at a different event in the future? Might you change your plans and attend just to be at the last one? I’d love to hear from you!

When Cultures Collide cover

Communication patterns around the world

by with No Comment Social Business

Taken from Richard D Lewis’ excellent book, ‘When Cultures Collide‘ (originally published in 1996, updated in 2005), this insightful graphic summarises the author’s understanding of how different nationalities and cultures might communicate during a sales/purchase process:

Communication Patterns Around The World

Gus Lubin writes in Business Insider:

You can’t expect negotiations with French to be like negotations with Americans, and the same holds true for cultures around the world.

British linguist Richard D. Lewis charted communication patterns as well as leadership styles and cultural identities in his book, “When Cultures Collide,” now in a 2005 third edition. His organization offers classes in cross-cultural communication for big clients ranging from Unilever to BMW.

In support of cultural studies, he writes: “By focusing on the cultural roots of national behavior, both in society and business, we can foresee and calculate with a surprising degree of accuracy how others will react to our plans for them, and we can make certain assumptions as to how they will approach us. A working knowledge of the basic traits of other cultures (as well as our own) will minimize unpleasant surprises (culture shock), give us insights in advance, and enable us to interact successfully with nationalities with whom we previously had difficulty.”

Although cultural generalizations can be overly reductive, Lewis, who speaks ten languages, insists it can be done fairly, writing: “Determining national characteristics is treading a minefield of inaccurate assessment and surprising exception. There is, however, such a thing as a national norm.”

When meeting with French, be prepared for a vigorous logical debate.

When meeting with Americans, expect them to lay all their cards on the table, get upset when there’s a disagreement, and resolve as fast as possible with one or both sides making concessions.

Canadians, compared to Americans, tend to be more low-key and inclined to seek harmony, though they are similarly direct.

English tend to avoid confrontation in an understated, mannered, and humorous style that can be powerful or inefficient.

Germans rely on logic but “tend to amass more evidence and labor their points more than either the British or the French.”

Spanish and Italians “regard their languages as instruments of eloquence and they will go up and down the scale at will, pulling out every stop if need be to achieve greater expressiveness.”

The Nordic countries often have entrenched opinions that they have formulated “in the long dark nights,” though they are reasonable conversationalists. Swedes often have the most wide-ranging discussions, Finns tend to value concision, and most Norwegians fall somewhere in between.

Swiss tend to be straightforward and unaggressive negotiators, who obtain concessions by expressing confidence in the quality and value of their goods and services.

Hungarians value eloquence over logic and are unafraid to talk over each other.

Bulgarians may take a circuitous approach to negotiations before seeking a mutually beneficial resolution, which will often be screwed up by bureaucracy.

Poles often have a communication style that is “enigmatic, ranging from a matter-of-fact pragmatic style to a wordy, sentimental, romantic approach to any given subject.”

The Dutch are focused on facts and figures but “are also great talkers and rarely make final decisions without a long ‘Dutch’ debate, sometimes approaching the danger zone of overanalysis.”

Chinese tend to be more direct than the Japanese and some other East Asians; however, meetings are principally for information gathering, with the real decisions made elsewhere. Hong Kongers negotiate much more briskly to achieve quick results.

Indian English “excels in ambiguity, and such things as truth and appearances are often subject to negotiation.”

Australians tend to have a loose and frank conversational style.

Singaporeans generally take time to build a relationship, after which they can be shrewd negotiators.

Koreans tend to be energetic conversationalists who seek to close deals quickly, occasionally stretching the truth.

Indonesians tend to be very deferential conversationalists, sometimes to the point of ambiguity.

Israelis tend to proceed logically on most issues but emotionally on some.

These differences in attitude and approach can be so important, not just in deal-making and negotiation, but in all interactions – face to face and on social networks.

Do Richard’s findings match your own experience?

[Tip ‘o the hat to Rawn Shah for sharing this graphic earlier…]

Social Business App Dev Workshop: access IBM Connections development course materials at no cost

by with One Comment IBM ConnectionsTraining & Education

On occasion, IBM runs an excellent two day Social Business Application Development workshop, which takes users through the Social Business Toolkit SDK, and how it can be used to create applications that leverage IBM Connections content.

Sadly these workshops have not been scheduled yet in 2014. However, the course materials are available for free download from the IBM Greenhouse to be used on a self-paced basis:

SBT WorkshopThe Social Business Toolkit (SBT) SDK is a set of extensible tools and resources for developers who want to incorporate social capabilities into their applications and business processes. Social capabilities include features and functionality that tap into the power of social interactions, business networks, community-based problem solving, and more.

This two day workshop will demonstrate how to use the capabilities of the SBT SDK to integrate social data (from IBM Connections) into existing applications. In this workshop, you will learn how to install, configure, and begin using the SBT SDK. The development exercises in this workshop will cover topics such as the SBT SDK JavaScript and Java APIs, and how to build and deploy a SBT SDK J2EE application on WebSphere Application Server. You will also learn how to integrate into the IBM Connections Activity Stream and develop iWidgets.

Event highlights

  • Learn how to create your own social application development sandbox
  • Learn how to build socially enabled applications using the SBT SDK JavaScript and Java APIs
  • Learn how to build and deploy iWidgets
  • Learn how to integrate into the IBM Connections Activity Stream using OpenSocial and Embedded Experiences
  • Learn how to leverage existing IBM resources to build and promote your applications to clients

Materials: Social Business Application Development

This course is recommended for any developers that wish to utilise the SBT or bring social content into their own applications. Kudos to IBM for making this available to all…

Everything Connections: Australian IBM Connections user group pilot

by with No Comment EventsIBM Connections

Really pleased to hear that Adam Brown and the ISW team are kicking off a local IBM Connections user group in Australia:
[squeeze_box]Everything Connections

Is your organisation a social business, running on IBM Connections?

Want to learn from your peers in other businesses about how they use and obtain value from the platform and what’s in store for the next generation of IBM Connections? Want to open dialogue with like-minded colleagues and establish an ongoing user group in Australia?

Then this is the event for you!

As one of Australia’s leading IBM Premier Business Partners, we here at ISW figured there is a lot we can learn from each other. Rather than host a big bang event, we’re proposing to pull together a small group of like-minded people from Dulux, Incitec Pivot and Cochlear willing to share their experiences, for mutual benefit to all participants.

We’re inviting you to come and join us and help us all learn about Social Business together!

DOWNLOAD THE FLYER >>
REGISTER HERE >>

AGENDA:

THURSDAY: Morning arrival. Kick off and 4 hrs of session and learning in the afternoon. Dinner with everyone at an awesome Hobart restaurant.
FRIDAY: 6 hrs of session and learning, leaving time enough for everyone to catch a flight home, or alternatively stay on and enjoy a weekend in Tasmania![/squeeze_box] Taking place on 17th/18th July, this sounds an exciting first event. Register now if you’re in the area…

[The event has been added to the event calendar on this site – check out the other IBM Connections-related events coming up soon!]

Trust

Open Business: A new manifesto of trust in the workplace

by with No Comment Misc

As those who know me well would vouch, I’ve never been in this business for the technology.  Yes I love my gadgets and shiny objects of desire as much as the next person, but neither they nor speeds’n’feeds nor software feature lists get me out of bed in the morning.  It’s the possibilities for empowering real people to do real work in new, more productive and enjoyable ways that get my creative juices flowing and my backside out of bed at 5am in the morning.

After 22 years or so of a career that has seen those real people shift from being asked to do their work on DOS-based word processors to primitive forms of groupware running on green screens, to graphical office suites, via Lotus Notes to powerful new forms of social collaboration technology often accessed via mobile devices, it’s become clear to me that what the world does not need is yet another technology that promises to revolutionise the workplace.  We’ve had plenty of those over the years – some have seen success, far more have failed and disappeared without trace along the way.

The issue is that for most of the population, the way that we work as individuals, teams and organisations has fundamentally stayed remarkably consistent over the last couple of decades. We’re still asked to report to the office between 9 and 5 each day, we’re still expected to be at our desks for vast tracts of time working independently on our own curated lists of tasks and actions, to participate in regularly scheduled review meetings that seem to go on for ever without any work actually being done, whilst trying to ensure that our efforts and achievements are recognised by the line manager that we only see a few times a year and yet holds all the power when it becomes time for that annual review and pay discussion!

Yes, this is possibly an overly negative perspective – hopefully not all the above is representative of your own situation, but I would imagine that there is more than a grain of truth to at least one of two aspects of the paragraph above in most workplaces.

Future of WorkI’ve been giving a great deal of thought to the ‘Future of Work‘ in recent months, to what it means to be a knowledge worker within an organisation in 2014, and how that might change as we look forward through this decade to 2020 and beyond.  The rise of social, mobile and cloud technologies in recent years should mean that the workplace of 2020 will look and operate very differently to those that we are familiar with today.

Clearly the technology of now and the future will change how it appears, but that’s not what I think is important.  After all, we’ve been predicting self-driving cars, robot assistants and the like for decades (and that is exciting), but if the fundamental way in which live and work does not evolve for the better then there is little point to the innovations in technology.  What I (and many others) are looking for is a radical departure in the manner in which organisations are organised, leaders operate, teams collaborate and employees work and live.  Technologies come and go, but if a CEO still operates as if in an ivory tower, delivering read-only strategy documents via a corporate hierarchy dominated by middle-aged grey-haired men, emailed out to thousands of employees to be stored for eternity in folders that will be looked at, refusing to be held accountable (or indeed accessible) to their employees/partners/customers then we are no further forward.

In short, the ‘future of work’ has to look different to the reality of today.  Business has to be more ‘open’.  Open in terms of leadership, strategy, collaboration, information and knowledge sharing, relationships, responsibility, honesty, accessibility and most importantly, culture.  The tools we’re currently calling ‘Social Business’ will clearly play a part, but deploying yet another technology won’t make the blindest bit of difference without a overarching and hugely significant change of approach throughout the organisation, amongst every team and in every individual. [Luis Suarez covers this topic incredibly well, and this deck from the 90:10 Group is a great introduction.]

TrustNow clearly this kind of fundamental change takes time and a huge amount of effort and buy-in.  It will not happen overnight.  However, each of us can make a difference in our own work, the way that we deal with others, how we deliver on our commitments and so on.  That’s why this terrific post by John Wenger on Medium really made me sit up and take notice.  He asks the question ‘Can I trust you?’ and goes on to set out a new manifesto of trust:

Want me to trust you? Be a man (or woman) of your word; not a man (or woman) of words. Words don’t cut it. I’ve been lied to too many times. I want to see trustworthy action. Let’s instigate a manifesto of trust. It could say something like this:

  • I will strive to build and maintain good relationships with all.
  • If I make a promise or a commitment, I will strive to keep it;
  • If I break a promise or ‘drop the ball’ with my commitments, I will front up and be accountable and I will work to put things right.
  • No excuses, no blaming, no avoiding, no sweeping under the carpet.
  • No wriggling out of embarrassing conversations or trying to change the subject.
  • I will endeavour to be real with people; no obfuscation, no power games.
  • I will strive to develop myself: this means becoming more self-reflective and more open to others’ feedback about me.

…

In the realm of the networked workplace, I will trust you when I feel that you value my contributions and that you encourage others to do the same. I will trust you when you are constant. A psychologist friend of mine had a mantra which went, “The best predictor of future behaviour is past behaviour.” While I don’t agree with that entirely , there is some truth in it. My trust in you will build over time, when you are repeatedly and consistently authentic and trustWORTHY. We will not necessarily gain trust in each other simply because we have played some simplistic ‘trust games’ during our one and only staff training day.

Trust is one of the guiding principles of an Open Business – trust in one another, trust in our leaders and trust in the organisation.

So here’s my thought for today…

Do you trust the people you work with?  Can they trust you?  If not, isn’t it about time that we fixed this?

IBM Connections QuickSearch plugin for Google Chrome

by with 5 Comments IBM Connections

Terrific find by Mat Newman this morning…

Every now and again one comes across an awesome plugin that demonstrates some fantastic integration between day-to-day applications and IBM’s Connections collaboration platform. This one is a Connections search plugin for Chrome, and it’s awesome.

I’d agree – this is really great. I use the Chrome quick search functionality a lot, so this is a near perfect feature integration (though still some way short of the awesome Connections toolbar for Firefox in terms of overall functionality).

Developed by IBMer Romain Lienard, this plugin seems to have started as a tool for internal use (it supported only IBM’s W3 install of connections initially), but now can be configured for any Connections environment:

This extension let you search content within IBM Connections.

The IBM Connections QuickSearch plugin let you quickly search for users or content within IBM Connections and update your profile picture using your webcam or an existing picture.

Use the popup window in the upper right corner of chrome in order to search within Profiles (with type-ahead feature), Files, Forums and so on.

You can also use it directly from the URL navigation bar, by typing “ic” (without any quotes) following by a space then your query. Then press enter for a global search or arrow keys to reduce the scope.

Download it from the Chrome web store:

IBM Connections Quicksearch plugin for Chrome

I have it configured to search the Greenhouse right now, and it works like a charm.  Great work Romain (and nice find Mat!)

IBM Connections 5.0 has shipped! Here’s what you need to download…

by with 5 Comments IBM Connections

connections_bulletAs promised by Luis Benitez at Social Connections VI in Prague, IBM Connections 5.0 shipped on Thursday 26th June 2014.  Congratulations to all the team for getting it out of the door on schedule!

On that day, it became available for download from Passport Advantage (for customers with an entitlement to install it, plus current maintenance) and Partnerworld (for partners that have purchased either the Value Package or Software Access Option).  Through trial and error on Partnerworld, the best search string I’ve found is “ibm connections v5.0”. This gets  matched to “IBM Connections V5.0 for IBM Connections Suite V5.0 Multiplatform Multilingual eAssembly” – however, cancel that and just let the search operate on the string you’ve added.  These are the eAssemblies that come back:

IBM Connections 5.0 eAssemblies

(If you are searching through Passport Advantage, you will only see the eAssemblies you are entitled to download).

In most situations you will need:

IBM Connections V5.0 Multiplatform Multilingual eAssembly (CRS4IML)

IBM Connections 5.0 eAssembly

This includes the following images:

IBM Connections V5.0 Quick Start Guide for AIX, Windows, Linux, IBMi Multilingual (CIYQ4ML) – 1Mb
IBM Connections V5.0 for Windows Multilingual (CIYQ5ML) – 1,495Mb
IBM Connections V5.0 for AIX Multilingual (CIYQ6ML) – 1,613Mb
IBM Connections V5.0 for Linux Multilingual (CIYQ7ML) – 1,576Mb
IBM Connections V5.0 Linux for System z Multilingual (CIYQ8ML) – 1,520Mb
IBM Connections V5.0 Wizard for Windows Multilingual (CIYQ9ML) – 338Mb
IBM Connections V5.0 Wizard for Linux, AIX Multilingual (CIYR0ML) – 560Mb
IBM Connections V5.0 Cognos Wizard for Windows Multilingual (CIYR3ML) – 1,579Mb
IBM Connections V5.0 Cognos Wizard for AIX Multilingual (CIYR4ML) – 1,200Mb
IBM Connections V5.0 Cognos Wizard for Linux Multilingual (CIYR6ML) – 1,039Mb
IBM Connections V5.0 Cognos Wizard for System z Multilingual (CIYR5ML) – 951Mb

As usual with IBM Connections downloads, this eAssembly contains the bare minimum of downloads for each server type – though as you can see, the “bare minimum” is 3.3GB+ for Windows for example!

To be able to install IBM Connections 5.0, you’ll also need these elements as discussed in the System Requirements document:

Sadly there is no eAssembly that contains all of these component parts (at least on Partnerworld) for those that are solely licensed for Connections (and not Connections Suite or Domino for example) so you’ll need to seek them out individually. For the two most common platforms (Windows and Linux 64), here are the part numbers:

Windows 64-bit:

IBM DB2 Enterprise Server Edition V10.1 for Windows on AMD64 and EM64T systems (x64) Multilingual (CI6WEML) – 933Mb (if using DB2)
IBM DB2 10.1 Enterprise Server Edition – Restricted Use Quick Start and Activation Multiplatform Multilingual (CI71NML)– 2Mb (ditto)
IBM WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment V8.5.5 (1 of 3) for Multiplatform Multilingual (CIK2HML) – 1,005Mb
IBM WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment V8.5.5 (2 of 3) for Multiplatform Multilingual (CIK2IML) – 975Mb
IBM WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment V8.5.5 (3 of 3) for Multiplatform Multilingual (CIK2JML) – 860Mb
IBM WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment V8.5.5-Liberty Profile Multiplatform, Multilingual (CIMU2ML) – 107Mb
IBM WebSphere Application Server V8.5.5 Supplements (1 of 3) for Multiplatform Multilingual (CIK1VML) – 931Mb
IBM WebSphere Application Server V8.5.5 Supplements (2 of 3) for Multiplatform Multilingual (CIK1WML) – 1,007Mb
IBM WebSphere Application Server V8.5.5 Supplements (3 of 3) for Multiplatform Multilingual (CIK1XML) – 952Mb
IBM Tivoli Directory Integrator Identity Edition V7.1 for Windows x86-64, Multilingual (CZ9MKML) – 521Mb

Linux 64-bit:

IBM DB2 Enterprise Server Edition V10.1 for Linux on AMD64 and Intel® EM64T systems (x64) Multilingual (CI6W6ML) – 1,188Mb (if using DB2)
IBM DB2 10.1 Enterprise Server Edition – Restricted Use Quick Start and Activation Multiplatform Multilingual (CI71NML)– 2Mb (ditto)
IBM WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment V8.5.5 (1 of 3) for Multiplatform Multilingual (CIK2HML) – 1,005Mb
IBM WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment V8.5.5 (2 of 3) for Multiplatform Multilingual (CIK2IML) – 975Mb
IBM WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment V8.5.5 (3 of 3) for Multiplatform Multilingual (CIK2JML) – 860Mb
IBM WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment V8.5.5-Liberty Profile Multiplatform, Multilingual (CIMU2ML) – 107Mb
IBM WebSphere Application Server V8.5.5 Supplements (1 of 3) for Multiplatform Multilingual (CIK1VML) – 931Mb
IBM WebSphere Application Server V8.5.5 Supplements (2 of 3) for Multiplatform Multilingual (CIK1WML) – 1,007Mb
IBM WebSphere Application Server V8.5.5 Supplements (3 of 3) for Multiplatform Multilingual (CIK1XML) – 952Mb
IBM Tivoli Directory Integrator Identity Edition V7.1.1 for Linux – x86-64, Multilingual (CZUF3ML) – 554Mb

Depending on your installation infrastructure, you may also need downloads for:

IBM Forms Experience Builder v8.5.0.1 (various)
EditLive! v5.0 for Connections Multiplatform Multilingual (CIZP3ML) – 15Mb
IBM Data Server Client V10.1 (various)
IBM Data Server Runtime Client V10.1 (various)
IBM DB2 Support Files for SSL Functionality V10.1 (various)
IBM Tivoli Directory Server 6.3 (various)
IBM DMZ Secure Proxy Server (1 of 2) (WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment V8.5.5) Multiplatform Multilingual (CIK2LML) – 888Mb
IBM DMZ Secure Proxy Server (2 of 2) (WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment V8.5.5) Multiplatform Multilingual (CIK2MML) – 818Mb
IBM WebSphere Edge Components: Load Balancer for IPv4 and IPv6 (for WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment V8.5.5) Multiplatform Multilingual (CIK2NML) – 1,559Mb
IBM Cognos Business Intelligence  (various)

As a tip, if you do have other entitlements in Passport Advantage or else have access to the entire Partnerworld Software Access catalog, then searching for the ‘IBM Connections V5.0 for Notes and Domino V9.0.1 Multiplatform Multilingual eAssembly (CRSU5ML)‘ eAssembly is probably your best bet as this contains 57 images including all of the key elements I’ve listed above:

IBM Connections 5.0 for Domino eAssembly

Once you’ve selected the images you need, kick off the download.  My advice is always to download directly to one of the servers you’ll be installing onto if possible, particularly if they are remote to your location.

It’s important to note that this is not the entire list of software you’ll need.  I haven’t covered mandatory fixes for the components listed above (e.g. WebSphere Application Server 8.5.5.1 or Tivoli Directory Integrator 7.1.1) or fixes for Connections itself.  I’ll be posting details of these later today.

[Also, please note that IBM Connections for IBM i is not currently available for download.  Speaking to Luis, it is ‘in the works’ :-)]

If you’re in the process of downloading and installing Connections 5.0, please do leave a comment letting us know how you’re getting on – particularly if there are any packages that I’ve missed!

IBM Connections 5.0 documentation now online

by with No Comment IBM Connections

With the upgrade to Connections 5.0, IBM has switched from the Wiki style of documentation repository to the ‘Knowledge Center’, which is a much improved form of the old Infocenter format.

IBM Knowledge Center

I really like this shift – whilst it was initially great to be able to update the Wiki form of the documentation in-place, after a time very few people did this, and they were very tricky to search and navigate. The new Knowledge Center seems a much more accessible and searchable solution.

So if you’re looking to upgrade to IBM Connections 5.0, here’s the documentation you need!

IBM Connections 5.0 Reviewer’s Guide published

by with One Comment Misc

To aid understanding of the features and abilities of the Connections product, IBM offers a Reviewer’s Guide – a document that details all the new features available in the latest release plus a comprehensive review of all the existing features.

Compiled by the IBM Connections product management team, this guide is a fantastic resource for existing and prospective customers, partners and anyone that is looking to learn more about the Connections solution.

The Reviewer’s Guide for IBM Connections 5.0 was published by IBM today:

With IBM Connections, IBM continues to provide flexibility for our customers and additional capabilities to provide a comprehensive comprehensive enterprise social software solution. In IBM Connections 5.0 we introduce major updates to features that allow for collaboration with external users, better attention management tools, and features allowing for easier management and viewing of files; all in addition to various update for all applications within connections.

This document will highlight all the new features available in this release as well as as comprehensive review of all the existing features.

This guide provides a summary of the applications that are included in IBM Connections 5.0. It is important to note that these applications can be used within an organization as needed—all together or as individual applications. Capitalizing on a flexible and modular architecture, organizations may start with a single application and add other applications when they choose. As in previous releases of IBM Connections, applications can be installed easily and naturally fit into the user experience, so it is easy to expand as needed.

It is available for download from Scribd or can be viewed below:

IBM extends championship run in Enterprise Social Software

by with No Comment Announcements

News from IBM today:

Armonk, NY – 24 Apr 2014: IBM today announced that for the fifth consecutive year, IDC ranked the company number one in worldwide market share for enterprise social software. According to IDC’s analysis of 2013 revenue, the worldwide market for enterprise social software applications grew from $968 million in 2012 to $1,242 million 2013

Impressive run of success for IBM Collaboration Solutions and, specifically, for IBM Connections.

This graphic sums it up rather nicely… 🙂

[image_frame style=”framed_shadow” align=”center” height=”428″ width=”600″]http://ibmconnections.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/ibm_championships.jpg[/image_frame]
Scroogled.png

The community now has a hashtag for IBM Connections

by with No Comment AnnouncementsIBM Connections

Niklas Heidloff and the team at OpenNTF recently raised the question of which hashtag should be used for IBM Connections development-related posts and tweets.

It’s a very fair question, after all having an agreed common hashtag that is used on relevant posts makes it much easier for advocates and newcomers alike to find and follow Connections-related content.  Given that IBM is pushing Connections as a development platform of the future, it is crucial that the community makes Connections as open and prominent for developers as we possibly can.

Therefore, I asked the question on Twitter, Skype and LinkedIn over the past 7-10 days, captured a number of suggestions, and opened a vote.  The results are now in:

Results from the IBM Connections hashtag survey on LinkedIn
Results from the IBM Connections hashtag survey on LinkedIn

So, the community has spoken…  #ibmcnx and #ibmcnxdev have been chosen!

Let’s see them being used! 😉

The rise of the Community Manager and the Collaboration Garden: an IBM Social Business Briefing

by with No Comment Misc

For our third IBM Social Business Briefing (aka Wicked Wednesdays) on 25th April at Royal Exchange in London, we felt the time was right to move the discourse from thought leadership and education to a more practical footing.

Of course, we still leveraged the superb network of independent thought leaders who we are lucky to have at our events BUT at this latest event we changed / evolved the format.

On this occasion I framed the discussion on the emerging role of the Community Manager (seen by some as the ‘rock star of the Enterprise’) and then actually used a collaboration platform to discuss, collaborate and innovate around the chosen topic.

The objective or rather the output of the debate was not simply to gain a better understanding of this subject (the fastest growing job role in Social Business) but also to create a job description for the role of Community Manager which could then be downloaded and iterated by users.

To help us achieve this we introduced attendees to the Collaboration Garden – a place where the Wicked Wednesday discussion and collaboration goes on in and around the physical events.

Once inside the Garden, users could not only record their opinions and raise questions but they could also examine (through the software) the potential responsibilities and attendant tools on hand to assist a Community Manager with user adoption – e.g. gamification and social media feeds.

The overall sentiment was that this was our best Wicked Wednesday to date and pointed the way forward for future events.  Weaving the use of the collaboration platform into the discussion from the start had a number of important effects:

  • It forced us all ‘to drink our own champagne’
  • Individuals contributed to the Garden on-premise and remotely (including from Spain and Ireland)
  • It highlighted how much was lost when we simply spoke and did not record
  • Live collaboration in the platform allowed for multi-threaded conversations which themselves were profoundly different to normal conversation
  • Those who were not familiar with a social collaboration platform experienced it in a way that was far more refreshing and natural then the traditional demo mode

Wicked Wednesdays are all about sharing and collaborating with those who attend the latest trends, twists and turns in the Social Business journey. We take risks at this event; we have to in order to keep things fresh and real.  So it was particularly gratifying to hear that the new format was warmly welcomed by those involved.

We are planning our next Wicked Wednesday/Social Business Briefing to take place in June and in keeping with our need to innovate we are experimenting with moving the venue from the Royal Exchange to a comfortable, friendly, coffee shop in the city which should be fun.

For more information, feel free to contact us directly.

Collaboration Matters awarded IBM Platinum Achievement Award

by with 7 Comments Misc

Collaboration Matters were delighted and incredibly honoured to be publicly recognised by IBM last week at the Software Partner Marketing College at IBM South Bank in London.

The ‘IBM Software Platinum Achievement Award – Outstanding Marketing Achievement’ recognised those business partners that have marketed IBM’s and their own solutions in innovative and ground-breaking ways over the past year.  Finalists were Portal, Applicable, Barrachd and Collaboration Matters with Collaboration Matters taking the award.

Activities that were highlighted in considering the award included:

  • The Collaboration Diner at UC Expo (breaking the mould for trade show stands, by making the main event the conversation and contribution, not the sales effort)
  • Our ongoing series of Social Business Breakfast sessions (combining education and discussion on topics and issues relating to Social Business all through a combination of face-to-face and tool-based collaboration)
  • The Collaboration Garden (an exclusive invite-only Social Business platform allowing organisations and individuals to trial, learn, discuss and be educated around the power of Social within Business)

Key to all of these initiatives has been our focus on being ‘refreshingly different‘ – an IBM Business Partner like no other.  It is great to see IBM reward our efforts:

“Collaboration Matters are creating innovative solutions with IBM collaboration technology in response to the Social Business models more and more customers want to pursue.”
Mark Barrett, Business Unit Executive, Partner Sales, Software Business, UK and Ireland

Thanks must go to my colleague Rooven (who was behind the concept for the Collaboration Diner), to the team at Arrow ECS (our VAD) and to all those at IBM UK who have supported our efforts this year.

Warning for IBM Connections admins – change that Plugin keyfile password!

by with One Comment Misc

If you are running IBM Connections (any version) and have configured your SSL connect between the HTTP Server and WAS by importing the WAS SSL certificate into the Plugin keyfile (versus creating your own keyfile) and haven’t changed the default password, go do so now!

As this IBM technote states, the default password expires on April 26th, 2012:

The password to the plugin-key.kdb file that is shipped with WebSphere Application Server expires on April 26, 2012 US EDT. On distributed this file is placed in the [Plugin_Home]/config/{webservername} directory when a web server plug-in is configured on an installed web server.

CVE-2012-2162

If you are using the WebSphere Key and Certificate Management generated plug-in key store you are NOT affected. If, however, you are using the key store installed by default with the Web Server Plug-in for WebSphere Application Server and you have NEVER changed the key store’s password, then you must change the plug-in key store’s password, which removes the pending password expiration, to avoid a security exposure. Generally, as a best practice, IBM recommends you always change passwords from the default value to enhance the security of your system.

In reference to this specific security exposure concern, a majority of users do not reference the affected file at runtime and therefore are not impacted. However, a small minority of users must take action and use certificate management tools to remove the password expiration prior to April 26, 2012 to avoid experiencing this issue.

All the instructions for fixing this issue are contained in the technote, so take a read and make sure you’ve got this covered.

For the record, my advice when configuring a new Connections environment is to create a new keyfile with your own password, create a self-signed certificate or request a certified one from Verisign etc, then to import the certificates into WAS.  This is all detailed in the presentation that Rob Wunderlich and I gave at Lotusphere 2011.

Social Connections III – Registration is open, session abstracts invited!

by with No Comment Events

Social Connections (the IBM Connections user group) is back, returning for its third event.

The IBM Connections User Group

Scheduled for Friday 22nd June 2012 at the IBM Labs in Dublin, this is the best chance you’ll have this year to hear directly from IBM Connections customers, consultants, partners, advocates and developers. Yes, developers too! By the kind invitation of IBM we are going direct to their European development base in Dublin, home to many members of the IBM Connections coding team. We’ll have sessions from IBMers on topics such as customisation, widget development, installation and management of Connections. Given that Connections 4.0 is imminent, you may get a sneak peak of what’s coming up in the future too!

However, this is a User Group rather than an IBM education event, so it won’t just be IBMers speaking. With two tracks (Business and Technical) we’re after the best of the best from around the community to speak at the event. As we’ve had at SocCnx I and II, the event will have a mix of customer case studies, adoption advice, technical show-and-tells, panel Q&As, and a few sessions we just can’t predict right now!

The call for session abstracts is open now, and closes on 30 April 2012, so if you would like to submit an abstract to be considered (for a 30minute session) please register for the event today and submit your idea. We’re particularly keen to hear from those outside the usual ‘bubble’ so if you’ve never spoken at Lotusphere or any of the other LUGs please don’t let that put you off. The Social Connections crowd are a very friendly bunch and we’d love to hear some new voices!  If you have any questions, please contact Sharon or Stuart for more info.

All the details are at SocialConnections.info, so please head over there to register and to submit an abstract.

You can also join the LinkedIn or Facebook groups, or follow all the news on Twitter (@SocCnx).  Hope to see you on June 22nd!

Connections Desktop Plug-ins for Microsoft Windows now available

by with One Comment Misc

The IBM Connections Desktop Plug-ins Microsoft Windows is intended for Microsoft Windows users, adding social networking features and functionality from IBM Connections services, including Activities, Communities, Files, and Profiles.

The IBM Connections Desktop Plug-ins for Microsoft Windows provides the following features from Windows Explorer:

  • Upload files for personal use or to share with others
  • Upload files to a community or attach them to an Activity
  • Share existing Connections files with other users or with a community
  • Drag and drop files from your desktop to Connections Files or to a community
  • View and manage versions of your files
  • Add comments to files or recommend files
  • Edit and publish local drafts to Connections
  • Pin or follow folders and files for easier tracking
  • View business cards for people and invite them to your network
  • Easily access all Connections features via browser links

The IBM Connections Desktop Plug-ins Microsoft Windows supports:

  • IBM Connections 3.0.1.1
  • Microsoft Windows XP SP3 (32-bit), Windows Vista (32-bit), Windows 7 SP1 (32-bit, 64-bit)

I’ve been looking forward to this plug-in for a very long time, so I’m excited we have it for deployment today.  I know a number of customers that have been holding back on full-scale deployment of Connections until they have native access to Connections Files, so this will make a significant difference.  Hopefully the Mac version won’t be too far behind 😉