This document discusses how IBM has adopted social tools and transformed into a social business. It provides examples of how IBM employees now use social media internally to find experts, brainstorm ideas, and collaborate on projects from anywhere in the world. Social tools like IBM Connections allow over 300,000 IBM employees to easily share knowledge, connect with coworkers, and work together more effectively across traditional boundaries. The adoption of these social practices has helped IBM address business challenges like engaging a large, global workforce and innovating more openly.

1. Social Business Transformation in IBM
Social Collaboration and
Communication at Work

2. © 2014 IBM Corporation2
Who I am
• I have always felt communications
and collaboration are key to getting
important work done
• Social tools are just new ways to do
this
• I’m not an “expert” at social – I find
ways to help IBMers understand and
use it
• I’ll try anything twice… but I won’t be
the first one!

3. © 2014 IBM Corporation3
Humans have evolved technology for communications
• Complexity
• Distance
• Persistence
• Real time
• Two way
• 1-1, 1-many

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.
• Do you use Twitter?
• Are you on Facebook?
• Do you use Pinterest?
• Do you use Instagram?
• Do you use Google Docs?
What else helps you share and connect?
Raise your hand…
if you use social media

5. © 2014 IBM Corporation5
What do you do with social media?
• Find fun things to look at
• Share ideas, images
• Connect with friends
• What else?

6. © 2014 IBM Corporation6
So what does this have to do with business?
A Social Business is one that embraces
networks of people to create business value
A social network is a
network of people.
The value is in the
relationship “between”
people – and the
reciprocal activity of
giving and receiving, i.e.
of helping others out, (so
they can help you back)

7. © 2014 IBM Corporation7
Why is social important to IBM?
Demographics
• Big, world wide company
– 400,000+ employees in over 200
countries
– 71% of employee population is
outside of the US
• Young, diverse population
– 50% workforce has been here less
than 5 years
– > 50% of employees work remotely,
not from a traditional office
Vision
• Encourage people to connect with
one another, share information and
expertise, to innovate and
accomplish just about anything
• Engage across traditional
boundaries and hierarchies
• Speed up business and address
new opportunities
Business Trends

8. © 2014 IBM Corporation8
Benefits of Internal Social Business Adoption
% of respondents reporting at least 1 measurable benefit at their companies
Source: How social technologies are extending the organization, McKinsey Quarterly 2011, https://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/article_print.aspx?L2=4&L3=43&ar=2888

9. © 2014 IBM Corporation9
What do we use social for at work?
• Establish expertise
• Find the right expert
• Engage the expert or
their content
• Share Knowledge
• Find information
• Discover Insights
• Learn
• Publish
• Engage in conversations
• Listen
• Work with my network
• Manage collaborative
work
• Obtain Insights from Social
Content
• Assess/ Recommend
Relationships
• Measure Social Interaction
Leverage Expertise
Share Knowledge
Cooperate Socially
Communicate Openly
Assess and Analyze

10. © 2014 IBM Corporation10
What social tools do we use at IBM?
Establish and Find Expertise
• Expertise Location
• Profiles
• Networks
• Messaging
Analyze and Recommend
• Social Listening/ Mining
• Social Sentiment Analysis
• Dynamic Recommendations
• Liking/ Recommending
Innovate and Inspire
• Ideation Blogs
• Jams
• Crowdsourcing
• Gamification
Share Knowledge
• Blogs
• Files
• Wikis
• Bookmarks
• Updates
Cooperate Socially
• Communities
• Activities
• Forums
• Co-editing
• Web Meetings
• Voice/video calls
IBM Verse
A New way to Work
IBM Connections

11. © 2014 IBM Corporation11
Social tools help us Connect & Collaborate with IBMers,
our customers, and partners
…from
anywhere...
…at
anytime…
…much more
effectively…

12. © 2014 IBM Corporation12
How do we do it?

13. © 2014 IBM Corporation13
Finding an answer to a question
• How we used to do it
– Send an e-mail to someone who
might know
– Copy several others because
they might also be able to
answer… or might need to know
the answer
• Result
– Confusing e-mail “threads”
– Limited few benefit
– Short life
• How we do it now
– Post on someone’s Profile
Board or into a Discussion
Forum
– Send an e-mail response to a
Blog in IBM Verse
– Anyone can answer the
question or comment
• Result
– Everyone can benefit
– Information lasts for future use

14. © 2014 IBM Corporation14
Finding an answer to a question

15. © 2014 IBM Corporation15
Finding an “Expert” to help with a client need
• How we used to do it
– Call, instant message, or
e-mail people we know –
ask them if they know
anyone
• Result
– Many calls or e-mail chains
later, you find the right
person
– If you are not already well
connected, this takes a lot
of time
• How we do it now
– Use IBM Expertise
app to search for
people with right
knowledge or skills in
right place
• Result
– Easily identify, and
reach out to a number
of people who can help
– Add them to your
favorite expert network
to aid future searches

16. © 2014 IBM Corporation16
Brainstorming for new ideas or solutions
• How we used to do it
– Gather a few people who
we think can contribute
– Get together and
brainstorm in a room
• Result
– Good ideas from a limited
time and group of people
• How we do it now
– Use ideation blog to capture ideas
and have social voting
– Use discussion forums to pose
questions and get ideas and answers
• Result
– Lots of ideas from across the entire
company and world – even people you
don’t know!
– Can brainstorm for little ideas as well
as big ones

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“Ideation Blogs” are a specialty social tool to help brainstorm

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Even our CEO uses ideation blogs to get input
from across IBM!
Ginni Rometty – Chairman, President and CEO
Armonk, NewYork

19. © 2014 IBM Corporation19
Wisdom of the Crowds
50,000
400
4,514 4,510
BBC Jellybean Experiment

20. © 2014 IBM Corporation20
Funding an idea
• How we used to do it
– Document the idea, build a
business case, create a
presentation, share it with
appropriate management
• Result
– Only people who know who to
go to and how to define benefits
are likely to be successful
– Takes a lot of time
– Most small ideas never get
funding
• How we do it now
– Opportunities to share
innovations available in many
communities, contests, and
iFund programs
• Result
– Anyone can submit ideas for
funding
– Many people get to vote funding,
promoting ideas that really add
value

21. © 2014 IBM Corporation21
IBM’s IFundIT program drives innovation socially
• IBMers register as
“investors”, each with
“$1000” to allocate
• Ideas submitted
• Investors allocate
their money
• 1Q2014 – of 1000
ideas submitted, 204
projects published,
42 fully funded and
development started
on the apps

22. © 2014 IBM Corporation22
Facts and trends about collaboration in IBM
• 300,000 active users on IBM Connections (including contractors, partners),
500,000 communities, 3,000,000 Files shared
• ANYONE can launch a community space for work or side interest
• ANYONE can post information, comments, questions*
• Organizations and teams are moving more and more project work, meeting
materials, status updates, communications to social every day
*within the guidance of our Business Conduct Guidelines and Social Business Guidance

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What does it take to make a social business work?

24. © 2014 IBM Corporation24
Credits
• Making Connections with Jim – ebook
http://www.slideshare.net/ibmsocialbiz/ibm
-connections-chapter1
• Many IBM colleagues who have published
lots of great stuff around social business…
which we all re-use every day!

25. © 2014 IBM Corporation25
Questions?