The document discusses avoiding the "seven deadly sins" of IBM Connections implementation and adoption. It details sins for both users and administrators, including wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony. For users, it recommends focusing on business value rather than metrics, maintaining appropriate social behavior, and daily engagement. For administrators, it suggests addressing errors, taking advice from others, change management practices, and evangelizing social use internally. It concludes with a "prayer of salvation" acknowledging the importance of social business and trusting users.
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Avoiding the seven deadly sins of IBM Connections and how to plot the route to Social salvation!
1. Avoiding the seven deadly sins of IBM
Connections and how to plot the route to
Social salvation!
Stuart McIntyre
Collaboration Matters
Image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Boschsevendeadlysins.jpg
2. Abstract
IBM Connections is the hot topic of the day - every IBM customer
should be looking at how the solution can help their business become
more open, collaborative and innovative.
However, its easier to fall into small mistakes with planning,
deployment and use of the technology, that turn into larger issues as
adoption of the solution takes off.
Stuart uses the experience of more than 30 customer deployments
over the past 4 years to detail the 7 deadly sins of IBM Connections,
explain easy-to-follow strategies to avoid them and help plot the
route to true Social salvation! All in 5 minutes!!
Image: http://unterart.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/7deadlysins02.jpg
3. About Me
about.me/stuartmcintyre
static.panoramio.com/photos/original/50217323.jpg
4.
5.
6.
7. What will you learn?
Seven deadly sins of Connections
For the users
For the technologists
‘Prayer of salvation’
Q&A
Image: http://www.slideshare.net/Niezette/100-pictures-for-powerpoint-presentations
8. For the users & business folks
Image: http://accountingstockton.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/business-people.jpeg
9. Wrath
Never blog, update status, comment or vote
in anger!
Social behaviour policies are essential
Image: http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs4/i/2005/139/8/b/Wrath_Seven_Deadly_Sins_by_shadowlurker1313.jpg
10. Greed
‘Activate your fans, don’t just collect them like baseball
cards.’
Jay Baer, Convince & Convert
‘Quit counting fans, followers and blog subscribers like
bottle caps.Think, instead, about what you’re hoping to
achieve with and through the community that actually
cares about what you’re doing.’
Amber Naslund, brasstackthinking.com
It’s not about the followers or hit counts!
Focus on business outcomes
Reward for exceptional behaviour
Image: http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs13/f/2007/104/c/3/7_Deadly_Sins___Greed_by_elestrial.jpg
11. Sloth
Try to be social every day
Commit yourself to updating or at least
checking your stream daily
If you break the sequence, get back in and
engaged ASAP
Image: http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs37/f/2008/274/8/2/The_Seven_Deadly_Sins___Sloth_by_Sugargrl14.jpg
12. Pride
‘If content is king, then conversion is queen.’
John Munsell, CEO of Bizzuka
Easy to fall into the ASW trap!
It’s about the value of the network and the
content, not about ones own value
Focus on how to add value to others
contributions and how to build others’
career and profile
Image: http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2011/099/c/1/seven_deadly_sins_pride_1_by_charrisphotography-d3dmftn.jpg
13. Lust
‘Don’t say anything online that you wouldn’t
want plastered on a billboard with your face on
it.’
Erin Bury, Community Manager at Sprouter, erinbury.com
Keep it business-appropriate
Easy to be misunderstood
Watch out for cultural differences
Image: http://wallpaperstock.net/fantasy-girl---seven-deadly-sins_wallpapers_15054_1920x1200_1.html
14. Envy
Easy for users to look at Facebook/Twitter/
Flickr/Instagram and say they want the great
new thing...
To a great extent that is fair, but Connections
is necessarily different
What is essential in public social web is
not always desirable inside the firewall
Social networks throw a lot of paint at
the wall, only some of it sticks
Image: http://www.wallz.eu/photo/273375/the-seven-deadly-sins-envy.jpg
15. Gluttony
‘Focus on how to be social, not on how to do social.’
Jay Baer, Convince & Convert
You want users to be engaged...
But, Connections shouldn’t become a distraction
Focus on positive business outcomes and value
derived
Adoption is important, but 100% adoption with
zero business value is route to failure
Image: http://th05.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2010/350/8/e/7_deadly_sins__gluttony_by_lips__like__morphine-
16. For the admins & devs
Image: http://ucommxsrv1.unl.edu/downloadables/photo/20081121codewarriors.jpgd3501fv.jpg
17. Wrath
Users won’t always get it...
More importantly, the business and portfolio
teams probably won’t get it first time...
That is not their fault
Explain, explain again... Train... Encourage...
Image: http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs4/i/2005/139/8/b/Wrath_Seven_Deadly_Sins_by_shadowlurker1313.jpg
18. Greed
You do not necessarily need that 16-node
16-core 32GB cluster for the PoC!
Tuning and design more important than
resources
But you need to be ready to scale later
Image: http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs13/f/2007/104/c/3/7_Deadly_Sins___Greed_by_elestrial.jpg
19. Sloth
Check those logs
Drill down into the errors
Turn on debug if/when necessary
Do not give in!
Image: http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs37/f/2008/274/8/2/The_Seven_Deadly_Sins___Sloth_by_Sugargrl14.jpg
20. Pride
Take pride in your design and configuration
But...
Take advice from others
And be ready to change
Every version, check your design, assumptions
and standards
Do not make changes to defaults or
customisations unless you can truly justify them
Image: http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2011/099/c/1/seven_deadly_sins_pride_1_by_charrisphotography-d3dmftn.jpg
21. Lust
‘Lack of self-control’
Change management is a very necessary evil
You must have a test/demo system, but my
preference is always three...
Dev (change is easy but documented)
Pre-prod (change managed, kept close to
identical to production, all changes tested here)
Image: http://wallpaperstock.net/fantasy-girl---seven-deadly-sins_wallpapers_15054_1920x1200_1.html
22. Envy
‘Insatiable desire for material goods’
Lots of customisations and management
products out there
Very few management tools really work well
with Connections or not holistic in nature
Customisations are starting to mature - Just
Nudge widgets, Kudos etc
Image: http://www.wallz.eu/photo/273375/the-seven-deadly-sins-envy.jpg
23. Gluttony
Hypocrisy
You must live the social life too
Exhibit social evangelism and skills to the rest of the
business
‘Walk the walk’
But, don’t let Connections become IT-dominated, use
private communities particularly in the early days
“Build it, and they will come” only works in the
movies. Social is a “build it, nurture it, engage them, and
they may come and stay.”
Seth Godin, sethgodin.typepad.com
Image: http://th05.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2010/350/8/e/7_deadly_sins__gluttony_by_lips__like__morphine-
24. ‘Prayer of salvation’
We acknowledge that Social Business is the next phase of collaboration
technology; that Connections gives users new ways of sharing that were not
possible in traditional team collaboration platforms; that every user deserves
the chance of use Social technology in their work.
We confess the sin of considering technology as the only aspect of deploying
Social Business.
We admit we are ready to trust users to behave sensibly and with common
sense.
We ask IBM to hurry up and give us Connections 4 as it is sure to rock!
Image: http://wallpaper4god.com/en/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Holy-Prayer.jpgd3501fv.jpg
25. Remember...
But in truth, social software
users do and the business
problems the tools address.
Jakob Nielsen, Usability Guru