1. What are IBM Connections?

IBM Connections is social software for business that lets you access everyone in your professional network, including your colleagues, customers, and partners.

The latest capabilities in IBM Connections, such as Moderation, Ideation Blogs, and the Media Gallery, enable you to embrace networks of people who are engaged and to work in transparent and nimble ways to create business value.

  • Faster task execution through quick access to information from an expanded professional network
  • Increased efficiency and effectiveness of business processes using existing skills discovered through your professional network
  • Confident decision making, knowing decisions were vetted by experts across the organization and reflect past experience
  • Innovative products and services developed using the experiences and knowledge of communities of employees, partners, and customers
  • Sustainable competitive advantage created by leveraging innovation from across your value chain and building stronger relationships
  • Access to your social data while on the go.
  • Access to people and information in your existing IBM solutions, including IBM Sametime, IBM Lotus Notes, IBM Lotus Quickr, IBM Rational Team Concert, IBM FileNet Content Manager, and IBM Content Manager.

2. Try IBM Connections

Various public web sites offer deployments of IBM Connections where users can register for free and try it.

The IBM Lotus Greenhouse is hosted by IBM.

Bleedyellow is hosted by GBS.

Euluc is hosted by the German Notes User Group.

3. Extend IBM Connections

There are various ways to extend and customize IBM Connections.

For example widgets can be developed and embedded in different places in Connections.

There is also a REST APIs to access Connections services. The Social Enabler allows building custom XPages applications rapidly that leverage these REST APIs.

In order to get started for developers there is an IBM Collaboration QuickStart instance in the IBM SmartCloud. This instance comes with the deployed and pre-configured IBM products: IBM Connections, IBM Lotus Domino, IBM Sametime.