IBM targets social media boom

IBM is tapping in to the burgeoning market for social media software with the launch of a new scheme which harnesses information from social media platforms to enable companies to communicate better with customers, suppliers and in-house teams.
The move follows the release of Accenture Technology Labs’ Social Media Engagement Manager which measures the customers’ level of engagement to determine and predict how they should use social media to engage with their audience.
The new IBM Connections software allows companies to track and trace data throughout their organisations, enabling them to transform virtually every part of their business operations from marketing, customer service and sales, to product development and human resources.
“The benefits of social business are too great to ignore,” said Alistair Rennie, general manager of collaboration solutions at IBM, in a statement. “A social business can confidently activate networks of people to use a variety of tools, to improve and accelerate innovation.”
According to IBM’s 2011 CIO Survey, 55% of chief information officers plan to invest in collaboration and social networking to increase competitiveness over the next few years. In addition, 77% of CIOs are looking to change their internal processes over the next three to five years.
Meanwhile, Gartner recently said that “by the end of 2013, half of all companies will be forced to produce material from social media websites”.

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