It has been a week since Lotusphere 2012. This year’s event was quite exciting in that it a lot of the ideas and concepts that were discussed in 2011 were put into action offering up new capabilities to the Lotus Notes community delivering on the promise of a more social platform. One of the primary messages of the event is that social media has transformed our business landscape by fundamentally changing the way people interact in a business context. We truly live in an era where information workers are no longer chained to their desks and are more mobile and connected to colleagues and friends. In fact, the merging of both personal technology and business tools have created a social business environment that has resulted in a new business paradigm that demands more open and flexible technology that will need to adapt to the multiple platforms accessible via note books, tablets and mobile devices.
This year’s mystery celebrity guest speaker Michael J. Fox was a great example of how we live in an age where the lines between personal and business applications are blurred. As Michael J. Fox told his story battling Parkinson’s disease, social media and the web were described as avenues where he could personally connect to a support community, while at the same time leverage the same tools to build awareness and funding to find a cure to this debilitating disease. Again, a great example of how social media tools are being used in both a personal and business context.
At this year’s Lotusphere event, IBM has recognized that today’s information worker (or in our world, AKA the project management practitioner) does not leave his or her “work” at the office. Consequently, the Lotus Notes and Domino platform’s survival will depend on adapting to this new reality by facilitating an easy extension of its powerful collaboration platform. IBM was clear to emphasize its most current capabilities delivered through IBM Connections provides the ability to easily transform your Lotus Notes applications into social, cloud and mobile platforms that will secure its place in the future of businesses.
