IBM Lotus Connections 2.5: Planning and Implementing Social Software for Your Enterprise [Paperback]

Stephen Hardison (Author), David M. Byrd (Author), Gary Wood (Author), Tim Speed (Author), Michael Martin (Author), Suzanne Livingston (Author), Jason Moore (Author), Morten Kristiansen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 3, 2010 | ISBN-10: 0137000537 | ISBN-13: 978-0137000531 | Edition: 1

The Practical, Complete Guide to Leveraging the Power of Social Networks with Lotus Connections 2.5

 

The first book to cover the newest version of the breakthrough product from IBM: Lotus Connections 2.5. This book includes practical techniques for building dynamic networks of coworkers, partners, and customers that promote innovation, business agility, and authoritative guidance for business and technical planning, deployment, integration, and much more. Social networking is the newest frontier in business collaboration, and IBM Lotus Connections 2.5 gives businesses the tools they need to make the most of it–easily, securely, and cost-effectively.

 

In this book, a team of IBM Lotus Connections 2.5 experts thoroughly introduces the newest product and covers every facet of planning, deploying, and using it successfully. The authors cover business and technical issues and present IBM’s proven, best-practices methodology for successful implementation. The authors begin by helping managers and technical professionals identify opportunities to use social networking for competitive advantage–and by explaining how Lotus Connections 2.5 places full-fledged social networking tools at their fingertips. IBM Lotus Connections 2.5 carefully describes each component of the product–including profiles, activities, blogs, communities, easy social bookmarking, personal home pages, and more. The book contains practical coverage of administering Lotus Connections 2.5 and detailed guidance of integrating and extending Lotus Connections 2.5.

 

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Stephen Hardison is an IBM Certified IT Specialist with IBM Software Services for Lotus. He is responsible for the design, implementation, operation, and assessment of large-scale collaborative solutions using Lotus Connections, Lotus Domino, and WebSphere Portal. He lives near Austin, Texas. Stephen joined IBM in 1999, and has worked in the Information Technology industry for over 20 years. He has international experience, having worked on several worldwide deployments of IBM solutions in North and South America, Europe, and Asia.

 

David Byrd is an IBM Senior Certified Executive IT Architect with IBM Software Services for Lotus from Fayetteville, Georgia. He has been an IBM/Lotus employee for close to 10 years in a number of consulting positions covering various technology areas. David has a deep background in virtually all areas of Lotus products and technologies covering areas ranging from low-level API development to collaborative application architectures, security architectures, and messaging architectures. His current focus is on Lotus Quickr, as well as other collaboration technologies and associated deployment within enterprise customers. He has worked with Lotus Notes and Domino for over 15 years. David has authored several books and technical articles during his tenure with IBM.

 

Gary Wood is a Field Support Engineer with Lotus Field Support Services (FSS). In that role, he has been responsible for troubleshooting applications for some of the largest Notes/Domino installations worldwide, as well as providing training on the latest technologies from Lotus. He has been working with Notes and Domino since R3, with the past 10 years spent in consulting roles focusing on application architecture and development for various divisions within IBM. Gary has worked on various international assignments, from Canada to Venezuela and the United Kingdom to Malaysia.

 

Tim Speed is an IBM Certified Systems Architect with IBM Software Services for Lotus (ISSL). In that capacity, he is responsible for designing, implementing, and supporting various engagements with our clients. Tim lives in Denton, Texas. He has been an IBM/Lotus employee for over 12 years in various networking, technical, hardware and software support, and consulting positions. He has been working with Notes and Domino for over 16 years, focusing on administration roles and infrastructure. Tim also has international experience with working on infrastructure engagements in Spain, Brazil, France, Mexico, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, U.K., and Indonesia. Tim has also published more than 12 technical articles and 8 books.

 

Michael Martin is a Certified Senior Managing Consultant in the Messaging and Collaboration Practice for IBM Software Services for Lotus (ISSL) group, focusing on organizational development, change management, and social software adoption. He has consulted with many international companies on the global deployment of organizational changes related to technology implementations. He has provided consulting services for organizational analysis and design, communications strategy and deployment, training strategy development, leadership coaching, social network analysis, organizational culture analysis, and stakeholder management. He has over 32 years’ experience in manufacturing and service industries, including 24 years in line management and management consulting. He has published one article on collaboration and organizational culture.

 

Suzanne Livingston has held various roles within software development, including development, design, user research, and now product management. Suzanne is currently the product manager for Lotus Connections, a social software suite for businesses and organizations. In the role of product manager, Suzanne has worked to define the overall product strategy, develop and drive the product requirements with engineering and design, work with customers and partners to shape the product, and publicize the product through demonstrations and presentations at numerous industry events. Suzanne began her career at IBM in the Collaborative User Experience Research group as a user researcher on the Unified Activity Management project and a developer and usability specialist on the Reinventing Email project. Currently, Suzanne holds an MBA with a concentration in Human Factors in Information Design, and she has a strong interest in collaboration technologies and personal and business productivity tools.

 

Jason Moore is a Field Support Engineer with Lotus Field Support Services (FSS). He is the WebSphere Portal lead for the FSS organization and has helped with the implementation, operation, and maintenance of some of the largest WebSphere Portal installations around the world. Jason has been with IBM for 7 years; during this time, he has focused on delivering customer engagements surrounding the performance and interoperability of Lotus Domino and WebSphere Portal.

 

Morten Kristiansen has been with IBM since 2000, where he first held a senior position in the Lotus Customer Support organization. Currently, Morten is the technical lead on the SVT team responsible for Lotus Connections. Morten’s other interests include automation and virtualization, areas where he has been implementing process improvements in his own direct team as well as his extended team. When not busy with the challenges of being a technical leader in IBM, he is the proud father of twin boys.

 

Product Details

• Paperback: 456 pages
• Publisher: IBM Press; 1 edition (January 3, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0137000537
• ISBN-13: 978-0137000531
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,611,944 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Thorough Introduction to Lotus Connections 2.5 and Social Software in the Enterprise, April 25, 2010

By 

Gregg Eldred (Avon Lake, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: IBM Lotus Connections 2.5: Planning and Implementing Social Software for Your Enterprise (Paperback)

I am not unfamiliar with IBM Lotus Connections, I have seen it demonstrated at many Lotus conferences and know of several local organizations that leverage the software. I understand the allure of social software, for example LinkedIn and Facebook. However, I have not looked closely at IBM Lotus Connections. After reading IBM Lotus Connections 2.5: Planning and Implementing Social Software for Your Enterprise, by Stephen Hardison, David Byrd, Gary Wood, Tim Speed, Michael Martin, Suzanne Livingston, Jason Moore, and Morten Kristiansen, I believe that I have a firm understanding of IBM Lotus Connections and, more importantly, the importance and benefits of social software within the enterprise.

Contents:

Foreword

Acknowledgements

About the Authors

Chapter 1: Social Networking Concepts

Chapter 2: Introducing Lotus Connections 2.5

Chapter 3: Lotus Connections Architecture

Chapter 4: Deployment Planning

Chapter 5: Install Planning

Chapter 6: Using Lotus Connections

Chapter 7: Administering Lotus Connections

Chapter 8: Extending Lotus Connections to Other Applications

Chapter 9: Using the Lotus Connections API

Chapter 10: Plug-Ins and Widgets

The authors take what I believe is a rather complex idea and software package and break it down into easy to understand concepts and procedures. Starting with a chapter on social networking, they explain the reasons for such software in the enterprise, This chapter should not be skipped, it is critical to the understanding of the rest of the book and is important to anyone even thinking about implementing social software within their organization. If you are currently having issues with acceptance of social software or wondering how to include more people in it, this chapter will help. After the introduction, we dive into Lotus Connections, but not all at once. The authors allow the reader to dip their toes into it, get used to one area, and then move deeper into the pool. It is a very effective teaching tool. Easily moving from the architecture to the planning to the installation, the reader will have no problem attempting to install Lotus Connections once those chapters have been finished. However, the authors do not stop there, they segue into using the software, administering it, and extending it in ways that you may not have considered. The end result is not only an excellent review and resource for IBM Lotus Connections but also a solid understanding of the value of social software in your organization.

As I am very familiar with IBM Press, I was not worried about reading a book authored by eight individuals. The editing, flow, and voice makes it very difficult, even impossible, to discern the individuals. However, the reader is provided with a solid resource for implementing, managing, and extending Lotus Connections authored by some of the best Connections technical minds and writers at IBM. I felt that once I finished the book, I was ready to install, at the very least, the pilot version of Lotus Connections. I realize that this may be a stretch, but this book certainly arms you with the knowledge to accomplish that task. Once you have the software installed and working, there will come a time where you will want to extend it to other applications. Whether you use Lotus Notes, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Office, Lotus Sametime,SocialText, or Confluence, this book covers it. If you have other needs, the chapter on the Connections API should help. While it isn't an exhaustive look at the API, it will get you started and also provide you with additional resources. Overall, IBM Lotus Connections 2.5: Planning and Implementing Social Software for Your Enterprise, by Stephen Hardison, David Byrd, Gary Wood, Tim Speed, Michael Martin, Suzanne Livingston, Jason Moore, and Morten Kristiansen, is another excellent book from IBM Press, one that demonstrates to the reader the value of social software to the organization and to the individual in general, and a deeper understanding of Lotus Connections 2.5 in particular.

Disclosure:

Obtained from: Publisher

Payment: Free

4.0 out of 5 stars An understanding of social networking in the workplace, March 18, 2011

By 

Chris Toohey (Pennsylvania, US) - See all my reviews

This review is from: IBM Lotus Connections 2.5: Planning and Implementing Social Software for Your Enterprise (Paperback)

For chapters 7 and 9 alone I'd call this book a must-have, but each chapter is invaluable to anyone planning, deploying, or maintaining an IBM Lotus Connections 2.5 environment.

Still, there are some people that might want to legitimately pass on this book, and as a result:

I would recommend this book to the following people:

- Systems Administrators, Application Developers, and IT Professionals interesting in learning more about IBM Lotus Connections 2.5.

This book can give you excellent talking points to quickly help you become an internal advocate for IBM Lotus Connections as social software in your organization.

- Systems Administrators, Application Developers, IT Professionals, and IT Consultants (in particular, yellow bleeders) interested in adding IBM Lotus Connections platform expertise to your skill set.

This book is an excellent introduction to the platform that quickly ramps-up for more advanced implementations, integration, and customization.

I would not recommend this book to the following people:

- Systems Administrators, Application Developers, and IT Professionals who have deployed, maintain, and customized several Connections environments.

While the examples are excellent, after your 5th time doing it you're more than likely an old hand, and your extending the Connections environment skills have gone far beyond introductory-level.

- Management (IT or otherwise) looking to understand social networking and social platforms for business.

This book specifically talks to IBM Lotus Connections 2.5, and it's scope is to not teach someone what social software for the enterprise is out of that context.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great guide to an excellent product!, July 6, 2010

By 

peter greaves - See all my reviews

This review is from: IBM Lotus Connections 2.5: Planning and Implementing Social Software for Your Enterprise (Paperback)

i got this book to help me work with IBM customers who are planning to install and use Lotus connections and it really helps me work out in practical terms how to get value out of the software, and what a decent adoption plan looks like : i like the focus on quick returns. the authors have thought a lot about the background, the nature of human collaboration and clearly reflect the need for culture and technology to work together to enable a fully collaborative organisation. one really important take-away is the collaboration-as-a-service framework underneath the software - the idea is as much to dress existing application (web- and rich-client) in collaborative experiences from the powerful set of data exposed thru the connections apis. and there's a good chapter for developers on getting started there. all in all, a must-read for anyone adopting IBM Lotus Connections and a bit of a lesson on important aspects of an enterprise social software suite for proiuct developers too, i'd imagine.