New role at IBM! Ecosystems on #Analytics, #socbiz , #Mobile, #Cloud & Big Data & Entrepreneurship
I am truly excited to be taking on a new role here at IBM! As General Manager of Ecosystems, ISVs and Entrepreneurs or our IDR group, I look forward to the opportunity to work with a wide range of talented and innovative business partners, clients and IBMers to help enhance IBM's position as a leader - fostering growth and success through influencer partnerships. I'm hitting the ground running. Here's a few areas I am focused on...
First, nurture our Startup partners so we can achieve more together! IBM's commitment to the entrepreneurial community is stronger than ever and will continue to grow, as evidenced by the success of the
IBM Global Entrepreneur Program
Since 2010, this program has helped launch more than 500 new businesses in key areas such as green energy, health care and transportation. How? By nurturing startups, bringing them into our 121,000-strong business partner ecosystem and helping them get their technologies ready for market. IBM's work with startup companies helps us build and strengthen new markets such as cloud, mobile and big data/analytics. It also extends our geographic reach -- for example, to companies like Sproxil in Africa.
Second, continue to grow the IBM SmartCamp initiative. Past SmartCamp participants have gone on to generate more than $90 million in VC/Angel funding following their work with IBM. With your help, I intend to deepen our commitment - focusing on nurturing and deepening our relationships with Startups so we can achieve broader success with more partners.
Finally, in an effort to spur ecosystem growth, we will focus deeper on our fundamentals: drive awareness to recruit new ecosystem partners; work closely with partners to enable our technologies with their solutions; and actively drive our go-to-market activities and sales engagements.
We will continue to focus on strategic initiatives, including Smarter Analytics, Social Business, Mobile and Cloud computing and our overall Big Data strategy. And we will show our partners and customers how they can use IBM expertise and resources to drive results through our "Learn - Build - Sell" model:
Learn: Understand the benefits we offer our partners and increase their technical and business expertise
Build: Differentiate partner solutions using our resources, and collaborate with leading technical experts
Sell: Expand the ecosystem network and drive demand for joint solutions
With our combined energy, innovation and expertise, I'm confident we can make it happen.
Time to get moving and I'd love to hear from each of you on how I can assist!
Safety is a great Social Business Use Case!
Happy Monday! Today's Social Business Coffee Break is featuring a surprise use case --- Safety. I love this one as it does have high ROI in reduced worker's compensation but the ROI I love is saving employees from injury.
Take a listen!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zTS5uh2RFI&feature=youtu.be]
Social Media Tip of the Week – 3 Social Media sins you should avoid
Social media is a great way to connect and work with people. But don’t make these mistakes in the business world of Social Media:
1. Not responding to messages, post, tweets or comments (-> Social Media means communication!)
2. Sharing every little thing you do or like (-> not everything is for the public world to see)
3. Using every Social Media site ever invented (-> not every platform is relevant and useful for everybody)
Join me July 31st on GET BOLD for Social Business!
Today, everyone is talking about social. You hear about politicians, movie stars, and everyone in between talking about social, using social with Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, etc.
But you’re a business. What does all this mean to you?
Sure, your business has a website, and it probably has a social media executive responsible for posting and /or monitoring comments about your company that might be posted on Twitter or Facebook by customers. But ask yourself….is your company a social business company? Are you leveraging social to be more customer-driven? Are your employees engaged with social in their jobs? Are you really utilizing the tools and techniques that social offers to improve your business and take advantage of opportunities for growth?
Join me on Wednesday, July 31, on the Victory Circle Radio hour as I talk about my book, “Get Bold”, in which I provide a framework for social. www.victorycircles.com/radio-show
I’ll also share some case studies of companies who have successfully used social technology to connect with customers, helping them create communities and experiences they need. According to a recent study, some 60% of customers use social media to discover new brands and products; 46% of customers use it to strongly influence their purchase decisions; and 40% check social media before making purchase decisions. Your customers are already connecting and talking about your brand. Are you connecting with them so they can become brand advocates? I’ll share examples of customers who have successfully used social technologies to listen to and respond to their customers.
Becoming a social business is about more than simply building a social network. It’s about offering information and services that your customers and partners need. There are companies who have successfully used social technologies and offered meaningful services to their customers, while gaining critical feedback from the customers. It’s about collecting and understanding the data that’s available on the various networks. About 81% of purchasers get product purchase advice from social networks. You need to know who is saying what, and know how to tap into the conversation.
Today, it’s an economic reality that social is here to stay. According to an IBM study, during the next 5 years, 95% of standout organizations will focus on getting closer to the customer. Join me on Victory Circle Radio on July 31 and hear how my social framework can help you become a social business.
Socialytics!
Did you know that CEO’s & CIO’s identified “Insight & Intelligence” as the number #1 focus over the next 3-5 years? Doing Social without Analytics really doesn't make much sense in today's world.
According to IBM's CEO Study, C-level executives are worried about enhancing customer loyalty and better understanding what customers want.
We are calling this Socialytics -- a way that companies can simply collect big data across the social spectrum, and within seconds conduct complex analytics functions that show what your customers are saying and buying. What your competitors are saying and doing. And what is happening in the markets in real time.
It is the combo of Social + Analytics + Big Data!
Essentially we are providing valuable insights and intelligence to business executives so they can make more informed business decisions.
I think this is core to Social -- being able to combine the analytics with the social data.
Innovation is a Social ROI winner!
Happy Monday -- grab that cup of coffee for your Social Business Coffee Break!
Today we are continuing the series on Top Use Cases driving strong ROI for companies around the world.
Today's focus in on innovation -- that #1 rated item for most companies per IBM's CEO study.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnb4onPPbAs&feature=youtu.be]
IBM Voices -- Explore IBM's Social Expertise!
I am very excited about IBM drinking its own champagne on Social This experience is invalable in being able to communicate Social to all of you!
I wanted to share with you IBM Voices today.
What is Voices?
IBM Voices allows you to discover the most valuable social content shared, created and discussed by IBMers.
You can use the site to connect and participate with key thought-leaders and subject matter experts around the technology and business issues that are most important to you.
Try it --- for your use of value to you on the IBM expertise! But also for the potential to do this for your company too!!
Woo Hoo! Today, I am top of the list.
https://www-304.ibm.com/social/aggregator/voices/voices
Do you have "Social Employees"?
Check this out and see the insights!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZK7EXj4lDkA]
Speed and Influence of Social --
The slideware presentation demonstrates the speed and influence of social media on enterprises - and the affect of their responses. If you have not seen this, I think you would find it interesting.