Enterprise Applications: IBM Goes Social: 25 Examples of Big Blue Becoming a Social Business

With more than 426,000 employees, 100,000-plus contractors, and a broad range of business partners and customers, IBM has no choice but to be a social business. However, at the Lotusphere 2012 conference in Orlando, Fla., in mid-January, IBM CIO Jeanette Horan spelled out just how social a business IBM has become. Horan said that not only does IBM produce social software, the company also has become the largest corporate consumer of social technologies. IBM operates in 170 countries and is divided into five integrated operating teams and markets. On any given day, 50 percent of IBMers regularly work away from traditional IBM offices. About 12 percent are work-at-home employees, and another 20 or so percent are "road warriors"-mobile workers. About 6 percent are based entirely at client sites, and 3 percent work in manufacturing settings. IBM does a variety of things that support social business within the company, including using its own IBM Connections social software, as well as Cognos Consumer Insight for social listening. Other social enablers at IBM include: Global Business Services and social selling; online jams; the IBM Whirlwind mobile apps store; the Human Resources Department and new hires; an expertise locator; and the technology adoption program. For a related article click here.