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My Thoughts On The Enterprise 2.0 Conference

The Enterprise 2.0 Conference in Boston is just winding down, so I wanted to quickly share some of my thoughts from the event.

1. Lotus Connections kicked MS SharePoint's butt all week.   I don't mean to sound surprised.   It is just that, with all the "perceived hype" around SharePoint, it was AWESOME to see that press, customers, and analysts raved about Connections all week long.  Here are some links, make sure your boss's read these!

• IBM wins round 1
• Enterprise 2.0: Round 1 to IBM
• Microsoft concedes that Lotus Connections is better than Sharepoint
• Microsoft says Sharepoint is a Portal, not Social Software
• Stars of Enterprise 2.0
• Lotus Connections causing a stir at Enterprise 2.0 conference
• Great response to Lotus Connections bake-off at Enterprise 2.0
• IBM kills Microsoft -- Comments from Twitter
• IBM trounced Microsoft in head-to-head competition
• IBM looks better for various reasons
• IBM shows Microsoft that social computing is about the people
• IBM-Microsoft shootout at Enterprise 2.0
• Enterprise 2.0: Social Computing: IBM vs Microsoft
• KMSpace: Social Computing Platforms IBM & Microsoft
• Reactions to SharePoint session at the Enterprise 2.0 conference
• KMHobbie: Social computing platforms - IBM & Microsoft
• CIO.com: Enterprise 2.0 Faceoff: Microsoft lags behind IBM in Social Software
• The 451 Group: Microsoft vs IBM
• First Day surprise at Enterprise 2.0 in Boston
• Enterprise 2.0: IBM's Social Networking Directions

2. The biggest change from last year's conference in my mind, was that rather than talk about technology, everyone was talking about culture.   Almost every session I went to, and hallway conversation I had was not about what product to use, but rather about how/when/where/why to get people using "social software".   What are the best practices?  What is the RIO? Where does this succeed, and where does this fail?  etc.

3. Everything now is about "the profile".   Walking around the demo floor, every monitor had a picture up of a person and their profile information.

4. Everyone I talked to was VERY positive towards IBM.   To be honest, in the past with the "2.0" crowd, I almost wanted to turn my badge around.  Not this year.

5. It was great to see old friends, and make new ones.  I'm thrilled to be introduced to new people, to engage in conversations, to start following new people on Twitter, and to connect with new LinkedIn profiles, but I am not the eager beaver I once was to inject myself everywhere I could.   The "Web2.0" world, much like the Lotus world has a lot of cliques, and while everyone is friendly, at times it can be hard to "break in".

6. I'm once again reminded about how advanced the Lotus Community is.  Things we've (IBM and our Partners) been providing for over a decade, are areas many customers are just starting to ask about.  I heard people asking about using blogs and forums to reduce email.   I heard people wondering about using chat.   I heard people asking about sharing documents.   Now I'm thrilled that we're so good in these spaces, but I'm also upset that all these customers don't know about the Lotus solutions that are available to them!   Please don't turn this into a slam against Lotus marketing thread.  I am well aware of, and share your opinions in this space.  Lotus should be the DOMINANT player in collaboration.   I ask you to instead more forward, and think on the POSITIVE side.   Lotus was all over this event, with a huge demo booth showing Notes, Quickr, Connections, and Mashups.   Many customers learned about Lotus this week, and that is a good thing. (see #1 and #4!).   I also had two "pure WebSphere" partners talk to me this week about wanting to expand into the Connections space.   Very cool.