Does IBM Dominate Enterprise Social Software?
June 27, 2012
For the third year in a row, market research firm IDC has found IBM to be the biggest seller of enterprise social software, according to eWeek’s “IBM Is Social Business Software Leader: Study.” According to the IDC study, last year IBM grew faster than any competitor, and nearly twice as fast as the overall market (no slouch at 40% growth). In addition, the write up reveals:
“IBM said more than 35 percent of Fortune 100 companies have adopted its social software offerings including eight of the top 10 retailers and banks. IBM’s social business software and services combine social networking capabilities with analytics to help companies capture information and insights into dialogues from employees and customers and create interactions that translate into real value, the company said.”
Yes, that’s what these systems do. IBM’s social networking platform, available both on-site and in the cloud, is called IBM Connections. But what about Watson? Isn’t that system social? We don’t see much of Watson, so is that system anti-social? Just a thought.
IDC expects the enterprise social platform market to reach $4.5 billion by 2016; that’s a 43% growth over those next four years. They see businesses aiming to apply social capabilities to every aspect of their operations—a huge boon for companies in that field. Is the social hype really as pervasive as this study suggests?
With Microsoft’s recent move in enterprise social software, I wonder if IBM is overstating its case.
Cynthia Murrell, June 27, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
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One Response to “Does IBM Dominate Enterprise Social Software?”
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Hi Cynthia, just wanted to chime in if I can. I’m the product manager for IBM Connections. I wanted to address your question on Watson. Watson is an amazing analytics engine and can figure out answers for the most obscure questions. Watson can certainly leverage many data sources, including those from social software platforms like IBM Connections. I certainly don’t see Watson as anti-social, but rather a great complement to any social software platform. Exciting times !