Lotusphere 2012 - Social Software

Chris  29 January 2012 10:57:49

It has been almost a week now since we returned from Orlando. Lotusphere 2012 was a rollercoaster in many ways. This blog entry summarizes this year's visit to IBM's leading conference.

Strange enough it's hard to explain to my 6 and 9 year old that Lotusphere (Disney) is anything but a vacation. Up at 6 AM, quick breakfast, sessions all day until 6 PM. And OK, we had some parties (i.e. @ Kimonos) and Seaworld was nice, but that's not the way I spend a vacation normally. Believe me, it's hard work.

Lotusphere 2012 was all about Social. OpenSocial 2.0, IBM Connections Next and even Notes/Domino Social Edition were big subjects this year. So main topic was Social Software, but what is Social Software? I found this definition on Niklas Heidloff's blog.

So here is finally what I think Social Software is. I think of Social Software as the next generation of collaboration which solves fundamental issues collaboration had:
1) Information scatter issue
2) Information flood issue
3) Sharing issue
4) Integration issue

Social Software is Collaboration Software on steroids. How does IBM help us to socialize our software applications? With the adoption of open standards like OpenSocial, oAuth and REST throughout their software portfolio IBM enables us to gather and structure information from various sources. Offering our users a combined information/activity stream with updates from both business (e-mail, workflow apps, etc.) and private (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) sources.

Another important aspect of Social Software is the sharing of information through different devices. That's where the Extension Library and the Mobile Controles come in. In combination with XPages building applications for mobile (iPhone, iPad, Android, etc) has become a lot easier.

Probably one the most remarkable announcements  this year was the Notes Application Player Plug-in. Classic Notes apps go into the browser, unmodified.

Though we've occasionally hinted and once demonstrated the plug-in before, today is the first time we've formally announced it and done a public demo. The plug-in runs in Windows browsers -- Firefox and we'll probably do one other -- and allows Notes applications to run unmodified in the browser. The plug-in is a one-time download, much like the Adobe Acrobat model, where once installed, the browser can access Notes applications directly.

It is still hard to get any details on the plugin, but it might be a game changer.

2012 will be an exciting year for Notes/Domino, including Lotus Traveler. Release 8.5.4 is scheduled somewhere this summer. Your Notes Client / iNotes might look like this:

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LS12 - First impression

Chris  18 January 2012 00:16:27

So far so good. After three days of sessions and a lot of discussion it's time for a first review of Lotusphere 2012. First of all go see the Liveblog of the OGS (Opening General Session), it sums up pretty much everything. Summarized Lotusphere 2012 (#LS12) is about Social and about IBM Connections. Because we have more of a Notes Domino/XPage background/interest I will get into further detail on these subjects and leave Connections to the real experts.

Notes embedded in the browser
Notes client as a plugin in your browser, how cool is that? All very beta, but we saw some screenshots of the Notes client in the browser. There is not a lot information right now so I will investigate and visit the labs to  see what I can find out. What do we know? The client is a plugin in the browser. The user will have to download up to 100 MB and install the client in IE an FF. Actions will appear under right-click. Client email is not supported. See Ed Brill's blog for more information. See if we can find some answers the next few days.

Domino/Notes Social Edition
IBM is really embracing Social in their products. In short notice 8.5.4 will be released (code drop 2 is available). The version following 8.5.4 is called the "Notes/Domino Social Edition". In a session about OpenSocial we saw some nice social capabilities in both the Notes client and iNotes. The so called Activity stream is a good example of social enablement and gives a completely different user experience in the messaging and collaboration area.




IBM Docs
Not too much creativity on picking a new name for Concord/Lotuslive Symphony, but what's in a name? The demo's I saw were pretty impressive. Editing of a single odt document simultaneously by two users in the browser (and even some workflow). Unfortunately you'll need a fully operational Connections environment or Lotuslive, so there's a caveat.  

All very promissing and more to come. I will keep you posted.

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Preparing for Lotusphere 2012

Chris  4 January 2012 21:12:47

Finally! In a few days we'll be flying to Orlando, Florida to attend Lotusphere 2012 (or should I say "IBM Connect 2012"?). It's been a while, so I'm really excited to travel to the US with Daan and Mark.  I have been at Lotusphere twice (2007 and 2009). And it is great to see that each Lotusphere has it's own characteristic theme and topics. Back in 2007 we had the shift to Eclipse and the introduction of IBM Connections. In 2009 I was privileged to see XPages get introduced to the IBM/Domino family.  What to expect this year?

First of all I expect to catch up with some old friends. Planning to visit some parties/drinks and off course the wednesday night party (@ Seaworld I heard). But in the end it's all about the sessions (right). The sessions have been online for a while (iPhone and iPad apps available) and it is not too difficult to see the big picture: This year it will be all about XPages, Mobile and Social (Connections). No surprises there.

After the OGS (opening general session) we will know more about future releases and direction. I hope we'll get to hear some great announcements. If you want a sneak preview, listen to this interview with Alistair Rennie and try not to count the "you-knows" (=annoying).

I intend to blog about the sessions I visit (and Lotusphere 2012 in general), so stay tuned.

Chris
@Drenth
P.S. You can find me with LSFinder

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2011 en 2012

Chris  27 December 2011 16:00:10

Kerst is inmiddels achter de rug. De laatste dagen van het jaar zijn weer aangebroken. Time for a reflection.

2011 was in veel opzichten een interessant en succesvol jaar. Een overzicht van de "hoogtepunten" van het afgelopen jaar (in willekeurige volgorde):

1. We zijn onze klanten en relaties weer erg dankbaar voor het gestelde vertrouwen, de innovatieve projecten en de prettige samenwerking!
2. 2011 was het jaar waarin "XPages" definitief is doorgebroken. Met name OpenNTF, Extension library en de Mobile controls hebben stevig bijgedragen aan de doorbraak en de adoptie van XPages. Domino is sexy again.
3. In 2011 zijn we gestart met de ontwikkeling van een tweetal vernieuwende applicaties, volledig gebaseerd op XPages (en in de cloud). De verwachtingen zijn hooggespannen. Later dit jaar meer hierover.

2012 wordt in meerdere opzichten een uitdagend jaar. We gaan ons nog meer richten op XPages en mobile applications en we lanceren een tweetal nieuwe product-initiatieven. Een blik in de glazen bol leert ons bovendien dat:

1. We het jaar weer goed gaan beginnen met Lotusphere 2012.
2. De wereld op 21 december om 21:21 vergaat.
3. Het aandeel Apple 50% minder waard wordt (volgens "Outrageous preditions 2012").
4. En lees de nieuwe 5-in-5 van IBM Research:

We wensen iedereen een gezond en succesvol 2012!

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