Published on 28-Dec-2011
"IBM Connections lessens the difficulty of collaborating across time zones. We think it will bring our employees closer together, making them more productive in their interactions with others around the world." - Associate director, leading consumer products company
Customer:
A leading consumer products company
Industry:
Consumer Products
Deployment country:
United States
Solution:
Social Business Framework
Overview
A leading global consumer products company sells its products in over 200 countries and territories around the world. Headquartered in the US, the company employs some 24,000 people worldwide.
Business need:
At this large organization, communication between business users and the Global Information Technology (GIT) department was strained by excessive reliance on increasingly complex corporate email systems. Staff productivity and the ability to satisfy internal customers were both hindered by the lack of more effective communication and collaboration. Vital information was sometimes not exchanged or lost, and information sharing was limited by the asynchronous, point-to-point nature of email.
Solution:
GIT leveraged its strategic relationship with IBM to deploy a full suite of communication, collaboration and social networking software. Products deployed were IBM Connections social software with Web 2.0 features that can link employees across an entire global organization; IBM Lotus Quickr software, online team collaboration software; IBM Sametime software for unified communications and collaboration; IBM Lotus Notes and Lotus Domino software for enterprise communications and collaboration and IBM Lotus Notes Traveler, a free add-on that provides access from a personal mobile device.
Benefits:
· Improves employee productivity by providing dynamic collaboration capabilities, including instant messaging, blogs, wikis and discussion forums, and access via personal devices
· Facilitates faster and more responsive communication by enabling staff to connect with colleagues, share expertise and solve problems, regardless of location or time zone
· Speeds learning and improves operations with common collaboration tools and methods, enabling employees to easily reuse shared files, presentations and best practices across teams
Case Study
A leading global consumer products company sells its products in over 200 countries and territories around the world. Headquartered in the US, the company employs some 24,000 people worldwide.
Challenge
At this large organization, communication between business users and the Global Information Technology (GIT) department was strained by excessive reliance on increasingly complex corporate email systems. Staff productivity and the ability to satisfy internal customers were both hindered by the lack of more effective communication and collaboration. Vital information was sometimes not exchanged or lost, and information sharing was limited by the asynchronous, point-to-point nature of email. GIT staff working on IT projects required varied input from users in the field, which was difficult to provide and manage through email. In fact, sending attachments was the main method for document sharing, but large files tended to bog down the email system. In addition, email isn’t ideal for tracking the status of projects and teams across geographies and time zones. GIT also lacked a common repository for sharing and organizing files—for example, when a presentation was needed, it was difficult to know which of many versions was current. And despite the overreliance on email, users had no way to receive and send corporate email from personal devices such as smartphones.
Solution
GIT leveraged its strategic relationship with IBM to deploy a full suite of communication, collaboration and social networking software. Products deployed were IBM Connections social software with Web 2.0 features such as profiles, communities, blogs, wikis, forums and file sharing that can link employees across an entire global organization; IBM Lotus Quickr software, online team collaboration software that helps employees access and interact with the people, information and project materials needed to get work done; IBM Sametime software for unified communications and collaboration; IBM Lotus Notes and Lotus Domino software for enterprise communications and collaboration; and IBM Lotus Notes Traveler, a free add-on that provides access to email, calendars and contacts from a personal mobile device.
Benefits
· Improves employee productivity by providing dynamic collaboration capabilities, including instant messaging, blogs, wikis and discussion forums, and access via personal devices
· Facilitates faster and more responsive communication by enabling staff to connect with colleagues, share expertise and solve problems, regardless of location or time zone
· Speeds learning and improves operations with common collaboration tools and methods, enabling employees to easily reuse shared files, presentations and best practices across teams
For more information
Please contact your local IBM sales representative or visit:
ibm.com/software/lotus
Products and services used
IBM products and services that were used in this case study.
Software:
Lotus Notes Traveler, Lotus Quickr, Lotus Notes, Lotus Domino, IBM Sametime, IBM Connections
Legal Information
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2011 IBM Corporation Software Group Route 100 Somers, NY 10589 U.S.A. Produced in the United States of America December 2011 IBM, the IBM logo, ibm.com, Domino, Lotus, Lotus Notes, Quickr and Sametime are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation, registered in many jurisdictions worldwide. A current list of IBM trademarks is available on the Web at “Copyright and trademark information” at ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml Other company, product or service names may be trademarks or service marks of others. The information contained in this documentation is provided for informational purposes only. While efforts were made to verify the completeness and accuracy of the information contained in this documentation, it is provided “as is” without warranty of any kind, express or implied. In addition, this information is based on IBM’s current product plans and strategy, which are subject to change by IBM without notice. IBM shall not be responsible for any damages arising out of the use of, or otherwise related to, this documentation or any other documentation. Nothing contained in this documentation is intended to, nor shall have the effect of, creating any warranties or representations from IBM (or its suppliers or licensors), or altering the terms and conditions of the applicable license agreement governing the use of IBM software.