IBM launches new social networking platform for enterprises

IBM will today launch a social networking platform that allows organisations to track and monitor social data in real time.

The company said that users of the technology, called Connections Software, will not have to wait days for analysis. The technology can be immediately discovered, analysed and tagged to meet compliance regulations.

The software, developed in partnership with compliance capabilities specialist Actiance, features integrated compliance capabilities and uses microblogs, wikis, communities and activities to collaborate with clients, partners and employees.

IBM Connections also features social analytics to help users find experts and comment or vote on ideas within a community.

The Connections IdeaBlog is designed to allow crowdsourcing of ideas across teams and customers.

"The benefits of social business are too great to ignore," said Alistair Rennie, general manager of collaboration solutions at IBM.

"These advancements around compliance can bring people together to use and accelerate innovation."

IBM added that it will introduce Actiance Vantage for IBM Connections in the third quarter of 2011. This will archive and log social content to help enterprises remain compliant with corporate and government regulations.