Posts Tagged 'GTU'

Talking Innovation and Technology /w IBM Research

Published October 27, 2009 Uncategorized Closed
Tags: , , , , , , ,

Just returned from a very unique gathering, held by IBM HRL (Haifa Research Labs) and IBM GTU (Global Technology Unit). The 2 divisions teamed up and invited local bloggers (~25) to an evening of technology and innovation, coupled with food & wine of course. The purpose of the event was to expose some of the work HRL researchers are doing at the various locations in Israel and what applications and services have been deployed internally, towards a future IBM Product or Service.

Coming from Big Blue I was no stranger to the innovative thinking and the endless possibilities HRL researchers posses. No wonder IBM invests $6B annually in R&D. The presentations were more like short pitches, 10-15min each, covering 3 topics:

  • Do smarter people make smarter search engines?
  • Is it all about context?
  • Shouldn’t non-techies be able to create online applications?

The crowd was very involved in the pitch, questioning possible applications and services, how metadata is gathered and filtered, and more. As a research facility, HRL are quite lucky to have a testing population of some 350,000 employees – which definitely helps shorten development cycles.Obviously I felt a strong connection to the 1st topic, being an advocate for corporate collaboration and knowledge management (E2.0). I think my 1,000+ social bookmarks are still part of IBM’s internal knowledge base (Dogear), available at the company’s intranet (w3).

In short, great event, interesting discussions and awesome people to brainstorm with.

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

5min with FuxyTunes and Mudo

Published February 7, 2008 Uncategorized Closed
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

There have been several announcements recently regarding Israeli hi-tech companies – either bought by large corporations or introduced what could be the next big thing in the business. Respect.

The first time I heard about 5min.com was over at Ouriel’s blog, when the company was chosen (along with 14 other) to travel to California for IsraelWebTour. I thought it’s a nice concept, making a 5min tutorial videos, but the only differentiator between YouTube for instance is that 5min.com are limiting the content in terms of time (5min max) and type (tutorial). My opinion still stands, and I guess only time will tell if I’m right or wrong. I hope I’m wrong.

On related news, Yahoo! announced earlier this week they are buying Israeli company FoxyTunes.com, which lets you control almost any media player and find lyrics, covers, videos, bios and much more with a click right from your browser. Again, Respect! I think FoxyTunes was the first extension in my Firefox – had no idea (at the time) it was an Israeli company…

Last but not least, is ModuMobile.com, from M-Systems founder Dov Moran. The company is said to introduce the next big thing in the world of mobile devices. And the short video they released to the web (excellent viral marketing example) didn’t shed more light on the mystery. Now I’m reading they will introduce their mobile solution in October 2008 – a mobile device that takes your personality where ever you go – laptop at work, mp3 in the car, GPS, media system at home, etc. Interesting.

These are only 3 examples of Israeli innovation. No wonder IBM Corporation decided to open up the Global Technology Unit (GTU) in Israel at 2001 – a corporate initiative to promote world wide business for IBM with Israeli-based technology companies. Not to mention the numerous Software and Storage acquisitions IBM made in Israel – XIV being the last one – and the excellent work IBM Haifa Research Lab are doing, both locally and worldwide.

IM is a business necessity

Published November 9, 2007 Uncategorized Closed
Tags: , , ,

Among the customers I met this week, there were 2 companies, very different in size and operation model. The one thing they had in common was their understanding that IM (instant messaging), and particularly EIM (enterprise IM) – is a viable business tool that improves employees’ productivity and promotes collaboration across the business. Those customers’ view on EIM is not so common is Israel, as most companies are considering IM as a “good to have” other than business necessity. But the trend is changing, as more and more companies are realizing the benefits of collaboration tools, including IM. Both companies are ISVs (Independent Software Vendor), with Hi-Tech orientation, handled by IBM’s Global Technology Unit (GTU). The buzz around Lotus Sametime is gaining momentum, with recent announcements from Lotus, Lotusphere 2008 and more than 16 million corporate users.

When talking to customers about collaboration, one must makes the connections between the different conversation technologies out there (chat, voice, video) and the benefit of a single platform to manage all of those technologies. Both customers are using VoIP, one is using Cisco while the other uses Asterisk open source solution. The world is headed towards convergence, unified communications and collaboration, that would allow us, employees, more freedom, and improve dramatically the collaboration within our company. Gartner even predicts that “Instant messaging will be de facto tool for voice, video and chat by 2011”. No need to wait that long – the technology is already here, and companies, specifically geographically dispersed companies, are making use of it right now.

Both customers I met will benefit from Lotus Sametime, and I think it’s worth mentioning that they are running on different messaging and application platform: one is using Outlook/Exchange while the second uses a combination of Notes/Domino for composite application and Outlook/Exchange for messaging. One of Lotus Sametime great virtues is that there’s no confinement to a single platform. Lotus Sametime will run on either platform, with the same features and ease of use. You can even run Lotus Sametime on Linux, and Sametime 8 will also support Mac’s Leopard. Over at ibm.com/lotus/sametime you can find an interesting brochure on Lotus Sametime integration with Microsoft applications [PDF].

Related articles:
Lotus Sametime tops corporate IM platform review
IBM Unified Communications and Collaboration solutions
The Future of Lotus Sametime, with Mike Rhodin, Lotus GM (webcast, registration required)
IBM to integrate UC into Lotus Symphony
Lotus Sametime Installation Webcast [12 min + slides]



Mobile & Media Consultant. I help startup companies launch products to the consumer market. Reach out: dvir.reznik [at] gmail.com
Website
About

Archives

Disclaimer

This is my personal blog. The postings here do not represent the thoughts, intentions, plans or strategies of my past employers or of my clients. It is solely my opinion.