Get Your BUZZ On - Instant Apps for Connections

I have to say it! Damn this one is exciting. I am BUZZING (literally!)

Over the years since we launched Kudos Badges for IBM Connections about 9 years ago now, we have delivered a series of new products and capabilities for IBM Connections, all with a focus on adoption and improving the user experience and hence engagement for users of Connections.

After Badges, came Kudos Analytics delivering deep analytics and reporting to Connections. Kudos Thanks and Kudos Awards delivered peer to peer and management award and recognition programs. Then most recently Kudos Boards which dramatically improved team collaboration and projects in Connections using Kanban style user experience. We also have something else coming very soon....think Idea's and Innovation for Connections but more on that later;)

Lets get our Buzz On!

Well now this one takes Connections to a whole new level. The great team at Kudos has been busily working away with another great team from Buzzy to now deliver Buzzy for IBM Connections.

An intelligent instant app platform for IBM Connections and Watson Workspace

Buzzy for Connections provides a better way for users to interact with each other via Citizen Apps.

Many of us remember the days when on another platform we would empower users to create apps for many different purposes. This enabled citizen developers and end users to rapidly build situational apps so they could quickly get on with business and complete the job at hand. These might be apps such as Contract Registers, Job Applications, Expense Re-imbursements, Executive Reports/Briefings, Field Sales Reports, Event Management.........the list goes on forever.

Buzzy for IBM Connections brings these and many many more instant apps to the Connections platform. In a matter of minutes your line of business users are able to create intelligent (via Watson Services) apps for whatever business outcome they want to achieve. These apps are rapidly delivered via both browser and mobile clients, fully integrated with IBM Connections.

Maybe your Marketing Department are planning on running an event. So you create a Connections Community of course to get the team together to plan, discuss and execute the event. So now with Buzzy for IBM Connections you can create an Event Management App that helps you to store and share the planning details. You might create another app - Event Registrations - this time open to external users as well so they can submit their RSVP's for the event. You might also want to share post event collateral with the attendees of the event - just create another Buzz!

In another part of your organisation, your HR Department are managing the recruitment of some new staff. They create a HR/Recruitment Community, and add an App for managing and creating job positions. They can list the job positions and determine the criteria and type of skills needed. Once ready they can post the job publically via the Job Application Submission App that allows candidates to submit their resume and applications. Then the HR team can work together to review the resumes and vote on who should get the interview!

Over the next few posts we will demonstrate Buzzy for IBM Connections with a few videos.

If you are interested in some more information, a demo, or even want to give Buzzy for Connections a try for yourself you can let us know here - Buzzy for IBM Connections. Come join us and get your Buzz On!

IBM Connect 2017 - Top 5 Highlights

Well what a huge week! There were so many interesting things going on at IBM Connect 2017 last week in San Francisco. I had some fantastic conversations with colleagues around the world and that is probably the most important part of Connect. Learning from others experiences, thinking about our future path, just fantastic.

Yet how to sum it up! Well here are my top 5 highlights for IBM Connect 2017. Let me know what yours were?

Kudos Boards for IBM Connections Video

Ok so after announcing Kudos Boards for IBM Connections about 2 weeks ago we have been flooded with questions asking for more..... So here is a video I recorded that demonstrates Kudos Boards in detail. We will be at IBM Connect next week in Orlando (Ped 113) so come see for yourself and give it a go. We would love to hear your ideas, to add to our own long list, on how you think we can make Kudos Boards even better. But for now we are very excited to show of the great work that the Kudos team has done to date. For more info...

The video has about 2 mins at the beginning explaining why we have built Kudos Boards. To skip straight to the magic just jump ahead to about 1m55s.

A pre-Connect 2014 teaser: Announcing Kudos Boards for IBM Connections

Well in the tradition that is Kudos and IBM Connect we love to announce new products leading up to Connect. And this year we have a doozy! We have been working away for quite a while on our latest idea to make Connections even better. What we call Kudos Boards for IBM Connections.

We love Activities in Connections. They are awesome! Working together on projects and leveraging Social Tools is a very powerful way of getting stuff done. However some Activities can get BIG! Sometimes users want to look at things in a slightly different way or organise the Activity slightly differently. Sometimes users don't need to see everything that is going on but just one part. Sometimes it would be easier if Activities was more VISUAL.

Wouldn't it be great if you could visualise an Activity...as a Board....similar to a Kanban Board, so you can drag and drop to organise Tasks and Entries. Wouldn't it be neat if you could filter the content of your Boards by Person, by Priority, by Colour code, or by any other filter you want? Imagine a visual Board where you can quickly create new sections....or Lists. One click to create an Entry or To Do......then quickly drag it to another List....or back. Wouldn't it be great if Boards could refer to other Boards. Wouldn't it be great if when you updated your Board everyone else that has that Board open has it refreshed instantly. Now wouldn't it be even better if you could take an existing Connections Activity and do all of this, and syncronize in real time every change back into the Activity. Best of both worlds!

Now take it to another level and imagine a way to visually group Boards/Activities together by category, or project type, or what ever you want! Pin your favorite Boards for quick access even. Kudos Boards does this and a whole lot more all seamlessly integrated into the IBM Connections interface. If you think that Kudos Badges was designed well then Kudos Boards will rock your socks:)

We will be announcing more on Tuesday the 21st of Jan, just before IBM Connect. Might even get a video published so you can see Boards in action. Then off course you can see it live at IBM Connect. Just look for the Kudos Ped 113 on the showroom floor. Watch this space! For now here are some screenshots and you can find out more at KudosBadges.com

Hmm. A new button in Activities. I wonder what that does?Kudos Boards - Visualize your Activity!Simple Drag and Drop of List and Cards on a Kudos BaordEasy Click and Edit of Lists and Cards. One Click to add a card!

Announcing Kudos Badges 2.1.1 - Connections 4.5, Mobile, Analytics & More!

Team Kudos have been working like bees over the last few months to bring even more features to Kudos Badges, which in January scooped an array of awards at IBM Connect in Florida, USA.

Now with the formal release of Kudos Badges 2.1.1, we've taken onboard a range of client requests and integrated a suite of improvements you are sure to enjoy too. Most importantly, 2.1.1 offers full support for IBM Connections 4.5!

Brand new formal features announced in 2.11 include Kudos Analytics, Kudos Awards, Kudos Mobile, as well as full support of the IBM Notes 9 Embedded Experiences. Read on for more details:

Connections 4.5 Support

Many of our clients around the world are already making to move to upgrade to IBM Connections 4.5, so ensuring Kudos Badges can not only support but take full advantage of the new capabilities in 4.5 has been a big priority. We love Connections 4.5 and wanted to make sure you could upgrade with the confidence that Kudos Badges is fully supported.

To start with:

A great new feature of IBM Connections and the IBM Notes/iNotes 9 Social Edition is the addition of Open Social Gadgets and support for embedded experiences. We've taken advantage of this to deliver a great user embedded experience within Connections and the Notes/iNotes clients (or anywhere that supports Open Social and embedded experiences for that matter!).

So what does this really mean for your users? Well in simple terms it means that they can interact with Kudos Badges in the context of their Notes client. This also means all Kudos Badges, Kudos Thanks and Kudos Awards are displayed in the Discover activity stream and you are able to like and comment on a Kudos related news item!

IBM Notes 9 - Embedded Experience

You can now experience Kudos in IBM Notes 9 with email notifications and an Activity stream widget.

• Watch the video...

Kudos Analytics

Kudos Analytics is the ideal light weight reporting and analytics tool for IBM Connections focused on user adoption.

Utilising data from both IBM Connections Metrics Applications and Kudos Badges, Kudos Analytics gives you the numbers you need to prove ROI, make decisions and plan your success. Looking at both Connections and Kudos, find out the answers to some key questions:

• How many people are using Connections?
• Which applications are being used most (Files, Communities etc)?
• How much is each feature in each application being used?
• How is each Community being used?

Kudos Analytics also really easy to install.

• Watch the video...

Kudos Awards

We've had some great feedback from our clients that really love Kudos Thanks. Users are telling us that Kudos Thanks in itself has created a positive culture of recognition and praise across their users, as well as making Connections a destination and driving further adoption. So we thought we could take this to a new level, and by popular demand have created Kudos Awards.

Kudos Awards allows management to acknowledge great achievements amongst their workforce, even integrate well-known workplace awards such as Employee of the Month. Users can build and customise an awards and recognition program to suit, such as certifications that have been achieved, awards for tenure or years of employment, and many other examples.

Kudos Awards integrates very nicely within IBM Connections, leveraging the Connections Profiles and Activity streams to promote users achievements.

We've Gone Mobile

Now you can 'give Thanks' and keep up with your Leaderboards while on the road! Kudos Badges Mobile can now integrate seemlessly with the new Connections Mobile app from IBM.

Kudos Badges Mobile provides seamless integration between IBM Connections Mobile app and Kudos Badges, without users having to install or regularly check-in with a separate app. We've also leveraged the authentication via the Connections App so users don't need to logon again - How neat is that!?

• Watch the video...

Find out more

To discover how simple it is to implement Kudos Badges into your workplace, or to learn more about how Kudos accelerates performance and productivity in your workplace, check our Youtube Channel or the website at www.kudosbadges.com. We're also available on twitter: @KudosBadges