IBM's Social Networking Push

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However, analysts say Lotus Connections offers richer functions than SharePoint and it's easier for workers to get going with the IBM product. "Ventura (the code name for Lotus Connections) is a more sophisticated social computing platform than what you get with Microsoft," says analyst Erica Driver of market researcher Forrester Research.

Unlike IBM, however, Microsoft added the social networking functions as features of its already-existing product rather than making it a separate package. "Having all of this stuff on the same infrastructure is very powerful," says Kirk Koenigsbauer, the general manager of SharePoint. For instance, the new release has a search function that allows users to find sharable content within any of SharePoint's programs, including its content management and business intelligence data. So, for corporate buyers, the choice will be between one large, multipurpose program and a slimmer, more focused one.

IBM has more than 20 corporations testing Lotus Connections, but, in fact, the software is already battle-tested. Most of the applications have been used inside IBM for months or years. For instance, with IBM's internal "blue pages" program, employees can search through the entire staff of more than 340,000 people for those with just the expertise they need to answer a question. The company decided just nine months ago to fold those technologies together and turn them into commercial products. "We were hearing so much marketplace buzz and so much was going on in Web 2.0, and it was clear we had an opportunity to build something for the enterprise," says Jeff Schick, vice-president, social computing for IBM's Lotus division.

Testers' Rave Reviews

During an IBM demonstration of Lotus Connections, it was clear that the product is easy to use and potentially powerful. Rather than relying on employees to load their work files into an old-fashioned knowledge management program, the new technology allows them to quickly attach electronic tags to important documents and interesting Web pages, and have them collected and updated behind the scenes by the software.

Some of the beta test customers are raving about it. The Film Foundation in Los Angeles has been using the activities application in Lotus Connections to help manage one of its major projects: The Story of Movies, an arts-appreciation program for high schools and middle schools. A widely scattered ad hoc team of about 60 researchers, writers, editors, designers, teachers, and movie creators are preparing educational materials to support teaching around The Day the Earth Stood Still, the 1951 sci-fi classic. Rather than using e-mail and sending paper documents around, they're using the IBM software to brainstorm, review each other's work, and get alerts when something new comes in to review.

The project is off to a smooth start, and Jennifer Ahn, managing director of the foundation, expects it to take about six months to complete—compared with 18 months for previous similar projects. "I'm sure we'll start doing more with IBM software, too," says Ahn. "The activities piece has been so successful for us, and I'd love to see what else the program can do."

Hamm is a senior writer for BusinessWeek in New York.