Home Developers are the Future – IBM and its Social Business Tool Kit

Developers are the Future – IBM and its Social Business Tool Kit

We saw in the Twitter stream yesterday a slide for IBM’s new social business tool kit that is being unveiied today at Lotusphere. The details are bare but you can see how social business will take center stage this week at the annual event.

The social tool kit is a developer play as pointed out by RedMonk’s James Governor in a recent post. IBM is a heavy adopter of social technologies that have been developed in consumer, social technologies. Developing a tool kit is a smart, natural step and a necessary one for IBM. Getting beyond the image of a legacy technology still dogs Lotus. IBM needs developers in order to make the mind shift with customers that Lotus is a platform more than a network of apps.

Last year at Lotusphere IBM launched Project Vulcan. It’s an open framework. You can see how it dovetails with the social business tool kit being discussed this week.

Governor noted IBM’s change in view after attending an IBM analyst event late last year where Lotus General Manager Alistair Rennie used language that shows the developer play that Lotus is making.

Governor noted some of the terms he used include:

  • Social Business platform design principles
  • web UI (see ibm project vulcan)
  • strong aggregator toolkit
  • mobile first as a design point
  • embedded experience
  • security model from the ground up



This falls in line with Project Vulcan and the standards it will support:

  • OpenSocial
  • Oauth
  • SAML
  • CMIS
  • ATOM
  • ActivityStreams
  • HTML5
  • OpenAJAX



We’ll see how developers view this approach by IBM. But it’s obvious that IBM is making a play for the social business market. Lotusphere this year will include a Social Business Symposium, another sign of the focus that IBM is putting on in providing a social platform.

About ReadWrite’s Editorial Process

The ReadWrite Editorial policy involves closely monitoring the tech industry for major developments, new product launches, AI breakthroughs, video game releases and other newsworthy events. Editors assign relevant stories to staff writers or freelance contributors with expertise in each particular topic area. Before publication, articles go through a rigorous round of editing for accuracy, clarity, and to ensure adherence to ReadWrite's style guidelines.

Get the biggest tech headlines of the day delivered to your inbox

    By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. Unsubscribe anytime.

    Tech News

    Explore the latest in tech with our Tech News. We cut through the noise for concise, relevant updates, keeping you informed about the rapidly evolving tech landscape with curated content that separates signal from noise.

    In-Depth Tech Stories

    Explore tech impact in In-Depth Stories. Narrative data journalism offers comprehensive analyses, revealing stories behind data. Understand industry trends for a deeper perspective on tech's intricate relationships with society.

    Expert Reviews

    Empower decisions with Expert Reviews, merging industry expertise and insightful analysis. Delve into tech intricacies, get the best deals, and stay ahead with our trustworthy guide to navigating the ever-changing tech market.