Publish: IBM sets its sights on social networking tools

More coverage of IBM's press/analyst eventthis week .One IBM customer on hand to lend its supportto the advancement of new social networking applications was investmentbank Morgan Stanley, which said that it is testing tools meant to helpits employees communicate more effectively while keeping a record of thoseinteractions on hand in a central location for compliance with governmentdata-management edicts such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Stephen Sparkes, CIO of the firm's InvestmentBanking division, admitted that earlier attempts at Morgan Stanley to createinternal expertise-tracking systems "failed miserably" becausethey were too hard to use and promote to workers. Sparkes said however, that corporateblogs and wikis with rigid controls for editing information and protectingcustomer confidentiality are showing signs of having much greater success."We knew that the ability to betternetwork individuals could provide immediate benefits and help move thecompany to real time, to shift how people collaborate," Sparkes said.Good to see the customer viewpoint.Link: Publish:IBM sets its sights on social networking tools>And for another view yet, see the writeupby Mike Gotta of Burton Group.