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

IBM Notes Sidebar App for Kudos Badges

Following from our earlier annoucement about the Kudos Badges Mobile App for IBM Connections, we are also pleased to announce our latest IBM Notes Sidebar App/Widget for Kudos Badges. The integration of IBM Connections and IBM Notes 9 Social Edition really meant it was a no brainer to provide the same level of integration with Kudos Badges. Now users can access their Kudos Leaderboard from within their Notes client, view their Badges and Thanks peer to peer rewards, as well as post Thanks to their colleagues all within the context of the Notes client.

But wait....there is more to come....Now that we are into IBM Notes Social Edition, with the awesome new integration points we will have another (I think the most important) annoucement coming up soon! So watch this space!

IBM Connections Mobile App extension for Kudos Badges

Team Kudos has been busy working away on some great new initiatives in the lead up to IBM Connect 2013. One of the new capabilities that we have delivered is Kudos Badges Mobile. We have leveraged the new features that IBM provided with the IBM Connections 4 Mobile App that enable us to extend the App to include additional features, in this case Kudos Badges Mobile. This is a great capability as it provides seemless integration between IBM Connections Mobile App and Kudos Badges without the users having to have a separate App. We also have been able to leverage the authentication via the Connections App so users don't need to logon again.

One of the key strengths of Kudos Badges is that it has always tracked actions and behaviour for users of not only the Connections browser interface but also the Connections Mobile App (and the API usage for that matter). With the uptake of Mobile users continually increasing and IBM treating the Connections Mobile App as a first class user interface option, if you arn't measuring and rewarding your mobile users usage then you are missing a large portion of your audience. That is why we decided it was important to also provide the Kudos Badges Mobile App so our users can also participate and see how they rank with their peers.

Here are a few screen shots as well as a video providing a quick overview.

Kudos Badges Mobile AppKudos Badges Mobile App Menu

Kudos Badges Mobile App Badges

Kudos Badges Mobile App Leaderboard

Kudos Badges Mobile App Thanks

We have a few other exciting annoucements (....think IBM Notes Social Edition) to make over the next few days leading up to IBM Connect 2013. If you have any questions or would like to learn more you can contact us or come visit Team Kudos at Booth C49 at the IBM Connect conference.