LAS VEGAS, NV–( EMWNews – April 7, 2008) – IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced a new social

network focused on advancing service oriented architectures (SOA). IBM’s

SOA Social Network brings together a like-minded, global community of

thought leaders, information technology (IT) and business professionals,

university professors and students, and other interested parties through

both online and in-person forums designed to help members build skills and

share best practices.

As part of IMPACT 2008 —

the industry’s largest SOA customer and business partner conference — IBM

is hosting a 72 hour online jam

for the global SOA social network to discuss issues, challenges and ideas

related to SOA. The SOA jam is being moderated by industry leaders,

academics, analysts, IBM Business Partners and employees from around the

world. These moderators include Dr. Bob Chu, research director at Kingdee,

one of China’s fastest growing enterprise software providers and Richard

Welke, director of the Center for Process Innovation and Professor of

Computer Information Systems, J. Mack Robinson College of Business, Georgia

State University. Anyone with an interest in SOA is encouraged to

participate at http://services.alphaworks.ibm.com/SOAJAM.

“Currently, we have a thriving SOA community with more than 120,000

architects and developers, over 134 universities contributing to our SOA

curriculum, and over 5,000 Business Partners building SOA skills,

solutions, and practices to help our clients,” said Sandy Carter, vice

president, WebSphere and SOA strategy, channels and marketing, IBM.

“Building on our successful pilot program in China, IBM is expanding its

SOA social network as a way to share best practices, accelerate SOA

projects and bring together the business, IT and academic worlds across

roles and industries.”

IBM’s SOA social network spans more than 120 countries, including rapidly

developing markets such as Brazil, Russia, India, China, and the Middle

East. Virtual interaction is made possible through IBM Lotus Connections

technology as well as integration with top social networking communities

including Facebook and Twitter.

“As an academic and consultant, the SOA social network will help meet the

needs of a growing community of IT and business professionals seeking

additional, free resources to further navigate their SOA journeys,” said

Brian Blake, associate professor and chair, Department of Computer Science,

Georgetown University.

The IBM SOA social network is growing beyond a thriving population of

developers and architects to include business analysts and line of business

(LOB) executives. Specifically, these groups will be able to host virtual

meetings in Second Life as well connect face-to-face with other members in

the SOA social network through local chapter meetings that are being

coordinated by IBM. The SOA social network also aligns members according

to their role in the organization which results in powerful subgroups of

developers, CIOs and architects, for example, across the world

collaborating on the future of SOA.

Business analysts and LOB executives attending IMPACT will also notice an

increased focus on industry-specific education sessions, workshops, and

software and services offerings that address the specific business and IT

challenges inherent in vertical industries.

To further support the members of the IBM SOA social network by building

both business and technical skills, IMPACT attendees will be able to test

in any of 189 certifications. Interestingly, IBM has recognized a 258

percent growth in its SOA certifications since IMPACT 2007. Additionally,

IBM has enhanced its serious game, Innov8 with Web 2.0 capabilities to

teach students and professionals core business and IT skills related to

business process management (BPM) and business events, two hot growth areas

that will be critical to the future of IT.

The IBM SOA social network is open to any customers, partners,

academics and interested parties aiming to advance and share SOA knowledge

and best practices. Membership is free and not restricted to the IBM

community.

For more information about IBM IMPACT, visit: www.ibm.com/press/impact2008

IBM, WebSphere, SmartSOA and the IBM e-business logo are trademarks or

registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation. For a

list of additional IBM trademarks, please see

www.ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml

All other company, product or service names may be trademarks or registered

trademarks of others. Statements concerning IBM’s future development plans

and schedules are made for planning purposes only, and are subject to

change or withdrawal without notice. Reseller prices may vary.

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