Continuity and Intertwingled Work
At Apple's WWDC 2014 on 2 Jun 2014, Apple demonstrated how to build a great user experience spanning a your iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Apple calls this OS level capability Continuity. It enables you to continue what you're doing across devices and applications by securely encapsulating your identity and the context of your action as an object. From picking up a draft email message started on an iPhone and continuing work with that draft on your Mac, to answering an incoming iPhone call on your Mac, I believe this opens the door for a level of seamless experience that everyone will want for personal use, their family, and at work.
A new TeamPage logo, and a new look at Traction Software.com
You'll be seeing the new TeamPage logo here, on Twitter, Facebook, across the Web, and next to TeamPage sites shown in your browser's tabs; I hope you like the it! I also hope you like the the new look at TractionSoftware.com. Our customers believe TeamPage is ideal for work that combines collaboration and action tracking, including quality management, human resources, project work, intelligence analysis, knowledge management, and compliance. We want TractionSoftware.com to tell this story simply and clearly, and we'll continue to improve this site just as we continually improve TeamPage. Please contact us for insights into how customers use TeamPage to get work done, along with a free trial.
David Shepperton Senior Software Engineer
Roger Fujii Senior Software Engineer
Jordan Frank Vice President Sales
Andy Keller Principal Engineer
Chris Nuzum CTO & Co-Founder
Greg Lloyd President & Co-Founder
Alcoa Tackles IT Projects and Compliance
The IT division of Alcoa Fastening Systems used Traction® TeamPage to reduce time spent on compliance activities by 61% and reduce time to deploy IT systems from sixteen months to seven.
Where Collaboration Meets Chess
In 12 Habits of Highly Collaborative Organizations, @Jacob Morgan draws awesome parallels between collaboration strategy and chess strategy:
March 2014 | Traction Software Named to KMWorld's 100 Companies That Matter in Knowledge Management
For the tenth consecutive year, KMWorld recognized Traction® Software, naming the company to their annual KMWorld 100 Companies that Matter in Knowledge Management. "Traction Software has proven to define the spirit of practical innovation by blending sparkling technology with a deep, fundamental commitment to customer success," says Hugh McKellar, KMWorld editor-in-Chief. The list is compiled by analysts, system integrators, and a select group of users along with KMWorld colleagues over a one year period.
Dec 2013 | The Wiki Way - Jordan Frank at Gilbane 2013 Boston
What makes the public Social Web work so well? How is social software in the enterprise similar? How is it different? What does a path to success for enterprise social tools look like? Traction Software's Jordan Frank answers these questions in The Wiki Way - Towards Quality, Change and Risk Management as a Path to Enterprise Social Software Adoption (slides below). Jordan's model uses critical core content, critical record / exception management, and critical conversation to establish a base for enterprise social media success. His model shows how social tools can be put into the grain of work, take culture issues off the table, and drive creativity using specific examples. Jordan spoke on the Gilbane Boston 2013 panel, Driving Self Service and Support Through Social Collaboration moderated by Lynda Moulton, Principal, LWM Technology Services.
An Infinite Number of Cats on Keyboards: Ted Nelson & Computer Lib at Homebrew Computer Club Reunion
Order a perfect reprint of the original version of Computer Lib / Dream Machines directly from Ted Nelson, autographed if you wish. Highly recommended.
Ada Lovelace Day | Marissa Ann Mayer, Software Engineer, Product Manager, and Executive
Ada Lovelace Day celebrates 
the contributions of women in science and technology, follow @FindingAda for news and events. This year I've chosen to write about Marissa Ann Mayer Software Engineer, Product Manager, and Executive, currently President and CEO of Yahoo! Over her career Ms Mayer earned exceptional recognition for Computer Science teaching (while working for her Stanford degrees), software engineering, design, product management, and her executive skills. Ms Mayer joined Google as employee number twenty in 2009 and played an instrumental role leading Google Search for over 10 years.
The Work Graph Model: TeamPage style
Justin Rosenstein wrote an excellent option piece for Wired, The Way We Work Is Soul-Sucking, But Social Networks Are Not the Fix. Justin begins: "With Twitter’s recent IPO filing, the most popular graph dominating conversation is the “interest graph.” Before that, it was the “social graph,” courtesy of Facebook. But we’re now seeing the emergence of a third important graph: the work graph." The work graph term is new - and useful - but I believe the model dates back to Lotus Notes and even Doug Engelbart. In this blog post I'll review Justin's definition and use it to describe Traction® TeamPage's work graph model. I'll also show how TeamPage leverages its work graph model to meet challenges of information overload, work with external as well as internal teams, and work that needs to span siloed systems of record.
Sept 2013 | KMWorld names TeamPage a Trend-Setting Product of 2013
On Sept 1, 2013 KMWorld recognized Traction® Software's TeamPage as a Trend-Setting Product of 2013. KMWorld editor Hugh McKellar writes: "The common thread running through all the products listed here is the unique value—and potential value—they offer the organization, its workers and their various constituencies." Traction Software is honored that KMWorld has again selected Traction® TeamPage as a Trend-Setting Product. TeamPage customers such as Athens Group show the value of an integrated Quality Management system, industry knowledge base, and training curriculum. TeamPage enables Athens Group to train and support a rapidly growing cadre of expert consultants helping customers design, construct, and operate safe, reliable drilling rigs and platforms around the world. Read KMWorld Trend-Setting Products of 2013
How to make your ISO Auditor Smile; And Make Your Professional Life Much Easier
Jordan had a conversation with a TeamPage customer in Sweden who agreed to document and publish a TeamPage case study, but the ISO auditor story is too good to wait. The customer is small precision machined products manufacturer. They initially supplied prototypes to the Swedish defense industry, but now focus on precision products for heavy vehicle manufacturers.
Remembering Doug Engelbart, 30 January 1925 - 2 July 2013
I was very sad to learn that Doug Engelbart passed away at his home on 2 July 2013. Doug had a long life as a visionary engineer, inventor, and pioneer of technology we use every day - and technology where we're just starting to catch up to Doug and his SRI team in 1968. Doug had a quiet, friendly, and unassuming nature combined with deep knowledge, iron will, and a determination to pursue his vision. His vision was to aid humanity in solving complex, difficult and supremely important problems; Doug's goals were noble and selfless. The sense of dealing with an Old Testament prophet - a kindly Moses - is perhaps the greatest loss I and countless others who have met and been inspired by Doug feel today. I've written frequently about Doug in the past, and I'll continue to do so. Here are a few remembrances and resources that seem appropriate. I'll update this list over the next several days. Farewell Doug and my sincere condolences to his family and many friends.
Decagon Devices: Plans, Products, Projects, Procedures and ISO 9001 Quality Management
Decagon Devices (Decagon.com) designs, manufactures and markets scientific instruments used to measure water, light and heat in the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum. Decagon devices are used by 80% of the top one hundred food companies to measure water activity in food; by farms to measure soil for water and nutrient use; and by NASA where Decagon devices were sent to Mars to measure humidity and wind. Decagon deployed Traction® TeamPage for project management, ISO certification of their procedure management, internal corporate communications and knowledge management.
Pharma and Biotech Risk Management
Risks are the leading cause of costly delays in the process of bringing a biotech product to market. Risk management in the product development process all too often means one person juggling a list of risks in a spreadsheet. It's hard to edit, but even harder to open a discussion on an existing risk when someone has a question, sees a problem, or wants to add a new risk. Traction® Software partner Rosemary Vu used Traction® TeamPage's Section Table widget and extended TeamPage's Article to create a Risk form. For more on TeamPage Section Tables, see Q: How do I link to an Excel file? A: Why Would you Do That?
Working Across Boundaries
In his Jun 2, 2013 blog post, Chess Media analyst and author Jacob Morgan asks: How Open is Too Open? He asks "Would you be comfortable working in an all glass building where people can see everything you do and every move you make?" Jacob outlines the benefits of transparency: "Keep everyone on the same page; Build trust and fostering better relationships; Allow employees (and customers) to contribute ideas and value when they see the opportunity to do so." Jacob recognizes that a balance needs to be struck, but not being transparent enough may do more harm than good. He ask: "How open is too open?" I agree with the benefits Jacob outlines, and believe the answer to Jacob's question depends on the answer to a critical question: "Transparency for what purpose?" I'll start the ball rolling in with this post, including some real-life customer examples.
June 2013 | Enterprise Collaboration & Social Software Industry Report, Redwood Capital
A new Redwood Capital Group industry report released the first week of June 2013 focuses on Enterprise Collaboration and Social Software. The thirty-two page report includes Market Trends, Competitive Landscape, M&A Activity, Private Financing, Valuation Trends, and Emerging Private Companies, including Traction® Software. You can download a free copy of this and related industry reports from the Redwood Capital Sector Focus page.
18-19 Jun 2013 | Traction Software E2 Boston 2013 Social and Collaboration Track Sponsor
Traction Software is happy to be a Social and Collaboration Track sponsor at this year's E2 Boston Conference. Please visit Traction Software at Demo Pavilion 38 to see how customers build better products and work better together using Traction TeamPage. Traction Software is a leader in social task management and a consistent innovator in delivering business value to demanding customers around the world. Learn how John Hagel of Deloitte documented and analyzed a TeamPage customer's 61% reduction in time required for compliance activity using TeamPage.
When you visit the Demo Pavilion you can also get a free copy of Jacob Morgan's excellent book: The Collaborative Organization: A Strategic Guide to Solving Your Internal Business Challenges Using Emerging Social and Collaborative Tools, see Greg's Amazon review. We'll give away twenty-four copies to people who: 1) Ask for a free copy of Collaborative Organization by Tweeting a request to @TractionTeam before Monday 17 June, and 2) Show up in person and claim your book, first come, first served.
Open Cafe: E2.0 Implementation and Adoption
@JeffMerrell posed a series of questions for his Master's Program in Learning & Organizational Change. I'll offer my own experience as it pertains to each of his question areas.
Contextual Computing At Work
In Co.Design May 24, 2013 Peter Morrison of Jump Associates writes The Future of Technology isn't Mobile, it's Contextual. He says that the way we respond to the world around is based on situational awareness. "The way we respond to the world around us is so seamless that it’s almost unconscious. Our senses pull in a multitude of information, contrast it to past experience and personality traits, and present us with a set of options for how to act or react. Then, it selects and acts upon the preferred path. This process--our fundamental ability to interpret and act on the situations in which we find ourselves--has barely evolved since we were sublingual primates living on the Veldt.
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