A message from John Clark of IBM:
Dear Rational, Tivoli and WebSphere User Group members,
Today I am pleased to announce that the IBM Global Rational User Community (GRUC), IBM Global WebSphere Community (GWC) and IBM Tivoli User Community (TUC) will combine to create the new IBM Middleware User Community. This is an exciting and historic day as the combined community brings together complementary forums, user groups and expertise from across IBM and 316 User Groups to more than 88,000 unique members.
What This Means for Rational, Tivoli, WebSphere Community Members
The benefits of a combined IBM Middleware User Community for members have been a focus of ours since we started contemplating this merger. Key members from all three existing communities have demonstrated their enthusiasm for this merger and played a significant role in facilitating the combination. This merger will provide unequalled access and opportunity for our user community members to develop new skills, engage with IBM subject matter experts and network with industry peers—on average 24% of community members belong to two or more of the existing communities, according to a recent survey.
As part of this launch, I am pleased to announce that following a community-wide launch on December 15th the IBM Middleware User Community will operate from a new, modern community platform provided by Socious that delivers new or enhanced features. Socious is an online community software and management company we have been working closely with to deliver a new, highly engaging destination for existing GRUC/GWC/TUC community members.
As with any migration of this size, the integration process takes significant time. As such, we established a transition-planning team representing user group leaders and members to work with IBM and Socious on site design, structure and communication plans—important steps in this process.
We have also been working closely with Socious and your existing community managers at Baptie or Wellesley to ensure a smooth transition. We have migrated existing member profiles, user groups, files, forums, blogs, calendars and other relevant content into the new site. Please not that files older than 2 years and other content may not have been moved in some cases.
Smoothing Your Transition
We have built a comprehensive set of training materials and help files to guide you through the new community site and to make the most of your community. We also plan to make experts available at InterConnect 2016 to answer any questions or work with you directly around your needs.
Regards,
John Clark
Program Director, IBM User Communities