MANILA, Philippines – With the immense popularity of social networking sites like Facebook, it’s no wonder even tech stalwart IBM is cashing on it to enlarge its foothold in the software developer community.
IBM is tapping into the popularity of social networking to entice information technology developers to build applications as well as build its community of innovators.
The company recently started its MyDeveloperWorks social networking service aimed at growing a global community of developers who could use various development tools from IBM as well as other independent software authors.
The MyDeveloperWorks site only started recently but has already about 20,000 unique visits.
The site also leverages on an existing IBM project called developerWorks where there are eight million enterprise software developers.
Charles Manuel, IBM regional program director for developer relations, said the service is open to “just about every type of software developer and entrepreneur” who could start their own community of experts on specific technology topics.
IBM is hoping these communities will spawn business partnerships among members.
The power of social networking in creating communities lies in establishing specific IT-oriented topics that can generate in information beneficial for developers.
“Unlike before when the Internet was too vast to search for specific information, social networking gets users to the right people, thereby making them more efficient in their work,” said Manuel.
Locally, IBM will conduct online and offline activities to get software developers to touch base among each other. IBM is targeting 150,000 developers in the Philippines to become part of its social networking site.
Manuel said that giving a platform for Filipino programmers to access tools can lead to long-term positive gains.
This initiative also serves as a prelude to IBM’s “Innovation Center in the Philippines” to be established later this year and planned as a development facility for those that are part of MyDeveloperNetworks.
