IBM Expert Network on SlideShare.Net

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This week, IBM launched the new [IBM Expert Network] that provides presentation materials from subject matter experts. I am honored to be one of the 20-plus experts selected for PRO accounts on SlideShare.Net to help seed this with initial materials.

I have a bit of behind-the-scenes history to share on this. Back in 2008, I first discovered SlideShare.net as an excellent resource to get ideas for presentations. Much like YouTube is for videos and FlickR is for photos, SlideShare.Net is for presentations. In my June 2008 post, [Summer Jobs and the Singularity], I embedded someone's presentation from SlideShare.

Earlier this year, I uploaded a presentation on [IBM Solid State Disk in eX5 servers], and a presentation that I gave publicly to the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA), which I embedded in my post [Cloud Computing for Accountants].

This latter one got me in a bit of trouble internally. Neither presentation had anything secret or controversial, so I didn't see the issue. Several other bloggers had asked how I got "permission" to use an external Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) like SlideShare.net for my blog. I never asked for permission! I explained that since IBM's internal Lotus Connections software we use for blogging did not have a feature to embed PowerPoint (PPT) or Open Document Format (ODP) presentations, I chose an external service instead. Yes, I guess I could have converted each page to a JPG or PNG graphic instead, or I could have put the PDF on an FTP download area of the "Files" feature of Lotus Connections, but I chose SlideShare.net instead.

The result? IBM communications decided to make an official list, it's actually three lists. A "allowlist" of services that we are allowed to use, a "grey list" of services under evaluation or negotiation, and a "blocklist" of services we are not allowed to use, and sadly Slideshare.Net was on the blocklist. I protested, argued that unless IBM offered something to replace it, to re-evaluate this external service. I got it back on the "grey list" and now, this week, it is officially on the "allowlist".

Of course, this probably involved negotiation on EULA terms and conditions, but I am not a lawyer and have no idea what went on behind closed doors to make this happen. I am just glad it did.

technorati tags: IBM, expert network, slideshare, cloud computing, singularity, IMA, PPT, ODP