IBM i Homepage Gets Refreshed with PureSystems Launch
April 17, 2012 Alex Woodie
|
If you’ve visited the IBM i homepage since the big PureSystems launch a week ago, you’ve noticed that things looks a bit different. IBM i regulars will see that familiar navigational aids to view information about IBM i hardware, software, solutions, and news are gone, in favor of a sleeker, more modern look that features easy access to Twitter and Facebook. IBM is definitely on the cutting edge of IT, as it proved with last week’s launch of the new PureSystems line of systems, which feature autonomic management capabilities that should dramatically reduce the care and feeding required to maintain applications. And while IBM’s engineering is second to none, Big Blue’s Web developers were also given the chance to show off some of their latest social media tricks with a big overhaul of the IBM website. Like the websites of all large corporations, IBM’s massive website is in a constant state of flux. It’s always amusing to come across references to AS/400, e(logo)server iSeries, and i5/OS in official (and current) IBM documentation, which demonstrates just what a massive job it is to manage all that content, and the challenge of keeping it current. But IBM’s website is undergoing a bigger than normal transition at the moment, and it looks as though last week’s PureSystems launch was used as the catalyst to go live with a new look and new Web functionality. The IBM i landing page (located at www-03.ibm.com/systems/i/) was the recipient of the new-look treatment, which you can see in Figure A.
The new homepage is quite a bit simpler and cleaner-looking than the old page, with a lot more white space and fewer links. That is the trend these days, as more visitors arrive via screen-starved devices like smart phones and tablets that easily get overwhelmed with too much content. (The old KISS acronym–keep it simple, stupid–definitely applies.) There is also more interactivity with the visitors, a nod to the social media trends of the day. A bank of links to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and other popular social media websites is anchored to the right side of the screen, enabling a visitor to instantly broadcast his exact Internet coordinates to his followers, and tell them what he thinks about what he’s seeing. There are also prominent links to the popular IBM i blogs by Steve Will and Dawn May, to the IBM i wiki and the RPG Café, to YouTube videos and Flickr photostreams, to IDC papers and customer case studies, and Twitter and RSS feeds. Most of the content is the same, but it’s presented in a new way. Here’s one thing that does appear to be brand new: IBM is requesting reviews from users of Power Systems, System z, and storage products. The review process also allows people to agree to share their reviews with others, and be contacted by them. This appears to be a new initiative for IBM, and we’ll expect to see the results of it soon. Currently, the user reviews do not appear to be available for the public to read.
The new IBM i homepage will take some getting used to on the part of IBM i users. Links to IBM i product pages no longer appear on the homepage, and there is no obvious way to get to them. But a little courageous exploration will show that the new Web look has not been applied to all of the IBM i webpages, and clicking on the “POWER for large enterprises” and “POWER for midsized businesses” links in the middle of the homepage will take visitors back to the old IBM i website, with its familiar bank of blue links on the left, and tabbed navigational structure. One positive to the overhaul is that IBM i website visitors aren’t bludgeoned with the giant blue blob that festoons the PureSystems microsite, which is obviously geared toward casual visitors with screen-handicapped devices. Somebody arriving at the site expecting to fill his 22-inch monitor with lots of information on the new PureSystems offerings will be sorely disappointed, as it’s impossible to view more than a few lines at a time (at a readable font size) thanks to that blue blob. The black navigational bar heading the new IBM i homepage thankfully retreats out of view when not needed.
|
