Why Modernize? How many of you still use green screen terminal applications in your job? Not many I can see, but there was a time that some of us can remember when pretty much all business computing applications were green screen. Now think about how you feel (or would feel) using that application. I’ve taken some polls from users who are currently in that situation and their feedback is consistent - the applications are serving a valuable purpose and work pretty efficiently, but they require detailed training to use and aren’t integrated well with other systems. New employees typically turn their noses up at the applications. They don’t convey a very positive image of the technology position of the company. This is why most green screen apps have been converted to GUI’s over years. They are more intuitive and more appealing and better integrated with other systems. In other words, they provide a better user experience and convey a more modern image, even though sometimes, they don’t even perform as well as the green screen version did.
Why Modernize? How many of you still use green screen terminal applications in your job? Not many I can see, but there was a time that some of us can remember when pretty much all business computing applications were green screen. Now think about how you feel (or would feel) using that application. I’ve taken some polls from users who are currently in that situation and their feedback is consistent - the applications are serving a valuable purpose and work pretty efficiently, but they require detailed training to use and aren’t integrated well with other systems. New employees typically turn their noses up at the applications. They don’t convey a very positive image of the technology position of the company. This is why most green screen apps have been converted to GUI’s over years. They are more intuitive and more appealing and better integrated with other systems. In other words, they provide a better user experience and convey a more modern image, even though sometimes, they don’t even perform as well as the green screen version did.
So why “social”? Put simply, “social” is the fastest emerging communication paradigm in human history. There was a time when… door to door, phone, email, collab, mobile, IM, and now social. I haven’t asked anyone in a non-sales situation for their email address or phone number in well over a year. If they are a potential friend, I ask if they are on Facebook. If they are a professional contact, I ask them if they are on Linkedin. If I need to chat or speak with them remotely, I use Sametime or Skype. To collaborate, search, and share internally, I use Connections. For sharing files externally, I use Quickr, Dropbox or Slideshare. For people and sources I want to learn from I follow them on Connections, Twitter, or Google+, Delicious, StumbleUpon, or I subscribe to their blog feed. For keeping track of friends or colleagues at events, I use Foursquare and TripIt. For showing people how to do things, I use YouTube. Now don’t get me wrong; I still use email, but it is largely a central gathering point for the notifications from all of these services. I rarely maintain my personal contact list unless it’s from my mobile device, and frankly, I don’t use a CRM system either; I use something like Evernote that synchs through the cloud. The point is that the vast majority of the work I do is using some sort of social tool that is merely supported by the more traditional forms of communication, and I feel like I am more effective that way. Forget about me though. Think about the incoming workforce and your competition. What are they expecting and doing? What are the risks of not adopting social tech?
So one of the quickest and easiest ways to bring the social experience to your Notes apps is to use the Sidebar available in Notes 8.5. There are a variety of free plugins available for Sametime, Connections, Quickr, as well as Facebook, Twitter, LInkedIn, and you can even use RSS feeds to subscribe to various blogging and micro-blogging sites. DEMO: Connections is very powerful in and of itself, but it is also a very powerful extension to Notes… (show plugins: Feeds, Activities, ST Conn Feed, etc.) – The problem with this approach is that it isn’t really integrated and only serves one user at a time unless you get into more complex deployment models. So how can we actually make the apps social?
So one of the quickest and easiest ways to bring the social experience to your Notes apps is to use the Sidebar available in Notes 8.5. There are a variety of free plugins available for Sametime, Connections, Quickr, as well as Facebook, Twitter, LInkedIn, and you can even use RSS feeds to subscribe to various blogging and micro-blogging sites. DEMO: Connections is very powerful in and of itself, but it is also a very powerful extension to Notes… (show plugins: Feeds, Activities, ST Conn Feed, etc.) – The problem with this approach is that it isn’t really integrated and only serves one user at a time unless you get into more complex deployment models. So how can we actually make the apps social?
The first step is to modernize the apps. Most of the social networks and social solutions use modern web-based integration API’s. So not only does integration become easier once the app is web-enabled, but you can then write once and deploy to all far more easily. It also becomes more feasible to extend to mobile devices. So how can we most efficiently modernize and web enable Notes client applications? Well, you can certainly just build Xpages to surface the Notes app functionality via the web, but if you don’t have that time or need a boost, or have hundreds of apps, then you may want to consider working with the GBS Transformer technology, which automates much of the conversion of Notes apps and their business logic to Xpages. Here is an example: - SKILLS DB DEMO (1) show the original app, (2) show how to transform it, (3) show how to remediaite it, (4) show how to add a social element, such as surfacicing the LinkedIn profile from the URL on a doc when opened - Let’s take a look at a more common application, such as the traditional Notes Document Library. - DOC LIB DEMO (1) Show original app, (2) show modernized version and some unique value that was added by modernizing it, (3) walk through adding Connections and other social elements – So as you can see, it can be rather simple to bring your Notes apps into the modern social era once you know how.
The first step is to modernize the apps. Most of the social networks and social solutions use modern web-based integration API’s. So not only does integration become easier once the app is web-enabled, but you can then write once and deploy to all far more easily. It also becomes more feasible to extend to mobile devices. So how can we most efficiently modernize and web enable Notes client applications? Well, you can certainly just build Xpages to surface the Notes app functionality via the web, but if you don’t have that time or need a boost, or have hundreds of apps, then you may want to consider working with the GBS Transformer technology, which automates much of the conversion of Notes apps and their business logic to Xpages. Here is an example: - SKILLS DB DEMO (1) show the original app, (2) show how to transform it, (3) show how to remediaite it, (4) show how to add a social element, such as surfacicing the LinkedIn profile from the URL on a doc when opened - Let’s take a look at a more common application, such as the traditional Notes Document Library. - DOC LIB DEMO (1) Show original app, (2) show modernized version and some unique value that was added by modernizing it, (3) walk through adding Connections and other social elements – So as you can see, it can be rather simple to bring your Notes apps into the modern social era once you know how.
So what about new apps, or maybe just reengineering some of your existing apps to be social from the ground up. Our labs are currently working on the GBS App Builder, which allows just that. Stefan?
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