© 2014 ibm corporation not your grandparents’ enterprise computing documentation anymore...

© 2014 IBM Corporation

Not Your Grandparents’ Enterprise Computing Documentation Anymore

Enterprise Computing Conference - June 2014

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Rita Beisel ([email protected])Jodi Everdon ([email protected])Ann DePaolo ([email protected])Geoff Smith ([email protected])


Agenda

Let’s reminisce (History of information at IBM)

Our documentation today–Authoring at IBM (DITA, OASIS)

–Information Architecture, User Experience and Design Thinking–IBM Wave for z/VM® (IBM Wave)–IBM z/OS® Management Facility (z/OSMF)–IBM Information Centers and information challenges–IBM Knowledge Center (Navigating, finding, and customizing content, and creating a PDF file)

–Summary

Proof of concept

Q & A

Additional resources

© 2014 IBM Corporation3

Let’s reminisceLet’s reminisce

z/OS product documentation has gone from a pallet of hardcopy books delivered to your shop with your mainframe in 1964 to electronic delivery only (no physical media) today.

Softcopy on DVDsHardcopy Books

3270 green screen“online” information

Internet connectedPCs

Mobile InternetPervasive connections and pervasive information


Information timeline

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1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s1960s Beyond

MainframeSystem 360

IBM creates BookManager SoftcopyThe IBM Publications Center and all hardcopy books go the way of PDF files for print and BookManager® for search.

Hardcopy books IBM develops Internet friendly Information CentersDependent on Google search and other search engines to unite them.

Mobile computing changes everything.Business needs to adapt instantly to constant change.

Internet connecteddesktops & laptopsbecome pervasive.

Large volumes of information demand electronic search.

We are here.IBM develops the IBMKnowledge CenterTo bring all IBM information together, IBM Knowledge Center makes it easier to document solutions, and serve mobile user needs.

1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s1960s Beyond


Authoring documentation today using DITA

DITA was initially developed at IBM to meet the challenges of today’s environment.

DITA makes information modular so it is easily re-used and re-purposed.

Information is authored as standalone “Topics” (Tasks, concepts or reference).

Each Topic is complete and can be assembled in sequences using DITAMAPS.

DITA has been adopted by OASIS* as a standard XML markup language that nearly all structured editors understand.

Large industries, like the car and airlines industry, have adopted DITA to standardize their documentation and promote easy interchange.

For more information see: – IBM Introduction to DITA: www.ibm.com/developerworks/library/x-dita1– Read all about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_Information_Typing_Architecture– Most all XML editors understand and can author in DITA. For a list: www.ditawriter.com/list-of-dita-optimized-editors/– WYSIWYG –FrameMaker® understands and lets you author content in DITA.– The DITA Open Toolkit is free and offers many tools to get you started. Download the toolkit at

http://sourceforge.net/projects/dita-ot/

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* OASIS is a non-profit, international consortium that creates interoperable industry specifications based on public standards such as XML.


Advantages of electronic delivery

There are many advantages of electronic delivery including making it easier to provide information currency and providing more time for late changes and improved information quality.

Google and other powerful search engines make getting to the right information easier.

Softcopy kits contain all the files and shelves you are accustomed to and they are zipped up for download from the IBM Publications Center.

Cheaper and “Greener” because there are no physical deliverables to fill up landfills.

Advances in the Internet and connectivity (Wired connection Wireless Cellular) and pervasive computing (tablets, smart phones) means users are always connected to it.

Can be easily transformed to a variety of formats: HTML for any browser on any device. PDF files for high quality print. ePub format for better accessibility and delivery to tablets and e-readers.

Lends itself to collaboration and continual improvement using online commenting in social media.

Easily repurposed and customized for a customer unique environment.

Always “Cloud” friendly.


Information Architects, User Experience and Design Thinking

“Good design is good business” – Thomas J Watson

IBM’s Information Developers have always had the advantage of being closer to the user experience. Often, we serve as the customer advocate because we are the first to see how hardware, software, and information come together to form the “User Experience”.

Today, we are Information Architects that get involved early to ensure a good user experience.

We are also involved in IBM’s new mission, “Design Thinking”, which helps IBMers improve the usability and usefulness of our offerings by delivering great user experiences that delight the people who use our products. Design Thinking creates both business and personal value for our clients.

We work with development teams to ensure the user experience for the final offering is a good one. We are no longer just writers. We are Information and User Experience architects who look holistically at the entire interaction with our products.

We work closely with the consumers and stakeholders in an interactive process to ensure what we deliver provides our customers with a product and documentation they require to use it efficiently and effectively.

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Design Thinking methods really bring to bear four primary things that you have to do. You have to first understand problems and develop empathy with users. You have to explore those problems and explore solutions typically by rapid prototyping. And then, you have to evaluate those and change and iterate. So, this notion of understanding, exploring, prototyping, and then evaluating is what we call Design Thinking.


IBM Wave for z/VM

IBM Wave for z/VM® is a provisioning and productivity management solution from IBM that simplifies control and use of virtual Linux servers and z/VM. It significantly reduces the learning curve needed to manage and control z/VM and Linux guests by use of our patent pending GUI environment providing all the necessary procedures and functions needed to carry out routine management and provisioning tasks as well as special operations. This innovative design and expert system level know-how of both the Linux and the z/VM side of things places IBM Wave for z/VM as a "best of breed" tool for z/VM and Linux provisioning and management.

FAQ: https://ibm.biz/BdRhAw

Multimedia : z/VM User Actions (00:05:24)


z/OS Management Facility (z/OSMF)

IBM z/OS Management Facility (z/OSMF) provides a modern, web-based interface that allows you to manage various aspects of your z/OS® systems through a web browser at any time and from any location.

–Internal help system eliminates the need for lots of documentation.

Check out the YouTube demo of migration workflows in z/OSMF: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QBhC2yMEwM&feature=youtu.be


Our documentation today

Partners In Design

Example: IBM WAVE offering for cloud on System z

www.ibm.com/systems/z/solutions/cloud/wave/

Integrated into our products

z/OSMF: www.ibm.com/systems/z/os/zos/features/zosmf/

Electronically delivered and continually updated

IBM Knowledge Center: www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/

IBM Publications Center: www.ibm.com/e-business/linkweb/publications/servlet/pbi.wss

IBM System z Redbooks® : www.redbooks.ibm.com/portals/systemz

z/OS Hot Topics: www.ibm.com/systems/z/os/zos/library/hot-topics/hot-topics.html

To download an entire collection kit of PDF files and keep them current, use IBM Softcopy Librarian available at IBM: www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg24000640


IBM technical publications @ ibm.com: IBM Information Centers

Information Centers: Technical publications

• More than 2200 IBM products• More than 850 individual URLs @ ibm.com• More than 60M individual pages• More than 30 languages across information center• More than 60M unique visitors per year in total• More than 200M internal search queries per year (queries within the information center search framework, not organic search to get to the information center)

Information Center: User experience• Too many individual sites to work with multiple IBM products• User experience inconsistent information center to information center • Search relevance can be poor and is impossible across product information centers• Performance and availability issues

Large volume of documentation


Today’s information landscape and challenges

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IBM Knowledge Center - One stop shopping for all IBM documentation

IBM Knowledge Center is one central repository that contains ALL IBM product documentation. It contains all the existing Information Centers in a single application, at a single URL.

– IBM Knowledge Center brings together IBM hardware and software product information in a single location. See your products more easily or scan multiple versions of a product to compare their features.

– IBM Knowledge Center brings personalization and customization to our documents. IBM Knowledge Center remembers your profile preferences and search queries, allows you to sort search results easily, and can help you create and publish custom documents.

– IBM Knowledge Center is easy to use. You can filter extraneous content to focus on what matters to you. You can easily build your own personalized library, save search queries, and create persistent, personalized collections.

– IBM Knowledge Center promotes continuous improvements by letting you rate topics and comment on their user

experience.


IBM Knowledge Center

The following slides contain a preview of KC. We will use them to show:

Personalization.

How to navigate KC.

How to effectively filter and search for the information you need.

How to use KC to create collections to help you narrow your scope for frequently accessed information, such as messages and codes.

If you require access to documentation offline, how to download your own collections of indexed PDF files and how to search them effectively.

Collaboration features.

Continuous improvement.


Knowledge Center sign-in provides personalization

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Sign in with your IBM ID to make your customizations and collections persistent.


Navigating the content

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The navigation is based on the IBM product taxonomy.


Finding content in IBM Knowledge Center

Fast search results

Simple type and enter keyword search, with type ahead.

Also supports word wildcards, Booleans, and complex queries.

Search across all IBM products or only those you want.

Find products quickly to narrow searches

Type ahead for Product Pages (all versions of a product) and to select Product Filters for search or add products directly for search filtering.

Bookmark search queries and filters directly Share queries by emailing the IBM Knowledge Center URL.

If you use systems without stable bookmarks, or where you cannot always get to your bookmarks across systems, log in and save up to ten searches.

Complex queries across products or product versions

Simple querieswith type ahead

Find keywords, product pages (with all versions) or apply a product filter for search results with one click


Finding content in IBM Knowledge Center

Search results are always available to you as you work with content:– You can switch from Contents to Search Results and My Collections.– Search results show titles, summaries, and what product and version topics are available.

Search facets for fine tuning results:– Sort results by date, by task or by operating system, in addition to relevance.– Save your searches, or just bookmark them!


Navigating content in IBM Knowledge Center

When you land on the new product page from a Web search (like Google)……You can find the version of the product you want in the product links.

The new product pages in IBM Knowledge Center contain all the versions of a product in one place, gives you links to product related pages, and highlights product–specific content from IBM Redbooks, White papers, and developerWorks.

… You can find related resources from IBM Redbooks, developerWorks and White papers.


Move through content like you did before…– Navigation maintains hierarchy like information

centers and other user assistance.– By default, navigating through products adds

them to product search filters—automatically! – You can “move up” to see families of related

products or all of IBM’s product documentation in IBM Knowledge Center.

– Topics always synchronize with the page.– You can view only the topic by closing the

Table of Contents or launching just a topic in a tab for ease of reading.

Navigate document structure with breadcrumb links

Need to return to a topic (or query with search filters)? Just bookmark it!

—If you cannot use bookmarks for topics, log in and create collections of topics you’re interested in. They’ll be there wherever you log in again.

Navigating content in IBM Knowledge Center

If Google takes you to the right product topic, but the wrong product version, find different product versions of a topic in IBM KC at the end of each content page.

Open topics directly in a new tab with a right-click


Customizing content in IBM Knowledge Center

My Collections lets you add one topic--or many topics--to a personal view of IBM content (based on your ibm.com log in):

– You can arrange and annotate your own collection in ways that make sense to you.

– You can view your collections anytime you log in to IBM Knowledge Center.

Create PDF File output “on demand” of your collection for printing or sharing.

Annotate your collection (note edited collection name)


Sharing and commenting on content in IBM Knowledge Center

Share topics directly to LinkedIn, Twitter, or by email

Rate topics you like(or those you don’t)

Write comments on topics and ask questions (at the bottom of every topic)

Send us private feedback on topics or on IBM Knowledge Center (in the footer section)


IBM Knowledge Center: the customer installed version

Ease of use• You can search, browse, and filter content in the same way they would with KC Hosted. There are no “log-in” profile-based functions, however (no commenting, no personal collections, no sharing or saving of information, no entitled content).

• Products can present IBM KC CI in “full view” or in a content-only mode, for those products wanting to use it in a very simple fashion or from web interfaces.

• Customers can use IBM KC CI in a variety of contexts, including as a standalone Web application with a built-in server, a WAR file, and as a local client application that will run from local, ROM, or portable media.

Ease of content contribution• IBM authors (and IBM partners and customers) can contribute content to IBM KC CI in the same way as IBM KC Hosted.

• Authors can provide pre-built search indexes for performance or IBM KC CI will dynamically build them.

• Authors can provide branding for products in the banner area of KC CI.

Ease of packaging and distribution• Products can package and distribute IBM KC CI along with their products. Customers will receive IBM KC CI with their IBM products and can distribute IBM content easily to their users.

IBM Knowledge Center 1.5 “Customer Installed” (IBM KC CI) edition is a repackaging of IBM Knowledge Center 1.5 @ ibm.com for local product delivery to a fat client, customer intranet, or disconnected use.


Summary

IBM Knowledge [email protected] contains IBM technical publications in a single location at ibm.com. Over time, we will add more technical content and integration with other technical content resources.

IBM Knowledge [email protected] allows you to find and navigate technical content more efficiently and easily. There's improved search, filtering and user experience, and customer-installable and mobile-optimized editions of IBM Knowledge Center planned for the future.

With IBM Knowledge [email protected], you can create your own collections of IBM documents and produce PDF files on-demand.


Questions?


#Resources


Digital Resources

Live Stream of Mainframe50: www.livestream.com/ibmsystemz

IBM Mainframe50 Landing Page: ibm.com/mainframe50

Mainframe50 Tumblr: mainframe50.tumblr.com/

The IBM Mainframe Weekly Paper.li: paper.li/IBM_System_z/1386866312

Engines of Progress: (Launching April 7) www.ibm.com/mainframe/enginesofprogress

Master the Mainframe: www.ibm.com/systems/z/education/academic/masterthemainframe

You Tube IBM System z: www.youtube.com/user/IBMSystemz

z/OS Hot Topics: ibm.com/systems/z/os/zos/library/hot-topics/hot-topics.html

You Tube Destination z: www.youtube.com/user/destinationz1


Facebook and Linked In

IBM System z: www.facebook.com/IBMsystemz?ref=tn_tnmn

IBM Master the Mainframe Contest: www.facebook.com/MasterTheMainframe?fref=ts

IBM Destination z: www.facebook.com/IBMDestinationz

SHARE Inc: www.facebook.com/SHAREonSocial

System z Advocates: www.linkedin.com/groups/System-z-Advocates-155723?mostPopular=&gid=155723

IBM Mainframe – Unofficial Group: https://ibm.biz/BdRJgg

IBM System z Events: www.linkedin.com/groups/IBM-System-z-Events-3053018?trk=myg_ugrp_ovr

MainframeExperts Network: www.linkedin.com/groups/Mainframe-Experts-Network-55779?trk=myg_ugrp_ovr

SHARE: www.linkedin.com/groups?trk=myg_ugrp_ovr&gid=1803278


Blogs and additional resources

IBM Mainframe Insights: www.ibm.com/connections/blogs/systemz/?lang=en_us

Millennial Mainframer: www.millennialmainframer.com

#MainframeDebate blog: mainframedebate.blogspot.co.uk

SHARE blog: www.share.org/p/bl/et/

IBM Destination z: www.destinationz.org/Community.aspx

Publications such as Enterprise Executive, Enterprise Tech Journal, IBM Systems Magazine, and CMG Measure IT are all great resources that typically are little to no cost for subscriptions. Most of these publications also have websites with up-to-date industry news.

IBM MAIN is a news group (listserv). For best results, subscribe to the daily digest.


Proof of Concept


IBM Knowledge Center Mobile proof-of-concept: Overview

What is the problem we are trying to solve? Why a mobile proof-of-concept?• IBM Knowledge Center @ ibm.com works well on laptops, netbooks, workstation computers, and standard-sized tablets

•Small form factor devices (small tablets and smart phones) offer their own unique issues—and opportunities!

What is the scope of the proof-of-concept?•IN PROGRESS: We are running these sessions and a design effort to end soon.

•Focusing on iOS and Android devices; focus on web-delivery (not native apps).

•After talking with customers, we are focusing on IBM KC extended search across IBM technical content on small form factor devices: “Get an answer to a question” and “connect my mobile experience with other devices”.

What are our goals for doing this effort?•We want to decide if this project is worth pursuing: Are we providing you with value?

•We want customer help in shaping the design.

•If we get the right basic solution (“in the ballpark”), then we can deploy a real and useful solution more quickly on ibm.com at a forthcoming IBM KC mobile URL.

actual iPhone / Safari screen shots of IBM KC @ ibm.com: it works but is cumbersome (too small; typical navigation (not shown) is almost impossible


IBM Knowledge Center Mobile proof-of-concept: “Level Zero” design points

iPhone® screen shots of IBM Knowledge Center Mobile “level 0” code

1. Simple search query; note that products and content sources across IBM can also be selected.

2. Type-ahead assist. 3. Actual search results. 4. Summary reveal.

Simple search and relevant results


Trademarks

IBM, the IBM logo, and ibm.com are trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corp., registered in many jurisdictions worldwide. Other product and service names might be trademarks of IBM or other companies. A current list of IBM trademarks is available on the web at "Copyright and trademark information" at www.ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml.

Adobe, the Adobe logo, PostScript, and the PostScript logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States, and/or other countries.

Microsoft, Windows, and the Windows logo are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both.

The YouTube logo is a trademark of Google Inc.

© 2014 ibm corporation not your grandparents’ enterprise computing documentation anymore...

Documents

ibm dita

ibm introduction

dita dita

hardcopy books ibm

ibm corporation agenda

ibm publications center

history of information

information modular