Customization & Extensibility in IBM Connections Pink

Vienna, October 16-17 2017

Customization & Extensibility in IBM Connections PinkBrian Gleeson

Martin Donnelly

Room 1, Oct 17 2017, 11:50am - 12:20pm

Social Connections 11 Chicago, June 1-2 2017Social Connections 12 Vienna, October 16-17 2017

Please Note

IBM’s statements regarding its plans, directions, and intent are subject to change or withdrawal without notice at IBM’s sole discretion.

Information regarding potential future products is intended to outline our general product direction and it should not be relied on in making a purchasing decision.

The information mentioned regarding potential future products is not a commitment, promise, or legal obligation to deliver any material, code or functionality. Information about potential future products may not be incorporated into any contract.

The development, release, and timing of any future features or functionality described for our products remains at our sole discretion.

Performance is based on measurements and projections using standard IBM benchmarks in a controlled environment. The actual throughput or performance that any user will experience will vary depending upon many factors, including considerations such as the amount of multiprogramming in the user’s job stream, the I/O configuration, the storage configuration, and the workload processed. Therefore, no assurance can be given that an individual user will achieve results similar to those stated here.



Brian Gleeson

Software Developer

@BGleesonIE

Martin Donnelly

Software Architect

@TweeterDonnelly

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Pink Extensibility Introduction


Pink App Dev Vision

The Next Generation of IBM Connections will have App Dev at its core !

1. Pink must be a customizable and extensible platform

• Organizations and users can modify IBM Connections in 3 critical ways

• UX Look & Feel

• Data Content

• Actions / Behaviors

2. Pink must support ad-hoc situational apps that enable users to collaborate

• Groups of users can create and share simple apps, e.g. A ToDo List

• You don’t need to be a developer to create a cool Pink app

3. Pink must provide modern APIs to facilitate apps and extensions

• This means a complete set of REST APIs for each IBM Connections service


Pink App Dev Vision

New Philosophy for IBM Connections

Our cloud does not need to be completely standardized and commoditized

IBM Connections is for Collaboration

• Are One-Size-Fits-All solutions conducive to collaborative environments ?

• How can we give our users a work environment that promotes productivity ?

App Dev PlatformA

d-h

oc Situ

ation

al Ap

ps C

apab

ility


Pink App Dev Vision

Standardization

vs

Customization

Customization without Compromising the 4 S’s

• Scalability• Security• Stability• Servicability

Image Source: article on saascribe.com by Michael Cullen



App Registry Rebuilt on Pink


S L I D E

Service

App

Ext1 Ext2

App

Ext

• A central app design repository with UI and API access

• Helps manage and deploy apps on a per-org basis

• Provides a hierarchical model for defining applications

1. Services (like Customizer & OrientMe) can declare Extension Points that expose customizable features

2. Apps are containers for one or more extensions

3. An Extension is an implementation of an Extension Point

What is the App Registry?


S L I D E

Service

App

Ext1 Ext2

App

Ext

{

"services": ["OrientMe"],

"name": "My App",

"extensions": [ {

"type": "com.ibm.connections.orientme.tile.action",

"payload": {

…

}

}]}

Simplified Anatomy of an App


S L I D E

Pink Stack


S L I D E

Pink App Registry

• Initial Release – JSON Editor Only

• On-Prem & Cloud

• Continuous Delivery

• Incremental Enhancements

• Step-by-step app creation

• App Builders

• Support new Pink services & extension points

• Replace classic ext. point support


S L I D E

Out with the old…


S L I D E

…in with the new!

DEMO



OrientMe Extensibility



S L I D E


S L I D E


S L I D E


S L I D E


S L I D E

Orient Me Extensibility

• Extensibility Support (a.k.a Extension Points)

• Customise existing tile actions or add new ones

• Customise existing tile menu actions or add new ones

• Customise existing tabs

• Add custom tabs & associated content

• Customise Home/Mentions/Responses bubbles, a.k.a. ‘Global’ bubbles

• Add custom ‘Global’ bubbles



OrientMe Demo



ImportantToMe Extensibility


S L I D E

ITM Bar Anatomy

FavouritesGlobal Bubbles Suggestions Add/Remove

Info BubbleMail Bubble

Highlight Icon

Chat Bubble

Person Entry


S L I D E

Important To Me (ITM) Extensibility

• Extensibility Support (a.k.a Extension Points)

• Customise default Config settings

• Bubble width

• Highlight icon/style

• Suggestions config

• Add person bubble(s)

• Add community bubble(s)

• Add custom bubble(s)



ImportantToMe Demo



Wrap Up


S L I D E

Summary

• New App Registry built on Pink

• Micro-service architecture

• Coming to Connections Cloud and Connections on-prem

• Extensibility is core to Pink components

• OrientMe & ImportantToMe already on board

• More to come

• Phased release => continuous delivery



Questions & Answers


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