First of all, welcome to the new world of IBM Ideas! Of course this move is a good thing – let me tell you more about it.
For many years, the IBM Request For Enhancement (RFE) process has provided an opportunity for customers, business partners, and IBMers to suggest changes to our products and services to better meet clients’ evolving needs. However, your feedback let us know that it hasn't always been easy to understand the status of your requests and to find existing requests that you would like to collaborate and vote on. Many IBM products have already transitioned to a new single place for customers to raise and view requests. That place is called “IBM Ideas” and incorporates the use of Aha!, a partner’s tool. It is time for our IBM i and Developer for Power Systems (i.e., RDi) RFE products to transition as well. We are about to join this new IBM-wide IBM Ideas program to provide you with a better way to tell us what you want and need.
Among the improvements you will notice is the ease of finding existing Ideas before creating a new one that ultimately turns out to be a duplicate. When you start typing your single sentence summary for a new Idea, the powerful search engine will immediately show you the titles of existing Ideas that match some of the words, so you can decide if you still want to create your own new Idea, or vote and/or comment on an existing Idea. If you do happen to create an Idea that is later determined to be a duplicate of an existing Idea, your Idea will be merged into the content of that existing Idea.
Another improvement you will see are new names for the status of an Idea as it moves through the process:
- Submitted – This is the initial status when a new IBM Idea is created.
- Under Review – This is the status while the IBM i team takes time to understand the details about the Idea, and considers whether a solution is feasible.
- Needs More Information – If the IBM i team has questions about the Idea, this status indicates a response from the submitter or subscribers is needed in order to proceed.
- Future Consideration – Many Ideas for IBM i and its associated products will land for a time in this status. This means that the Idea is on a team’s list for implementation; however, it is not a guarantee that a solution will be provided. IBM i teams must balance among incorporating new technology, supporting existing technology, and responding to needs expressed through Ideas from the IBM i community. Some Ideas can be delivered only with a new release of the operating system, while others can fit into an IBM i Technology Refresh delivery. Votes and Comments from the IBM i community can help raise the priority on the IBM i team’s list, as can the assessments from our IBM i Advisory Councils.
- Planned for Future Release – A strong intent to deliver the Idea soon is implied with this status; however, be aware that it is still not a legally binding agreement that the solution will be delivered, as IBM’s plans can change at any time. Because we know that commitments are important to you – and to us – this status will not be used often. When the IBM i team provides a solution, it is more likely that your Idea will move from Future Consideration directly to Delivered status soon after the official Announcement that contains the desired function.
- Delivered – The solution requested is being made available for use.
- Functionality already exists – If there is already a way to do what is described in the Idea, it is closed with this status.
- Not under consideration – If the IBM i team does not plan to implement the Idea within a reasonable amount of time, it is closed with this status. There are many possible reasons an Idea might not be implemented. Perhaps the Idea does not appear to have broad appeal to the IBM i community. Perhaps the Idea does not align with the strategic direction of the product. Perhaps it would be too costly to implement. Sometimes the team’s list is simply too long, so Ideas that cannot be implemented soon are trimmed. These are just a few examples, but be assured that the team that would implement the solution gives each one careful consideration.
Privacy concerns were taken into account for this transition to IBM Ideas. If you have used the developerWorks RFE tool, you are accustomed to seeing the IBM IDs of the submitter and those making comments. With this new IBM Ideas tool, the submitter and those commenting are identified only as “Guest”. This leaves the choice up to you to decide whether to identify yourself. If you are comfortable letting the IBM i Community know your identity, then please add your name to the end of the details section of your Idea, or to the end of your comment. It is also fine to use a pseudonym, if desired. As you will see, collaboration will be enhanced if there is a name associated with the interactions, but the choice is yours.
Starting later this week (March 25th is the target date), we will migrate your existing IBM i and Rational Developer for i (RDi) RFEs onto the single company-wide IBM Ideas platform, utilizing interfaces from our partner, Aha!. Responding to feedback from the IBM i Community, we will be creating a new Category under Product IBM i that will hold the RDi Ideas, rather than having them in a separate product area as they were in the RFE tool. Ultimately, we want to provide you with a single view into all the public Ideas related to IBM i and other IBM products, an easier way to track them, and the ability to continue to collaborate with IBM as well as with users, partners and IBMers around the world. Watch for upcoming e-mails related to your existing RFEs.
Particular links you will want to bookmark for future use:
- IBM Power Systems Ideas Portal - https://ibm-power-systems.ideas.ibm.com - Use this site to view, comment and vote on existing Power Systems Ideas, or create a new Idea for a Power Systems product.
- IBM Unified Ideas Portal - https://ideas.ibm.com/ - Use this site to create or search for existing Ideas across all IBM products, and track all of your personal interactions with all Ideas.
For the latest information on this program and how it affects the ideas you have submitted, along with finding your way around our new solution, please visit the IBM Ideas Welcome page: https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/6438917
We would appreciate your feedback about your experience as you come up to speed with the IBM Ideas interfaces and process. Please take a moment to share your thoughts via e-mail to ideasibm@us.ibm.com or simply add a comment to this blog.
We look forward to continuing to collaborate with you about improvements to our products.