New vs Classic Experience

Back in release 58 (57 for local) of Planning Analytics Workspace (late 2020) – IBM introduced a completely new look/feel and functionality.
I can not quantify enough how much of an improvement and step up I believe that has been!

However, some businesses will still be using the “Classic” workspace. If your ribbons are more blue than black; then that’s the Classic experience.
In order to make the transition easier, IBM allowed for companies to “preview” the newer experience before committing to it.
This allowed you time to update parts of applications that no longer worked in the same way (e.g. a line chart with multiple colours may only be showing 1 line after the upgrade) and train users on where to find buttons in the updated toolbar etc.

Deprecation

IBM has now announced that they will completely deprecate the Classic experience as part of the Cloud release that is due to take place in July 2022.
At this point, any Cloud customers still using the Classic experience will automatically be converted to using the new experience.
If you have a local instance of Planning Analytics Workspace, you will have the choice to simply not upgrade. But, we would not recommend this for too long!

What Next?

If you are still using the Classic Workspace experience, we strongly recommend that you look at upgrading in the near future – don’t get caught out by it changing outside of your control… that is when the headaches will start.

IBM has provided some considerations for you to take into account when upgrading your experience.
And if you want a little bit of extra help, get in touch with us, We will assist you in the transition, making sure everything continues to work as expected. We will also some hints and ideas on how to make the most of the new functionality.