With this week's issue, InformationWeek launches a redesigned format for its digital magazine, delivered in PDF form and designed for easy reading on laptops or tablets. We're eager to hear what you think of it, so please download it here, and post your feedback in the comments below or send directly to me.
As always, the content matters most, so I'll let you know what's in this week's issue. The cover story package has three articles that each dig into the hard realities of cloud computing. We look at some cloud pioneers, such as Intercontinental Hotels Group, which shared with us the results and lessons learned from its use of cloud infrastructure. We also look at "6 Ways To Fail" with cloud computing-- and offer advice on avoiding these pitfalls. And we look at cloud ROI, and the 11 elements any cloud business plan needs to consider.
Back to the new format. InformationWeek published its first all-digital issues in 2009. That first design wasn't a major departure from the look of the printed magazine-- slightly larger type for easier on-screen reading and embedded links for navigation, but still the vertical pages and the familiar two-page spreads a print reader is used to.
This new format is a distinct 2.0 design, created by InformationWeek art director Mary Ellen Forte. It's a horizontal design and uses single pages instead of a two-page spread. The advertisements fit into the flow of the editorial space. We kept the PDF format because it's easy use, works on any computer platform, and is easy to share with colleagues.
We're also developing an iPad app, which we'll launch in the coming weeks. It will offer a mix of the top news stories and long-form analysis. However, we hear readers tell us loud and clear they still want a magazine. IT executives and managers want to know someone is filtering the world for them, and then stopping to say these are the most important ideas and trends that you don't dare miss. The magazine content sparks new thinking, maybe even scares readers from time to time if they realize they're falling behind.
IT leaders often tell us that InformationWeek magazine is among the reading they do when they have time to stop and think. The print magazine--which we're also continuing to publish every other week, with reader demand as high as it's ever been--has always appealed to busy IT execs because they can take it with them, to read when they're away from the office and left alone for those precious moments of peace. We think our redesigned digital issue format continues that tradition by providing the right form to deliver in-depth articles, thought-provoking columns, and timely analysis that can help IT leaders do their jobs better.
But that's just what we think. You're the reason we do what we do. So please let us know what you think of the redesigned format.
Chris Murphy is editor of InformationWeek
