AustralianIT: Centrelink stays with Notes email

July 7 2008

The article is a bit understated considering the magnitude of this decision...and many others like it that took place despite significant Microsoft pressure during their just-completed fiscal Q4:

CENTRELINK has rejected a move from its entrenched IBM Lotus Notes platform after spending the past couple of months evaluating the offerings of Microsoft and other competitors.

Information technology deputy chief executive John Wadeson confirmed the department had begun discussions with Microsoft and several other vendors about switching to an alternative email system and office productivity suite.

However, after looking at the alternatives, he said the department would be sticking with IBM's product.
Not necessarily related to this specific story, but having just come out of the quarter, there are similar tales to be told.  In many of these "defend" situations, customers end up considering a broader scope of IBM Lotus software, and this has given us many opportunities to beat Microsoft both in the Notes/Domino space as well as with Quickr, Connections, and Sametime.  One thing I'm proud of as a sales manager is that our team is very, very good at turning defense into offense.

Link: AustralianIT: Centrelink stays with Notes email >

Ed Brill | Highland Park, IL USA Category:  Notes and Domino 8  Add/View Comments [10]

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  1. 1  Henry Ferlauto http://www.geniusinside.com | 7/7/2008 5:39:58 PM

    I think you just found a great BDD session topic for Lotusphere 2009.

  1. 2  Kevin  | 7/7/2008 8:53:50 PM

    I love to hear stories like these. And since we are in the middle of the "eval" with MS knocking on our door, I hope to see our story on your blog with similar results!

  1. 3  Michael Kobrowski  | 7/8/2008 12:53:25 PM

    Well done! Great job!

    Make sure to share your ways of success with others in your sales team.

    And maybe have them knock more frequently at the doors of existing customers to make sure they are there for them if others are knocking...

  1. 4  Kevin Mort http://www.theglobalmind.com | 7/9/2008 2:36:51 PM

    The more of these get out to the mainstream press & trade rags the more we combat the "Lotus is dead" argument.

    Of which I just had again with a writer over at Network World. Great stuff.

  1. 5  David Bell  | 7/9/2008 6:16:46 PM

    "One thing I'm proud of as a sales manager is that our team is very, very good at turning defense into offense. "

    I'd like to see us go one step further and do much more proactive offense, negating the need to start out in a defensive posture in the first place.

    It sounds very negative, perception being everything, to say "defend" which (at least to me) conjours a thought that we just managed to stave off another MS attack. Yes we're very successful at that game, but it doesn't sound like a very positive message just because of our terminology.

    We have superior technology and ability to execute, we should communicate in those positive terms.

    Does it not sound more aggressive and positive to say "we beat Microsoft in a competitive situation *again*" rather than "we defended our position against Microsoft again" ?

  1. 6  Gary Wickham  | 7/9/2008 7:11:50 PM

    I think "defend" is used in this context as "we are the incumbent" and are being attacked (very persisently and agressively in most cases) by Microsoft.

    Be assured there are other accounts where we are the agressor due to the fact that we are not the incumbent.

    In both cases, the old addage "the grass is greener on the other side" still seems to hold an amazing amount of weight with decision makers.

  1. 7  Randy Smith http://www.certprimer.com | 7/9/2008 11:23:07 PM

    @Ed - Good to hear that you're getting wins while in defense mode. But what about "win-backs" after painful, multiple year Notes/Domino-to-Exchange/Sharepoint migration efforts? I'm very familiar with at least two of these migration disasters, and have heard of several more. I would think that these situations would be ripe for win-back opportunities. IBM should be pursuing them very aggressively. M$ is sure doing a great job of spin-doctoring and damage control on these migration fiascoes. I've personally received a "cease and desist" order from M$ on some comments that I made that didn't support the "official" M$ version of the truth (my information for the comments came directly from some of the "victims" of the migration projects -- not happy campers).

  1. 8  David Bell  | 7/9/2008 11:29:33 PM

    @6 - true, but I think in general, and whether we are the incumbent or not, we should be striving not to use terms that have a negative conurtation.

  1. 9  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 7/10/2008 7:05:12 AM

    @5/8 it's a fair point... I guess I got sucked in by the milquetoast tone of the AustralianIT article.

    @7 political decisions don't get reversed, especially when the vendor then goes and has libraries named after people and builds data centers in the state. Much more interested in the "cease and desist" stuff -- I may have more access to lawyers than you -- contact me offline.

  1. 10  Randy Smith  | 7/10/2008 8:35:33 AM

    @9 - You've got mail.