DominoPower: Migration to Microsoft: Look before you leap
January 24 2006
Nigel Cheshire sums up the folly of Microsoft's migration efforts in one simple paragraph:
If you are considering a migration from Lotus Notes/Domino to Microsoft, I want you to think about a few things before making the leap. The development languages don't mesh, the document store is different, and the general working environments are quite different as well. If anything, Microsoft's new application analyzer will tell you how difficult it will be to migrate from Lotus Notes/Domino to a Microsoft solution.and he has taken a look at what Microsoft is really offering:
Microsoft provides no software to help businesses migrate away from their customized Notes/Domino applications, which is at the heart of what the Notes/Domino platform is all about. To reproduce a typical Notes/Domino application's feature set on the Microsoft platform would involve a total rewrite -- a truly expensive proposition. Customers need to fully investigate the effort involved before they sign up for this proposition.This is the fallacy of Microsoft's "Notes Compete" effort. Migrate mail? Yeah, that's possible, in either direction. We've seen companies go to Exchange, we've seen companies go to Domino. But the apps? Notes and Domino offer a unique technology toolset that hasn't been duplicated, by Microsoft or anyone else. That's why Paul Mooney saw that none of his company's apps could be migrated. That's why the beta tool has been pulled off the Microsoft website. And that's why these conversations are only even possible with a political agenda -- anyone looking at it objectively wouldn't ever bother.
Link: DominoPower: Migration to Microsoft: Look before you leap >
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- 2
Giulio | 1/24/2006 5:27:53 PM
It really depends on where your strengths lie. Migrating away from your strengths usually goes against the grain. It's definitely clearer when looking at comments by MS and Domino proponents. I'll happily admit that I am firmly in the Notes camp and take whatever criticisms comes with the territory.
If migration is to occur, get the best people of each technology to look at all the risks and work towards the change. If anything, consider re-building your legacy "complex apps" first if you are really committed and then complete the mail migration because it will never happen the other way around. The story below I think typifies most migrations to exchange with very limited success and additional expense.
@1 : I read Al's comments about why someone migrates to Exchange and I think he is pushing reasons which don't really hold water, especially with comments roadmaps and uncertainty. Come on Al... uncertainty ? Do you subsrcibe only to the Radicati report ? Microsoft's Exchange Roadmap looks noticeably worrisome considering that it's a real possibility that you may have to "ebay" your server and upgrade your O/S. (How would you like to pay for that sir ? Through the nose, arm and leg, or just a severed artery ? Sorry couldn't resist.)
I have worked at a number of sites that have attempted to migrate away from notes, and in every case (which would have been about 6 clients), they have kept their notes server but only migrated mail and still 4 years on they are still running those servers.
The most common reason for migrating was to follow a corporate standard elsewhere in the organisation or acquisition. Both can be perfectly valid reasons. Beyond that i think its determined by emotional preference because both products share considerable functionality and integration.
The worst result I have had the displeasure of seeing was an executive decision that was made based on the guestimate that by forcing a new platform regime the applications would follow by migration. It seems these sorts of decisions though are done out of sight because they expect technocratic resistance and are thus done in a vacum of technical ignorance. I can understand the initial reason why decisions are made in this way. But that being said it's a major project and should be treated as such.
The results I have seen clearly demonstrated a lack of understanding of the old technology because experts of the new technology are the ones leading the charge (over the cliff).
Also, there was no consultation with those areas of the organisation that had invested considerable cash in building the legacy applications that have served them well. So when crunch time comes and the actual cost to migrate applications is realised in board meetings, the cost and risk of losing those applications is identified as a threat to the business.
Consequently, in view of the threat and re-dev cost, the additional cost to leave the notes server running, (for a couple of years), and only migrate mail outweighs the risk of the business losing the complex app.
This cost usually entails supporting 2 licenses per seat and the additional admin expense. Then what happens is that the notes administrators are given the boot and you are left with exchange admin who tend to make a real dog's breakfast of the environment. I say that not because i think less of exchange administrators, but notes server administration is a specific skill that you can't trivialise.
Once the light dawns on those responsible for the lemmings approach to platform migration, it's too late and (they have moved on, causing havoc elsewhere), then you have a god-aweful ugly environment which is like the off-spring of crossing a chihuahua with a great-dane.
- 3
Al http://www.vurtual.net | 1/25/2006 2:41:22 AM
@2 I'm just calling 'em as I see them. These are reasons given to me by customers every week for their wanting to move. My company may have 'strategically moved away from Notes' but I don't actively chase these down.
I still disagree with this. Sure, really heavy users of Notes/Domino are going to have no reason (or justification) to switch. But there is still a middle of the road contingent that use Domino for apps (Doc libraries, Discussion, Team Room, couple of timesheet apps maybe) that can be quickly migrated to Sharepoint with a bit of effort for their handful of 'complex' apps. I'm trying not to appear too pro-MS here. I've seen plenty of Domino customers in this situation (coming from a big MS/IBM/Sun consulting house) and I wonder if the majority of the Lotus community only see the extremes of the Domino-user market due to the nature of their business.
That said though, it's a shame that most of the Domino to Exchange migrations I've seen have been Boss-related and the three Exchange to Domino one have been due to real, valid, measurable business reasons....
Amazingly I managed to blog even more on this:
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