Ed Brill

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1. 1  Bruce Elgort http://elguji.com | 7/31/2008 8:55:47 AM

   Congrats on such a successful winning streak. Elguji is also seeing an extremely high demand for it's Notes/Domino based products. Congrats Lotus!

1. 2  Andy Brunner http://ABData.CH | 7/31/2008 8:58:01 AM

   Finally IBM is publishing facts about Notes/Domino customers. This will help us business partners a lot. Very good !

1. 3  luis benitez http://socializeme.blogspot.com | 7/31/2008 8:58:34 AM

   Such a teaser!!!! I'm refreshing every second here! :)

1. 4  Sean Jennings  | 7/31/2008 9:02:53 AM

   Great news items there, not that we ever doubted you... ;o)

   but as important is that it looks like IBM is finally being assertive in its publicity of its successes, the best way to fight the oppositions FUD is with facts like these.

   Hope to see not just named wins in competition to Microsoft but named migrations (or should that be 'upgrades') from Exchange to Notes/Domino too.

1. 5  David Wilkerson http://www.geedavid.com | 7/31/2008 9:12:35 AM

   Hooray! It's about time to see a release like that. It will be interesting to see the MS FUD come out in response.

1. 6  Nathan T. Freeman http://nathan.lotus911.com | 7/31/2008 9:13:48 AM

   Excellent news. I hope this is a sign of how Mr. Picciano intends to play the game.

1. 7  Keith Brooks http://www.vanessabrooks.com | 7/31/2008 9:26:10 AM

   See I drive to my client and missed this.

   So nice to see Lotus, I mean IBM, PROUD of Lotus finally.

   If this is what we can expect from Bob then it will be a fun future and a better Lotusphere.

1. 8  Michael Kobrowski  | 7/31/2008 9:33:04 AM

   Great news!

   Thanks for posting that ahead of time too.

   One thing surprised me a lot.... has IBM ever called Lotus Domino that?:

   "growth, IBM's flagship Lotus Notes and Domino products "

   Flagship? Is that new? Does all of IBM know that or just Lotus Software group ?

   Mr. Picciano, well done, keep on going that direction. And of course Ed :)

1. 9  Karen Demerly  | 7/31/2008 9:35:41 AM

   I second @6.

   This release is how to play the game. Nice.

1. 10  Ben Poole http://benpoole.com | 7/31/2008 9:48:04 AM

   Perfect tone and emphasis, my congratulations to all concerned: this is the kind of "gloves off" approach -- with a positive attitude -- many have been pleading for.

   I echo Nathan's comments in here's hoping this heralds the approach from now on in!

1. 11  Dimitri Prosper  | 7/31/2008 9:50:06 AM

   very nicely done !!!

1. 12  John Vaughan http://jonvon.net | 7/31/2008 10:07:09 AM

   amazing!

   is it christmas already?

1. 13  Volker Weber http://vowe.net/about | 7/31/2008 10:10:10 AM

   Congratulations.

   One question re: the "accounting/consulting firms purchased more than 150,000 seats of the entire Lotus portfolio". Is that a new win, or did they have Notes on every single desk/laptop since the beginning of times?

1. 14  Jess Stratton http://www.lotususergroup.org/blogsphe.nsf | 7/31/2008 10:11:26 AM

   Congrats to IBM! As Eric Cartman would say, "With authoritai..." The confident tone in both your blog post and your direct quotes come through loud and clear.

1. 15  Wojciech Kroczak http://www.LotusNotes.pl | 7/31/2008 10:16:48 AM

   And such the information comes today, when I had a conversation with a client that is going to choose MS solutions because he thinks that Lotus Notes/Domino technology is becoming niche.

   Ed! You have just given me a powerfull weapon!!

   Please, build a strong marketing around it and let us fight with such a stereotype.

1. 16  Brett Hershberger  | 7/31/2008 10:19:22 AM

   This is great news Ed! Congrats galore.

   Of course we all beleived in it, but it sure is nice to see it put out there.

1. 17  tom http://www.codepress.net/b | 7/31/2008 10:33:35 AM

   Congratulations!

   Now bring some of that conversion love to the Midwest!

1. 18  Ed Maloney  | 7/31/2008 10:36:32 AM

   I particularly enjoyed IBM referring to Exchange as proprietary, legacy technology. We have been waiting a looong time for this!

1. 19  Alan Head  | 7/31/2008 10:45:09 AM

   "Other clients who have recently invested in Lotus Notes and other Lotus software over the competition"

   How is investment defined in those cases? Competitive wins and new licenses sold or deciding to continue with N/D and therefore renewing software maintenance agreements?

   Either way its great to see IBM on the offensive but clearly if these are brand new investments then its a bigger story.

1. 20  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 7/31/2008 10:53:33 AM

   @13 The second-largest deal for Lotus, ever, including new licenses as well as maintenance for all Lotus products.

   @19 both, and the top line growth is coming in both new licenses as well as in maintenance.

1. 21  Volker Weber http://vowe.net/about | 7/31/2008 11:09:30 AM

   Thanks Ed. Is that a "yes" to the "Notes since the beginning of times"?

1. 22  Tim Haugen  | 7/31/2008 11:15:24 AM

   Great - exactly the type of statements we need to be able quote and reference from inside an enterprise.

   @13, 19, 20 - From conversations with my peers at other large customer firms, it seems there's a strong trend of:

   1) recognizing the landscape change from "just" eMail to "Enterprise Collaboration Platforms"

   2) reviewing the market and deciding a full "suite" from one vendor makes sense

   3) upon selecting the vendor, implementation means licensing all of the "newer" products in addition to renewing maintenance on "eMail"

1. 23  Pedro Quaresma http://playroom3.wordpress.com | 7/31/2008 11:17:06 AM

   Great news. Go offense! :-D

1. 24  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 7/31/2008 11:18:58 AM

   @21 Yes, they've had Notes for a while. I can't really see that diminishing the success of that individual deal in this case, though.

1. 25  Alan Head  | 7/31/2008 11:23:45 AM

   Seeing as MS push Exchange as a platform, so should IBM. In my experience people see MS as more of a platform than Domino but that's largely down to perception rather than reality. I've spent a long time looking at the MS option this year and no matter which way you cut it the costs just don't stack up (or rather the benefits to justify the costs don't stack up). This is particularly the case if you look at the platform as "just email". We have significant barriers to entry for MS (non-Windows hardware, Domino apps base) but even without those it just isn't clear where the benefits would come from.

1. 26  Rob McDonagh http://www.CaptainOblivious.com | 7/31/2008 11:29:06 AM

   Excellent. Simply excellent.

1. 27  Alan Lepofsky http://www.alanlepofsky.net | 7/31/2008 11:52:13 AM

   That is great news! Check out my idea for a Lotus Ye11ow day to celebrate and build momentum: { Link }

1. 28  Henry Ferlauto http://www.geniusinside.com | 7/31/2008 11:57:26 AM

   Great to see, indeed!

   Especially nice to see the named customers.

   I hope this is just the begining of IBM / Lotus flexing its marketing muscle. We need a lot more of this.

   @12 - If they could have waited one more day then we could say, "It's Christmas in August!!!.... and it's insane!!!"

   { Link }

1. 29  Henry Ferlauto http://www.geniusinside.com | 7/31/2008 11:59:17 AM

   And I just love the use of the word "legacy" here:

   "Many clients of all sizes are questioning their investments in legacy Microsoft software products."

1. 30  Olaf Boerner http://www.bcc.biz | 7/31/2008 12:05:33 PM

   First good news since long time ago.

   Very glad to read this. Better late than never.We will communicate this to our customers.

   I hope this will be the beginning of a more aggressive down to the earth marketing. There is nothing better than a named customer reference.

1. 31  Volker Weber http://vowe.net/about | 7/31/2008 12:07:48 PM

   Ed, I am not looking to diminish something. I am trying to understand what IBM counts as a win, especially given the role of that particular customer in the history of Notes.

1. 32  Tony Lee  | 7/31/2008 12:10:01 PM

   Microsoft = Legacy Software = Priceless!!!

1. 33  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 7/31/2008 12:10:28 PM

   @31 this release highlights a number of different types of customer wins -- net-new (no Notes), expansion of existing customer, competitive winback, competitive defend and expand (such as Tim @22 describes). All of the above are in there.

1. 34  Darren http://www.dadams.co.uk | 7/31/2008 12:29:22 PM

   First day back from holiday (vacation) - I join a customer meeting to discuss replacing Exchange with Domino, and then later in the day, this. Maybe I should go away and come back more often ;o)

1. 35  Nathan T. Freeman http://nathan.lotus911.com | 7/31/2008 12:38:59 PM

   @31 - That a customer heavily invested in Notes furthered that investment by buying a suite of companion products. Who wouldn't call that a win? If a shop of all Macs went out and bought iPhones for everyone, wouldn't that be a win for Apple? Would you say "well, they were already a Mac shop, so it's not a win."

1. 36  Richard Hogan  | 7/31/2008 12:54:48 PM

   Well done Ed. This is very welcome. Great to see IBM publicly backing Lotus Notes Domino and responding to the fud. This is the first thing in a long time that has the potential to change perceptions for the better.

   Keep up the great work.

1. 37  John Turnbow http://www.navasoata-unified.com | 7/31/2008 12:54:59 PM

   Great News... Glad that the article is factual, well positioned, lists true and trackable events. Something I personally don't see from MS$.

1. 38  Julian Woodward http://blog.woowar.com | 7/31/2008 1:13:23 PM

   @34 - That's funny, cos we've been saying for a long time that we wish you would go away and not come back ;-)

   Seriously though, Ed this is good stuff. I sincerely hope that it's a sign of things to come.

   One question of clarity: when it speaks of Sametime and "100 million individual licensed seats in the second quarter with one-third of sales going to Microsoft customers", what defines a Microsoft customer in that context? I would have thought, things being as they are, that pretty much 100% went to Microsoft customers. So are we talking Exchange users here?

1. 39  Chris Whisonant http://www.bleedyellow.com/blogs/lotusnut | 7/31/2008 1:24:28 PM

   Great news Ed. Congrats again to IBM!!

   Every CIO in the world needs to see this article. I'm serious. If you know of a shop that's even teetering on a move to Exchange, then they need to see this article! How many shops do you know with CIOs who would try to make a multi-hundred thousand/million dollar investment just because they "like Outlook"?

   @31 - Staying with a current investment and/or adding to it is a win no matter how you parse it. Especially good for marketing information to show how customers decided NOT to Exchange Lotus...

1. 40  Mac Guidera http://www.macguidera.net | 7/31/2008 2:02:51 PM

   oh man, so exciting!...I've been wearing my yellow gloves all day!

   { Link }

1. 41  Ports http://www.mrports.com/ | 7/31/2008 2:03:13 PM

   Yay :-)

1. 42  Tony Frazier  | 7/31/2008 2:42:24 PM

   Agree with the other comments: great release, factual, good spirit and tone, not defensive, not apologetic!! I have one customer looking to migrate way from Domino and this can only help, if only to create question/follow points.

1. 43  Darren http://www.dadams.co.uk | 7/31/2008 3:07:07 PM

   @38 - Jules, I wish I'd put £10 on you saying that ;o)

1. 44  Kevin Mort http://www.theglobalmind.com | 7/31/2008 3:23:33 PM

   Happy to see a bit more aggressive stance on this. Hope it continues.

   @40 - And you can type with those things Mac? And yes, I have a pair of those gloves in my office as well. : )

1. 45  Ian Scott  | 7/31/2008 3:29:00 PM

   Volker - I'd say it was a ringing endorsement of the entire product portfolio. The new products sold are wins. The commitment to the products they already license seems to me to be the difference between a soccer team winning 6-0 and winning 2-0; it's the same number of points in the bag and there's still an important game to play and win next week but this week it was a comprehensive win where every player in every department was superior to the opposition. Not so different from the German national team really 8-)

   Anyway, that's enough of soccer as I might have found a new sport. I think it's called hardball and there's this team called IBM who have a new captain and seem to be quite good at it. Can't wait for next week and the rest of the season.

   Congratulations! Splendid result!

1. 46  Don Strawsburg  | 7/31/2008 3:42:43 PM

   Finally!!

   Time for some TV commercials, just not Superman!.

   Maybe a free mail client for home users, get the home desktop now, replace Outlook Express.

   Get into an Apple commercial, that dude with bright yellow gloves selling the Mac client.

   Congratulations!

   Don

1. 47  Clayton Price  | 7/31/2008 5:25:42 PM

   Great news and the tone of the release is impressive. The important challenge, and one often not given the focus from IBM/Lotus, is now getting this information into the right peoples hands....

1. 48  Clayton Price  | 7/31/2008 5:26:47 PM

   BTW: I still wash my car in a R5 "super human software" t-shirt ;-)

1. 49  Brett Hershberger  | 7/31/2008 5:58:10 PM

   I'll be very interested to see which trade magazines pick up on this, and which one's keep it "hush", and thereby possibly exposing if they are under "instructions" by a large competing organization to keep this sort of success under wraps?

1. 50  Lee Salzman http://www.xyzephyr.com | 7/31/2008 6:19:20 PM

   I was hoping Bob would be bringing some changes and he isn't failing me. Opening up Lotus' books like this is a major step in re-casting Notes into what it always has been; the unbeatable leader in business collaboration software.

   But why? How did we ever lose our mantle in the 1st place? It's my contention that the MSM (mainstream marketing) team at IBM is to blame. The same Big Blue Mad Men we have all come to love to hate since the M&A 13 years ago. The ones who would rather snipe at their own business partners than listen to their reports from the field. The same ones who react defensively when challenged instead of with swagger and pride.

   I'm aware that being the lone-contrarian in the middle of this love-fest is to risk being branded with the scarlet "T" (troll) but I've been complaining about this for some time. Ed, if you're going to take the credit for these returns then you have to take the blame for their being late and under-achieving--I just can't help imagining how much better these numbers would be if you would have led with your chin all this time (e.g. Apple/Google) instead of blubbering like a victim (re: your previous post).

   We have a new GM. We have a major new release. Now, we need new blood. A new breed who knows "there is no such thing as a satisfied customer". A new generation that embraces the creed "your loudest critics are your most loyal fans."

1. 51  Tony Palmer http://palmerweb.blogspot.com | 7/31/2008 6:29:37 PM

   @26 - ditto.

1. 52  Erik Brooks  | 7/31/2008 6:50:11 PM

   HELL.

   YEAH.

   Am I the only one whose eyes got wider and wider as they kept reading?

1. 53  Vincent  | 7/31/2008 6:57:14 PM

   This just make my vacation even better... AMEN.

1. 54  Bob Balaban http://www.bobzblog.com | 7/31/2008 8:53:08 PM

   Congratulations to you, Ed and to IBM, I assume that you, personally, deserve a lot of credit for this great activity. Well done!

   I just LOVE the new "openness" of this press release, please keep it up.

1. 55  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 7/31/2008 9:06:47 PM

   @54 Thanks... there were actually two press releases today, the other about WebSphere Portal { Link } ... so as you can see, there is definitely intent to keep it up.

   @50 I'm definitely stunned to have someone tell me today that it's time for me to move on from this job. Perhaps you missed the concurrency of the time period indicated in the press release as having been sustained growth for Notes/Domino and the time period I've been the product sales executive for Notes/Domino. I ack'd in my posting that there's always more to do and over the years there is definitely more that could have been done, but to assert that if I had somehow conducted myself differently, it would have been better...shows a complete lack of understanding, on a number of fronts. Beyond disappointing.

1. 56  Nathan T. Freeman http://nathan.lotus911.com | 7/31/2008 9:32:28 PM

   @50 - I'm confused as well. Who do you mean by "new blood?" It seems in evidence that Mr. Picciano is changing the order of business. Your tone implies that there's something that should/could have been done at a middle management level in prior years. Is that your intent?

1. 57  Nathan T. Freeman http://nathan.lotus911.com | 7/31/2008 9:34:22 PM

   @50 - PS: Another blog that doesn't allow comments? Gimme a break.

1. 58  Colin Williams  | 7/31/2008 9:38:18 PM

   @50 You've got it all wrong...we don't need less of Eds inexhaustable style and presence, we need more! Sadly the mold broke and they're few and far between so we should be nurturing what we've got when positive news comes our way.

   Take a bow Ed; we know you had a huge part to play in todays annoucement.

1. 59  Graham Dodge  | 8/1/2008 12:08:46 AM

   Ed, if you ever want a break from Notes/Domino then feel free to come and play in the Foundations space for a while. I'm sure the Foundations Team at IBM would welcome your blood regardless of how old it was :)

1. 60  Bernard  | 8/1/2008 4:03:24 AM

   @50 The financial results speak for themselves and for Ed. But Ed's achievements can't even be fully represented by that success. Of all the people who comment on this blog, I'm probably the one with the least significance. But when I've had a problem with IBM's own bureaucracy, I approached Ed, and on more than one occasion he put me in contact with the right person. Just yesterday (before this piece appeared on his blog), I approached him with a new take on marketing Notes. And within hours I got an appreciative reply from him (even though it transpired the idea was not a new one for him). I've never had any involvement with any company where someone has repeatedly gone out of his way to help a client, or where someone has been so open to outside ideas. I've no doubt that my experience is not isolated. Even though these are little things, they make me think that Ed must get a lot of the credit for the recent success of Notes. This is now the only IBM/Lotus related website I visit regularly. More power to him!

1. 61  Thirukkovalur Ravi Kumar http://www.lotus4u.shorturl.com | 8/1/2008 4:14:16 AM

   As a Lotus Notes developer I was little worried about my carrier. This news really gives me confidence that my career grows with Lotus Notes. This is a great news for the Lotus Notes developer’s community.

   Ed! Thanks a lot for posting such a wonderful news.

1. 62  Thirukkovalur Ravi Kumar http://www.lotus4u.shorturl.com | 8/1/2008 4:20:30 AM

1. 63  MIguel Angel Calvo http://www.zarazaga.net | 8/1/2008 4:32:05 AM

   @50 Maybe there could be very obscure and hidden reasons for your opinion that not many people here can know, but as a regular reader, I find Ed a very enthusiastic and involved person in Lotus affairs.

   OK, it's his job, but there are many ways of carry out someones duties and the way he expresses his opinions and how he helps customers and not customers in solving their IBM doubts / problems is something that has to be taken into account in a very positive way.

   And as always I write something in this blog, Ed, Spain is also a market that needs a push from IBM Lotus :-)

1. 64  Mike Brown  | 8/1/2008 4:34:58 AM

   @50

   "Ed Brill lured to Microsoft, decides he needs 'pastures new'".

   Can anybody think of a headline that they'd like to see even less than that one? I mean, apart from "Charles Arthur joins Lotus as Technical Consultant"?

   Cheers,

   - Miike

1. 65  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 8/1/2008 6:01:13 AM

   @31 if I am reading your article on Heise { Link } correctly, you guessed wrong on which customer it is.

1. 66  mpl  | 8/1/2008 6:02:10 AM

   i'd be interested in some of the actual details here, re-evaluations and sticking with a technology is significantly different to a migration from a competitor.

   (apologies if its already been answered)

1. 67  Volker Weber http://vowe.net | 8/1/2008 6:02:42 AM

   That happens. Congratulations on another big win then.

1. 68  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 8/1/2008 6:14:33 AM

   @66 Not all of these customers have agreed to be published as formal IBM references. However, as I said @33, all of the typical scenarios (including migration from a competitor) are included in the list of customers. For example, in my inbox this morning is a "win wire" for 6,000 Exchange users migrating to Domino. It's not a company named in yesterday's press release, but that just gives me a head start on the next one :)

1. 69  mpl  | 8/1/2008 6:21:10 AM

   @68

   Hi Ed thanks for the response.

   Although you've not answered my question, to be honest the names of the companies don't really matter to me.

   What i'm very keen on knowing is how many are Exchange to Notes migrations ???

1. 70  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 8/1/2008 6:30:42 AM

   @69 I think three of the companies mentioned in the press release -- my own internal scorecard shows 50+ significantly-sized Exchange to Domino wins during the first half of the year.

1. 71  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 8/1/2008 7:35:13 AM

   ITWire in Australia has picked up the press release.... { Link }

1. 72  Bill Brown  | 8/1/2008 8:29:19 AM

   @48 I still wear my R5 Super Human Software shirt. OK, a little less now and only for yard work,etc since it's got a hole or two in it... It's almost 10 years old.

1. 73  Rob Ingram http://thesametimeblog.com | 8/1/2008 9:11:15 AM

   @38 - Sametime sales to Microsoft (email) customers are the new Sametime sales where we added a net new customer win to our Lotus family even though they do not use Notes/Domino email. (so far!).

   Despite what you might think, IBM sellers are very active in selling all our Lotus products to all parts of the business world. Put that down to the enormous reach of the IBM salesforce and its partners.

1. 74  Julian Woodward http://blog.woowar.com | 8/1/2008 9:20:29 AM

   @73 - thanks for that clarification.

1. 75  Kevin Mort http://www.theglobalmind.com | 8/1/2008 9:53:55 AM

   As others have said I'll be interested to see how many of the more US based industry news sites picks this up.

   Given that at least a couple like to publish the MSFT annual "Lotusphere spoiler" as actual Lotusphere news. : )

1. 76  Betsy Terrell  | 8/1/2008 12:40:42 PM

   Ed-

   We've both been around Lotus, Notes, Domino and IBM for a very long time and it's about time the gloves came off.

1. 77  Irv Schor  | 8/1/2008 1:12:15 PM

   There are company's such as where I hang my hat, that have acquired smaller company's over the past year or two and have moved users from Exchange to Domino. While only a few hundred 'converts' in total, I'm guessing that these types of numbers don't make anyone's radar due to the manner in which the 'switch' has taken place.

1. 78  J.R. Regenold http://www.k90.com | 8/1/2008 11:52:19 PM

   Was deeply saddened by the death of OS/2 (still superior to Windows XP or Vista). The good news on Lotus Domino/Notes is understandable if you present the product for what it is, a powerful collaboration tool, The ability to run the same applications as you upgrade and the most capable mail server anywhere. It only needs to be sold...and finally looks as if that is happening.

1. 79  Brett Hershberger  | 8/4/2008 11:19:11 AM

   <conspiracy mode>

   Still not a peep from informationweek.com, eweek.com, crn.com, cio.com, even in their "Press Releases" sections... Hmmm

   </conspiracy mode>

1. 80  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 8/4/2008 11:25:51 AM

   But it was on Network World, PC World, Washington Post, TheStreet.com, and others. Not every publication sees a press release as fit for their readers...but there will be more coverage.