Information Week: Gartner: Wait Until At Least ´07 For Office 12

September 20 2005

Information Week is reporting on Gartner's assessment of Microsoft's "Office 12" preview, including a recommendation to look at IBM instead:

Despite many potentially powerful enhancements, most enterprises will find it hard to justify upgrading [to Office 12] during 2007 and 2008," wrote a half dozen Gartner analysts in an online briefing posted to the Stamford, Conn.-based company's Web site.  ...
Among its other recommendations, Gartner advised corporations to evaluate IBM's Workplace product line as an Office alternative -- "Workplace is far more 'real' today than Office 12," the analysts said -- and to keep an ear open for later Office 12 details, including some kind of integration with Groove Networks, the company that Microsoft bought in March.

"We note the lack of any statements about Groove Networks' technology," said the analysts. "It will be a bad sign If Microsoft does not integrate Groove by the time Office 12 ships."
I was wondering that, too.

Link: Information Week: Gartner: Wait Until At Least '07 For Office 12  >

Ed Brill | Bucuresti, România Category:  In the news  Add/View Comments [11]

Post a Comment

  1. 1  Curt Stone http://curtstone.dominodeveloper.net | 9/20/2005 11:51:38 AM

    I'm encouraged when I read positive feedback from Gartner about Workplace. But, while I was reviewing this article, I took a look at Gartner's home page so I could get information on the upcoming annual Gartner Symposium that my boss is attending. One of the keynote speakers in Steve Ballmer. Will this keynote overshadow any positive reports or sessions buried farther down in the Symposium?

  1. 2  Randall Shimizu  | 9/20/2005 1:37:54 PM

    Sounds promising, but IBM needs to focus on making the Workplace client useable for larger enterprises.. Personally I still don't understand why IBM did not focus on marketing Notes 7 this year. Or at least until Workplace is fully mature.

  1. 3  Ed Brill www.edbrill.com | 9/20/2005 1:53:49 PM

    @1 Ballmer or Gates have spoken at several past Gartner symposiums (symposia?). I don't think it affects their analysis in any way.

    @2 IBM's second half marketing includes a ton of activity around Notes 7 -- I've been blogging it for weeks. And I am not sure what you mean about the client not being usable for large enterprises.

  1. 4  Curt Stone http://curtstone.dominodeveloper.net | 9/20/2005 2:59:08 PM

    @3 I just hope my boss pays more attention to the Gartner analysis than any Ballmer spin.

  1. 5  Ben  | 9/20/2005 4:18:35 PM

    It's very interesting to see Workplace mentioned as a possible alternative to Office. That's a big win imho. If Gartner clearly position it as such it's sure to perk up the ears of a few decision makers which can't be a bad thing.

  1. 6  shawn  | 9/21/2005 7:50:40 AM

    5) It mentioned as possible alternative to Windows and Office and today 96% PCs runs on windows and workplace has a long long way to go to compete with office in that way.

  1. 7  Randall Shimizu  | 9/21/2005 7:26:34 PM

    Ed:

    A Lotus employee has told me that Workplace is still having concurrency login problems. According to him Workplace is still only achieving a 30% concurrency rate when 50 users or more try to login. When 100 or more users login Workplace freezes.

  1. 8  Ed Brill www.edbrill.com | 9/21/2005 9:49:17 PM

    @7 there were issues like that in the 2.0 release for instant messaging. They were fixed pretty quickly. I am not as close to the WCT project office, but I do read their briefings and haven't seen anything like you are describing. I'll ask further.

  1. 9  david racicot  | 9/23/2005 9:55:54 AM

    It will be nice to see Gartner (and others) revise their market share numbers next year in a positively Lotus direction.

  1. 10  Peter de Haas http://www.peterdehaas.com | 9/25/2005 4:42:10 AM

    Ed,

    I'm still not quote understanding the Workplace offering d=good enough I guess. Gartner is recommending clients to take a look at WOrkplace.

    Have you seen the other numbers in their recommendations ?

    If you look at the sheer marketsize of MS Office and translate this to absolute numbers for the coming uptake of Office ..., Wow

    * Deploying Office 12 before Windows Vista is released (fewer than 10 percent of users will follow this path; 0.7 probability). --> 10%

    * Deploying Office 12 along with Windows Vista (fewer than 50 percent of companies will follow this path; 0.7 probability). --> fewer than how much ? --> 50%

    And let's not forget, were still roughly a year away from introduction. Press coverage and momentum is already building, so will information to (potential) clients.

    After all, it's much like the higghly anticipated introduction of Hannover and how that will fiot in the overall Workplace offering, etc.

    Challenging but exciting isn't it

    And yes what about the new user interface in Office 12. Not many anticipated that. My opinion is that it will sure take getting used to, but boy doesn't it make "the other office suites" look old fashioned a year from now.

  1. 11  Subhan http://slate.blogspirit.com | 9/26/2005 5:49:11 AM

    @13 - ^boy doesn't it make "the other office suites" look old fashioned a year from now.^

    I assume that "other" also includes Office XP/2003 :)

    I am right now playin with Wordpress, and how quickly the "Themes" changes the blog interface. Will it be as seamless/cheap for Office 12 theme? :)