Lotus Notes Traveler and Windows Phone 7
April 1 2011
A few days ago, IBM published a technote with the current statement of direction for Notes Traveler and Windows Phone 7:
IBM Collaboration Solutions (Lotus) organization developing Lotus Traveler has no plans for Windows Phone (Windows 7) support at this time. The IBM Collaboration Solutions team will continue to watch market trends and listen to its customers as the prerequisite indicators for forming plans relative to Windows Phone support.
That's been the story since Windows 7 came out. The question is, at what point do we go from "Microsoft hasn't succeeded in this space" to "Hmm, maybe this time they will?"
I don't intend to be the catalyst for that inflection point. But if it is coming, I am willing to ride the wave.
Earlier this week, to much surprise and with many questions of credibility, IDC published a prediction that Windows Phone will overtake iPhone by 2015. Symbian will be dead by then, they say. On the other hand, I think Windows Phone 7 is still held back in the enterprise, with a lot of policy and mobile device management features missing.
So, what to do, what do do. This week I had my first real inquiry from a customer planning a major deployment of Windows Phone 7 in their corporate environment. Until today, most of the inquiries seemed to be more of the individual nature, one or two or five users within an organization picking Windows Phone among a mix of Android, iPhone, Blackberry, Nokia, etc.
Thus far I know it appears I've turned a deaf ear towards conversations about Windows Phone 7, though I really haven't. My question today is, is your organization looking at serious deployments (by which I do NOT mean ones or twos) of Windows Phone 7? If so, I'd like to hear about it. Offline via email to ed_brill at us.ibm.com is fine, too. Thanks.
Post a Comment
- 2
Flemming Riis | 4/1/2011 10:53:01 AM
Well even Exchange dont support WP7 fully yet , system management is on its way and will be here soon(tm) , so that a competing vendor dont have a full client out is understandable.
But if the time spendt on saying WP7 have no future have been used at adjusting the activesync device id's at the travler server there proberly would have been a basic client out now.
- 3
Craig Wiseman http://www.wiseman.La/cpw | 4/1/2011 11:09:12 AM
The mobile world we are in is a "bring your own phone to work".
Folks expect to bring their ActiveSync-enabled device to work and get it connected.
Extending it with add'l functionality & apps is nice, but the first, ubiquitous, step is the core: calendar, contacts, email, journal/memo.
- 4
Chris Reckling http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/insidelotusblog.nsf/ | 4/1/2011 11:25:33 AM
If iNotes is available for access, shouldn't that work? Assuming the browser is on par with other webkit browsers on other OS's.
Chris
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Mike Robinson | 4/1/2011 12:11:14 PM
I laughed out loud literally about the idc report. ms could really make a dent though if they made the exchange integration very tight and possibly offered some sorta cloud service to go along with it. Don't see that happening any time soon though.
- 6
Thomas Gamradt | 4/1/2011 12:33:34 PM
So, IDC predicted it?
Maybe you'd better go ask your local fortuneteller if you need facts. In 2008 IDC predicted that twice as many Windows Mobile phones than iPhones would be sold in 2009. Let's just say they weren't quite correct. And that was just one year in advance.
If you made a prediction in the beginning of 2007 about mobile phones in 2011 (the same four year span), what market share would you have guessed for Android and iPhone? Probably zero, because both of them didn't even exist back then.
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Thomas | 4/1/2011 1:05:45 PM
No plans at all, Apple and RIM are the major players my customers are willing to deal with
- 8
David (The Notes Guy in Seattle) http://blog.thenotesguyinseattle.com | 4/1/2011 1:06:24 PM
At the risk of embarrassing some of my friends at Microsoft, including members of the mobile team, I can tell you adoption within the Microsoft is...well...
Let's just say a free phone isn't enough to get employees to switch from their iPhones.
- 9
Craig Wiseman http://www.wiseman.La/cpw | 4/1/2011 1:18:32 PM
@4 Don't think so -
No calendar alerts,
no easily searching and calling contacts from native apps,
no "send to email" option from within the handheld OS.
Ask the iPhone users if they were just fine with iNotes on Safari.
- 10
Paul Simpson | 4/1/2011 1:23:26 PM
No plans "today" for a large deployment of WP7 phones, however it's something we're going to reevaluate towards the end of the year when the significant "Mango" update has been released. In all likelihood, we'll move from a "BlackBerry only" model to a "choose an Android/WP7/iOS/BlackBerry from our list of pre-approved devices" model.
I do believe the WP7 will be a success...eventually. It would not surprise me if WP7 sales don't really start to take off until late 2H12 or 2013, by which time a) Nokia will have ramped up multiple WP7 models in all major territories, and b) Microsoft will have released WP8 (or whatever they call it).
Despite that, the IDC report is not that outlandish. Symbian will have shriveled up by 2015 (although perhaps not to the extent IDC predicts). Even if you predict Nokia will continue to lose marketshare, if they finish converting their smartphone line over to WP7 as planned then that by itself will create a healthy marketshare for WP7.
Add in a few more hardware manufacturers (LG, HTC, Samsung, etc.) with modestly successful WP7 models and it's not hard to see WP7 exceeding BlackBerry and iOS marketshare due to the diversity of hardware (much like Android has rocketed past iOS).
All that said, Apple is going to respond by releasing one or more "economy" iPhone models over the next couple of years that will be priced more suitably for developing nations, and I keep thinking RIM could pull a rabbit out of a hat and put together a truly outstanding next-generation phone OS. I'm not sure if this is factored into IDC's predictions as it could have a significant impact on iOS and BlackBerry marketshare.
-Paul
- 11
Craig Wiseman http://www.wiseman.La/cpw | 4/1/2011 1:29:17 PM
The question raised here, "should we support Win7 phone" is the wrong question.
Today, it's winphone7, tomorrow it's XXXX device.
Folks expect to bring their ActiveSync-enabled device to work and get it connected.
The correct question is, "should we provide robust NON-phone specific ActiveSync support?"
While, for example, Winphone7 is officially unsupported, it should actually work in practice.
Building OS-specific apps is cool, but should be the 2nd layer for the major platforms. (Which Winphone 7 is not among).
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ken yee http://www.keysolutions.com/blogs/kenyee.nsf | 4/1/2011 1:58:28 PM
So was this "big customer" IDC? Seeing as how they wrote that report, I wouldn't be surprised they got a big incentive from MS...LOL :-)
What's funny is I thought Windows Mobile 6 had decent Exchange support...policies, etc. too. Surprising they couldn't do that w/ WP7 on initial release or even have Exchange support...
So far WP7 is a big "who cares?" w/ my customers who are running iphones or androids or BBs ;-)
- 13
Gregg Eldred http://www.ns-tech.com/blog/geldred.nsf | 4/1/2011 2:03:50 PM
@11: Well played, my friend, well played. To your question, I simply add "+1."
Support based on that would certainly go far to help define/cement IBM's leadership as a mobile business email platform.
- 14
Bill Brown | 4/1/2011 2:45:00 PM
My $.02: Provide solid ActiveSync support that will work to the limits of the provided mail/calendar/contact apps on any ActiveSync device. Document known devices (on the Wiki?) and their abilities or known deficiencies.
Users will still complain about function X not working, but that's their fault for not buying a smarter smart phone. IT departments can develop lists of devices they will support based on published data.
Where IBM feels the effort is worth it, provide enhanced apps through Traveler.
My wife had a Nokia phone years ago. Nice unit, would probably still use it if analog towers were still around. I hope the whole WP thing works out for them.
- 15
Albert Buendia http://www.slug.es | 4/1/2011 2:55:17 PM
In our company there is a mix of Nokia, iPhones, iPads, Android and some older WMobile 6.x. The latest phones were Android due to its cheaper price. The VIPS have iPhone 4 and Nokia. Personal Blackberrys connect via iNotes ultralite mode.
Althought we are not thinking in corporate WM7 phones we would appreciate its support because we allow connect users with its own phones to the Traveler servers. So if you get support to more phones, users will be happy and will not get fustrated. So Notes/Domino will earn points.
Finally I want to give "+1" to #11.
Please consider giving support to Apple Mail by Activesync protocol. I know this means "collaborate" with Apple...
Kind regards.
- 16
Reynoutvab http://Www.lotus.com/mobile | 4/1/2011 3:40:17 PM
@7 indeed fortuneteller material or an early April fool. Here another study { Link } by ABI research.
iOS share is only for more expensive smartphone segment. So it is easier for Android to have more devices. @10 just read that apple is looking to China, so if they can hype the Dragon....
@11 who would have thought that Android would be so big two years ago. And we can see that IBM picked it up to make Traveler run with Android. One more minor release and Android Is on par with the Traveler functionalities. Very good strategy of IBM to have a frequent release cycle, about 3/4 year, instead of once every 4 years.
It would be indeed nice if there would be a PIM sync standard, but till that time IBM is following the market, and for now the market is not WP.
- 17
Mike Brown http://www.browniesblog.com | 4/1/2011 4:34:51 PM
Windows Phone 7 has to be judged as a failure in the market place. The latest Comshare figures (for U.S. only) show that Microsoft's smartphone share has actually gone *down*, not up, since the release of Windows Phone 7! Source:
{ Link }
I really can't see them reversing the slide. After five months, they're only just now getting their first update released. Last month's "update to enable the real update" ended up bricking a significant number of users' phones. They're not even where Apple was four years ago, let alone anywhere near where Apple is now.
Microsoft flat out lied when they originally said that carriers would not be able to block updates. Apparently, this update has been ready since December, but has been delayed by the carriers "testing" it. (To be fair, Android has such problems too.)
To call IDC's prediction "optimistic" would be a truism. It's based on the assumption that pretty well all existing Nokia users will move over to Nokia Windows Phone 7 (or 8) phones when their existing Symbian models can no longer cut it. They offer no evidence to support this assumption and I really can't see it happening.
As the Comshare figures indicate, Microsoft can't even get its *own* Windows Mobile users to move WP7! Hardly surprising; every Windows Mobile user I've known has always muttered "never again" when I've asked them what their phone is like.
- 18
Volker Weber http://vowe.net/about | 4/1/2011 5:00:20 PM
We had this discussion in 2008 when the iPhone was considered to be a consumer device by enterprise admins. { Link }
Something happened between then and now. Talk to Gartner about BYOD and consumerization, instead of asking what enterprise admins plan to "deploy".
You took the escape route with the iPhone by supporting Enterprise ActiveSync (EAS). If you want to stay in the game, you have to broaden that one escape route.
It's not about Windows Phone 7 anymore. It's about all of those devices that will support EAS. You cannot possibly write Traveler client code for all of them. You missed the boat on Symbian^3 because you have to write the client code yourself. Since the Traveler protocol has never been published, nobody else is going to do it for you. Actually nobody else would WANT to do it, even if the spec would be out now.
You can count on EAS though. Some devices ship with EAS built in. Other clients will need other EAS solutions that are out there in the market, like RoadSync for instance. People will carry their EAS devices to IT and expect them to support it. They will have to live with security policies but they are not going to have IT tell them which devices are OK.
Of course enterprise admins will disagree. Revisit Gartner on that.
- 19
Volker Weber http://vowe.net/about | 4/1/2011 5:29:22 PM
c/Enterprise/Exchange/ in EAS of course.
- 20
Craig Wiseman http://www.wiseman.la/cpw | 4/1/2011 6:34:33 PM
@16 IBM was quickerish by "Enterprise" measures to support Android, but "Enterprise" measures don't apply to the mobile market. It took IBM almost 1/2 of a normal cell contract to support Motorola Droid. That's market-destroying slow.
There is a PIM sync standard. It's called ActiveSync. It's not an ISO standard, but it is standard on EVERY SMARTPHONE.
Google supports it with Gmail.
All the Exchange clones (zimbra, etc) support it.
Even Groupwise supports it.
ActiveSync is the SMB (Server Message Block) of smartphone connectivity. IBM supported the original SMB before it was a capital S Standard. It will do the same with ActiveSync.
Looks like it's just going to be later rather than in time.
- 21
MarvinK | 4/1/2011 11:01:28 PM
My guess is Notes shops wont be the first ones looking at Windows Phone 7 enterprise deployments, even if it does pick up.
- 22
Petter Graz | 4/2/2011 12:20:49 PM
No, no plans at all for Windows Phone. We stick on Blackberries and lookup at Android. So, we will either stay with Blackberries or move to Android.
- 23
Bart Meskens http://www.minfin.fgov.be | 4/2/2011 1:03:08 PM
We have rather large install base on Windows Mobile 6 (about 150 users). The devices are acquired through a business partner (full service contract). When one of those devices will break down, a Windows Phone 7 replacement device will be proposed. Phone 7 support would be very much appreciated ...
- 24
Renzo Geelhoed | 4/2/2011 2:08:34 PM
Let's ask another question: how much work is it exactly for IBM to make traveler support WP7? Google can and has done it allready, Exchange support is also pretty good, I can do what I need to with it and have you guys that do not like WP7 ever used WP7? It is quite good, and I never have had any problems with it. So, if you ask me: just make traveler work with WP7, that should not be too hard and let the customer decide on whatever phone they like to use.
- 25
Brandon Gammon | 4/2/2011 4:32:15 PM
Would much rather see the time and effort go to better Citrix support including XenDesktop.
- 27
Keith Brooks http://www.vanessabrooks.com | 4/2/2011 11:23:05 PM
Being one of the few WMD6 people, getting an Android phone soon, I can safely say the Windows Mobile just is painfully inadequate from speed, battery life and functionality(few writes apps to it).
What it has going for it is the device manufacturers that took ti up and put some good specs in the phones. But IDC is smoking weed if they think MS will get anywhere with this OS.
- 28
Alex Balk | 4/3/2011 1:00:05 AM
Yes, EAS is a simplistic solution to a much more complex challenge, but it's low hanging fruit all major (and minor) players seem to have picked already.
I'm not sure the question is whether organizations will choose phone7 or not. I think it's whether IBM would position itself as a leader in "end user choice", where enterprise requirements aren't compromised. It could be worth it for marketing value alone.
And besides, no one said all mobile devices have to offer the same level of functionality... beyond the basics that is.
- 29
Volker Weber http://vowe.net | 4/3/2011 9:10:10 AM
Well, you started EAS. Now make it work. Once you get there, you can explore other options.
People just need to know that they are covered with Domino. Currently they are not.
- 30
Craig Wiseman http://www.wiseman.la/cpw | 4/3/2011 9:23:21 AM
@26 I must be misreading you, but it seems like you see this as an either/or scenario - either ActiveSync OR rich* client.
It's not, it's a two-layer scenario - basic support via ActiveSync for the broadest reach, then build rich* client apps for the selected "biggest bang" devices/OSes.
_________________
* apps IBM can actually make money from providing.
- 31
Craig Wiseman http://www.wiseman.la/cpw | 4/3/2011 9:28:16 AM
Perhaps it might be useful to point out that I was discussing this point in 2007: { Link }
I'm not sure which boggles my mind more: That IBM was smart enough to swallow its pride and actually license ActiveSync, or that, having gone and licensed it, IBM too prideful to take the next logical step and broaden it's support beyond just iOS.
- 32
Tim Haugen | 4/3/2011 10:39:13 AM
Are we sure that IDC report wasn't supposed to be published on Friday? - maybe accidentally released early? ;-)
My son actually has a Windows phone - only because I won't pay for data service for him and the carrier cut him a deal not requiring a data plan (because they couldn't move the phone with it). It was the most functional phone he could get without a data plan.
- 33
palmi | 4/3/2011 12:14:26 PM
Nokia is not going to make w7 the choose for Corp world next 4 years. Android is only going to get better and IOS is going to try to get first place again. W7(w9 by then) phones will by under 2 % by 2016.
- 35
Lars Berntrop-Bos | 4/4/2011 1:31:09 AM
+1 to generic EAS support
- 36
Lars Berntrop-Bos | 4/4/2011 1:46:03 AM
+1 to #30 & #31
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Lars Berntrop-Bos | 4/4/2011 1:50:16 AM
Ed: #34 does not get you off the hook of supporting generic EAS *as a starting point* and expanding when needed.
Please stop posturing in such an unbecoming manner. It is degrading the image of a hip adult into a lagging wannabe.
- 38
Lars Berntrop-Bos | 4/4/2011 1:51:41 AM
That last comment is ofcourse not to be taken personal, but pertaining to IBM/Lotus.
- 39
Mark Davids | 4/4/2011 3:20:58 AM
@34 You don't really think that a media streaming application is comparable to mail and calendar support, do you?
If this is just about extra applications then that's fine. But ActiveSync needs to be a fully supported protocol in Domino - we don't want it to turn out like IMAP.
- 41
Oliver Regelmann http://n-komm.de/blog | 4/4/2011 8:20:23 AM
I recently had a customer asking for Windows Phone 7 support for a planned amount of some 100 devices. German IBM support told me it's planned for a future release but with no indication of how far that future is away.
I'm sure they'd be 100% content with EAS support for email/calendar/contacts. Nobody has ever asked me for more.
- 42
Craig Wiseman http://www.wiseman.La/cpw | 4/4/2011 10:25:37 AM
@40 iPhone 1.0 wasn't "targeted at business users" either. Please don't take that to mean that IBM has 2 years (like the iPhone case) to get around to supporting new devices/OSes, especially when they have - in place - a way to support them already.
- 43
Andy Donaldson http://blog.macian.net | 4/4/2011 11:22:16 AM
I've stated it before in other entries, but, ok. Windows 7 phone may not be what's on target for IBM. I'm cool with that. But, it's not a problem for me yet either. Just like Web OS isn't a problem yet. But all it takes is for that one person in the executive org chart to either get one or see's something they like about them and want to get them. Forget the general user base, these are people either with the name of the company as their last name or their direct reports. Then, when we say we can't offer support for those devices, it turns into one of those conversations that Lotus can't keep up with the times, Lotus sucks, etc etc. Everyone is always ready to make the leap at Lotus for some reason.
For myself, and others like me out there, if it's possible to make it happen, why not make it happen and cover everyone's tails?
- 44
Mark Davids | 4/4/2011 11:24:39 AM
Most phones still aren't targetted at business users (except certain blackberries). But the new trend is to support business functionality on personal devices, which is possible because of standards like ActiveSync.
- 45
Lars Berntrop-Bos | 4/4/2011 2:30:40 PM
@40: "not targeted at business users" ?
Remember iPhone 1.0? See also { Link }
Posturing advice +1
- 46
Craig Boudreaux | 4/4/2011 3:16:23 PM
@11 +1
@29 +1
That USED to be IBM's strategy. I remember slides that said in effect "we don't want to care which device you're using to access your data". That was when it was browser, PDA, rich client, Linux, Windows etc.
@40 shows that IBM is still asking the wrong question of "which devices to support" instead of EAS on All devices first.
@31, funny how history repeats itself.
In this case though, there are other vendors that have this support and IBM doesn't. How does that help IBM's market share? Should we tell employees that if they want email support for their phones they should switch to gmail? (FYI, my notes admin has already made that suggestion to me.)
- 47
Chris Pepin http://www.chrispepin.com | 4/4/2011 5:40:05 PM
My wife has a Samsung Focus WP7 and I have an LG Quantum WP7 than I've been testing. iNotes ultra-light with LMC proxy works. I've also been testing the Office hub (Excel, Word, PowerPoint), OneNote and Exchange. I can use Outlook Web Access to define security policies and email, contacts and calendar setup is a breeze when connecting to an Exchange server. However, it's not all good news as there isn't a VPN and no way to deploy enterprise applications (outside of Microsoft's public app store marketplace. Hopefully, Microsoft will continue to enhance the enterprise capabilities of phone over time as much of the current focus is consumer-based - not unlike iPhone and Android when they were first released
- 48
Craig Wiseman http://www.wiseman.La/cpw | 4/5/2011 8:04:24 AM
Hmmm. Even the Somali pirates given their victims a chance to ransom out.
How about this: Make it reallly easy for Ben Langhinrichs to programatically update the LS12 session database, and we'll give you this thread back?
;-)
- 50
Craig Wiseman http://www.wiseman.La/cpw | 4/5/2011 11:46:16 AM
@49 Fair enough regarding Win7phone, I've only had two folks ask me about it. But as I've mentioned, I can't see it not being successful in the long run as M$ has the cash and will to make it (or Win14phone) a success eventually. Hey, they've got to use our Office & OS money for _something_.
Regarding protocol, I would strongly recommend the "set up a wiki" idea where you (IBM) & users can provide status/tweaks/gotchas regarding using officially 'unsupported' phones.
- 51
Steven | 4/6/2011 11:57:09 AM
@15: "Personal Blackberrys connect via iNotes ultralite mode." Not trying to call you out, but we block personal BBs from iNotes. How do you deal with the fact that the BB Browser is not a supported platform for iNotes U-lite? Do your users take what they can get and don't complain? Since we use a proxy & dwaredir, we get the unsupported browser page with now way to get to another UI.
- 52
brian koomen | 4/6/2011 2:11:25 PM
Was this an April Fools joke?
- 53
Fred Antille | 4/7/2011 1:17:39 AM
I think with iOS and Android is enough.
At this time iOS integration is the best, I'm waiting (dreaming) for a full Android integration with the nativ Calendar/Mail application.
But if you want you can make a Windows 7 mobile and and Zune :)
- 54
Rohit Garewal http://www.objectedge.com | 5/14/2011 1:12:46 PM
#11 +1
I get it, currently IBM does not consider Microsoft to be a player in the phone space, so IBM doesn't want to build the client. I also get that you want to look long term and that's why you're taking the thick client approach. Merits of this aside (I also support generic activesync base followed by thick client for specific platforms) however I am curious as to how much time it takes for IBM to build a traveler companion to WP7?
Let's be honest here, the parallels are ironic. Windows Phone 7 is to the mobile space what Lotus Notes is to the enterprise email space; there's just not that much support for either. However, those of us that use both of the underdogs (Notes and WP7) would definitely appreciate cross-compatibility :-)
- 55
Steve G | 9/21/2011 12:59:24 PM
Any updates on the potential for WP7 traveler support now that the 7.5 mango update is right around the corner?
- 56
Django | 9/27/2011 10:20:05 PM
I just got my Mango update on my unlocked AT&T phone. Any news on Traveler support?
- 57
cmcknz77 | 10/4/2011 7:09:32 AM
We have 2000+ mobile enabled users and currently about 40% of those are using WM6.5 devices for their business handsets - in fact we just purchased a wodge more to transition certain users away from a multiple device strategy. A very difficult decision when there are so many other devices on the market. The decision went in favour of the WM6.5 devices due to existing internal application compatibility requirements - including (but I'll admit not entirely exclusive to) compatibility with the current domino based messaging infrastucture.
Some of these users are in countries where the iPhone is comparitively expensive and the Blackberry is illegal. I've played with WM7 (pre-mango), love the integration with social-networking streams, notifications and the like, and I do have to say would much prefer to be using it as my business device than an iPhone but am unable to do so because of IBM/Lotus's lax attitude towards user choice.
As a result despite the fact that I'm due for a new business device soon, I'm forced to go for a another comparitively old, slow, WM6.5 device in order to maintain compatibility with the systems at work. I'm forced into a situation where I have to pretend that devices such as the HTC 7 Pro doesn't exist.
There are may reasons why we choose Lotus Domino as a platform for our messaging and collaboration infrastructure including the ability to allow our users more flexibility in how their workstreams/workflows/collaborative are delivered.
Currently Lotus's reticence to produce a WM7 compatible traveller client is punishing my users (and myself) for that decision. As a result (of a much more senior person expressing this frustration wihin earshot of another much more senior person and that conversation turning ever so quickly into yet another ill-informed 'Lotus bashing' sesh) we are currently calculating the possible cost implications of a move away from Domino to Exchange - a platform under which our mobile users will again have a choice to use devices from the entire marketplace as opposed to only the subset of devices deemed to be 'a player' by a company that itself isn't a major player in the same marketplace.
There will be other companies that will make the decision to change the entire messaging back-end as opposed to enforcing restrictions upon which devices a user can have and considering the ties between WM7 and Win8 (a business combination that I think is going to turn out to be VERY strong for enterprise users), I can't think of a good reason why Lotus to is choosing not to deliver a Traveller client for the WM7/8 platform...
Unless they secretly have a stake in the Android Consortium or Apple.
- 58
Jeff Lampert | 10/4/2011 8:51:41 AM
I agree that the integration between Windows Phone 7 and Windows 8 O/S holds a great deal of interest for business customers.
As with cmcknz77, there are now new talks at a senior management level of moving to Exchange because of the perception that everything "just works" with it - while Lotus clearly does not.
Lotus hasn't even released a Sametime client for the iOS platform! "Use a browser" the tell us? Hellllloooo? Not going to happen. Is Lotus asleep at the wheel?
- 60
Rob Ingram | 10/5/2011 5:03:12 PM
@58 - IBM are not asleep but actually hard at work on Sametime on iOS. The issue with a presence centric app like Sametime is that a continuous connection is expected or you appear offline. iOS is single threaded (by rule of Apple) for most 3rd party apps so it required some rethink on the server side ... more on this when we launch iOS Sametime app.
- 61
Rob Ingram | 10/5/2011 5:18:53 PM
@57 and others. I'm on the mobile team at IBM. Regarding reasons for no WP7 support, here is one for you to provide feedback on. Are any of you who are seeking Windows Phone 7 support at all concerned about allowing your corporate email data onto a Windows Phone Mango device which, at the OS level, has no device encryption at all. Notes' brand strength was built on security so this is something we always pay at lot of attention to.
Is the risk of a lost or hacked device or other security breach due to lack of device security, something you would tolerate or not? If you cannot post a public comment on this in this blog due to your company risk policy, please feel free to email one of us at IBM instead.
- 62
rk | 10/10/2011 11:47:23 AM
Rob,
Please look at this website that may help with your security concerns. A year ago, androids did not support on-device encryption. Not sure when you guys started supporing Andriods.
{ Link }
I know it doesn't fix all security concerns. Just something to take into consideration. If you take the memory card out of the phone, the memory card isn't usable. If there is a wp7 device in the future that support on-device encryption, will there be an app after that?
- 63
Jeff Lampert | 10/19/2011 7:24:17 PM
Ed - you state that it's "kind of unfair" to criticized Lotus for not having an iOS Sametime client. Unfortunately for Lotus, "fair" doesn't factor into conversations with senior management / decision makers who don't understand why they can't use a corporate tool (Sametime) on their iPhone, but they CAN use Yahoo IM, Skype, MSN Messenger clients, AIM, etc. regardless of the technical challenges, they see Lotus as slow to react, when many free consumer-based products have already been released.
Lotus makes the situation much worse by repeatedly stating that they DO support Sametime on iOS... but that we just have to use Safari. I have personally seen this solution presented at Lotus in Cambridge as if it was the perfect customer solution - which it clearly is not. So customers (me, at least) are left wondering: Is Lotus not telling us everything? Or significantly worse: Does Lotus actually BELIEVE what they are telling us?
I'm constantly challenged by the "Let's migrate to Exchange" conversation, and I feel that Lotus offers no assistance in this area.
Fair, or not.. "Asleep at the wheel" is often the perception.
Thanks,
Jeff
- 64
Jeff Lampert | 10/19/2011 7:27:26 PM
In answer to your question regarings how many Windows Phones we might be looking at? There could eventually be 2000+ devices...
- 65
Jeff Lampert | 10/19/2011 7:35:55 PM
On a somewhat unrelated topic... Is there a stated direction @ Lotus to provide a Windows 8 Metro UI client? Yes, I know Windows 8 is nowhere near shipping - but I'm sure that Microsoft will have an Exchange client queued up, and that's the platform against which Lotus needs to stay competitive.
I'm asking today so Lotus won't say "No one has asked for this!" a year from now. ;-)
Thanks,
Jeff
- 66
Derek | 10/19/2011 10:56:42 PM
@Rob Ingram
This is not a concern for all businesses, an I'm sure some units within many businesses. In our situation, we would most definitely support WP7 and Android (w/o Traveler) if given the option. Unfortunately, we're a BYOD shop so I can't tell you how many phones we'd expect.
@Ed,Rob
At this point, "broad, native mobile device support" is #3 on our executive list of demands for a new email solution. At this rate, we will be an Exchange or Google shop within 2-3 years.
- 68
Jeff Lampert | 10/21/2011 8:07:22 AM
"we are working on a native sametime for iOS, and I assure you we will be there before Lync is."
Hi Ed,
Based on two minutes of Googling, there appears to already be at least three working third-party solutions for Lync on the iPhone:
-Xync for iOS
-iDialog for iPhone
-MaxMobile for Lync
And Microsoft says that they are working on an iPhone IM client (iLync) - just like Lotus says about Sametime.
Perhaps you could point me to working third-party Sametime clients for iOS that we can deploy today? That would be an great solution for us as well.
Thanks for your feedback since I've (rather unintentionally) taken this discussion away from Windows Phone 7 support. Anyway... I'll stop hijacking this thread now! :-)
Best regards,
Jeff
- 69
Jeff Lampert | 10/21/2011 8:07:24 AM
"we are working on a native sametime for iOS, and I assure you we will be there before Lync is."
Hi Ed,
Based on two minutes of Googling, there appears to already be at least three working third-party solutions for Lync on the iPhone:
-Xync for iOS
-iDialog for iPhone
-MaxMobile for Lync
And Microsoft says that they are working on an iPhone IM client (iLync) - just like Lotus says about Sametime.
Perhaps you could point me to working third-party Sametime clients for iOS that we can deploy today? That would be an great solution for us as well.
Thanks for your feedback since I've (rather unintentionally) taken this discussion away from Windows Phone 7 support. Anyway... I'll stop hijacking this thread now! :-)
Best regards,
Jeff
- 71
Jeff Lampert | 10/24/2011 5:35:30 AM
Thanks for the link to QuipIM! It didn't show up on the app store for some reason, so I didn't know it existed. That may be a great interim solution for us.
I'm looking forward to trying out the official Sametime client as well.
Best regards,
Jeff
- 72
Petr | 10/26/2011 8:06:50 AM
Hi Ed,
I would like to renew last info about your plans toward WP7 platform. Lotus Traveler for WP7 isn't still in the roadmap?
WP7 definitely seems to have future and is starting to spread over users more. I would definitely vote for it's support asap.
Thanks, regards,
Petr
- 74
Derek J. | 10/31/2011 9:19:09 AM
{ Link }
(Frome Page 1):
IBM has embraced -- nearly -- the growing "bring your own device" trend of allowing employees to buy and use their own smartphones and tablets for work tasks, said IBM's CTO for mobility, Bill Bodin.
(From Page 2):
"Other mobile operating systems will also be supported, Bodin said, including Microsoft's Windows Phone."
Does this mean we can expect full blown support for WP7 in Notes/Domino sometime soon?
- 76
rk | 10/31/2011 3:33:43 PM
@Ed and Rob.
Does all andriod devices support device level encryption? I do a search and find a bunch of information on droid forums asking about it. The article I had linked above also discussed how andriods don't support device level encryption, and they talked about on windows they sort of have encryption. If a user takes the SD card out of a device, the whole device is useless until they wipe it.
- 77
Thomas K. | 11/9/2011 4:49:44 AM
Hi,
our Company wants to replace our Symbian Devices with Phone7 .
Is there something new about plans to support Traveler on phone7?
- 79
rk | 11/15/2011 3:14:09 PM
Will wp7 users atleast be able to access webmail in the near future?
- 80
PatrickR | 11/28/2011 5:45:03 AM
Hi,
I would like to ask the same question. I am a VERY satisfied HTC Titan (WP 7 Mango) user and am missing the traveller function a great deal. Are there any recent plans yet?
- 81
Lachlan | 11/29/2011 12:39:25 AM
Another very satisfied WP7 user here. The only bad thing I can say is that I cant get my work emails on it with the email app because my work uses Lotus notes. If I really need to check them I use webmail but it would be nice to just use traveler one day
- 82
Thomas http://escpeurope.de | 12/6/2011 6:25:55 AM
Hi,
i have a new windows phone too and it would be nice to see some support for this phones.
btw. i like the new gui and the speed.
- 83
Hans | 12/7/2011 7:58:41 AM
We are late movers only now going to Traveler.
Our management wants support for Android, iOS, Nokia, and WP7. Users are free to choose their phone within this set-up.
How many WP7 is hard to say but several users are making enquiries about WP7 phones.
- 84
Frank | 12/9/2011 1:41:19 PM
It's a shame isnt it.
- 85
amno1970 http://win40.wordpress.com | 12/15/2011 7:35:59 AM
Please support WP7, I'm not the only one that thinks that it is as good or even better than Android or iOS!
- 86
David Welch | 12/20/2011 10:09:14 AM
We would realy like to see WP7 support on traveler.
- 87
Alexey Zimarev http://www.zimarev.com | 1/5/2012 7:19:58 AM
Remarks "Nokia or WP7" are a bit outdated, don't you think? The latest real business Symbian smartphone from Nokia was E7 and there's nothing like this came for a year and is not coming, these funny Symbian devices we saw released during 2011 are not to count. The only bright devices from Nokia in 2011 are - Nokia N9 (MeeGo) and Nokia Lumia 800 (Mango). Both models share the same design. Both share almost the same hardware. Both models are extremely popular. And what else do they share? Ah yes, missing Lotus Traveler. I personally have Nokia N8 and I am happy to have Traveler for Symbian, but we already have N9 users and will surely have Mango users and we need to figure out how to get them connected in out infrastructure.
- 88
Oliver Forder | 1/9/2012 3:51:04 AM
Support for WP 7.5 would be a great move.
I can connect my nokia 800 to gmail, exchange, yahoo, hotmail, facebook, linkedin and twitter but not traveler. It would appear that your competition already got the jumped on the WP ship.
Think back to how long it took to get traveler support for IOS! It was the first time I received customer enquiries about moving to exchange JUST to support a device.
Anyone that has used a WM 7.5 device knows that the OS is a serious contender! Add into the mix the largest mobile vendor in the world and you've got a good recipe for success!
Surely that's enough weight to create a WP client?
- 89
StefanTC | 1/11/2012 8:54:39 AM
As we are wanting to implement a BYOD ruling for our organisation, we now find that Lotus Traveler is stopping this as most users are Nokia fans in our Europe based company.
However, just as we switched from Blackberry to Lotus Traveler to support our Finish office, our solution now would be to start looking in switching to another platform that will support our users needs. So we have setup a task force of 3 specialists in our Irish datacenters to start investigating different solutions instead. Maybe we can eventually get rid of Lotus the same way we got rid of our iSeries. Replace it with something less expensive that can do the same and have a faster development lifecycle.
- 90
Jim Andrew | 1/12/2012 9:06:19 AM
We have over 500 Blackberries that we'd like to move off of. iPhones are NOT an option. If WP isn't either we'll have to go (unwillingly) with android.
- 91
Alexey Zimarev http://alexeyzimarev.blogspot.com | 1/12/2012 9:13:29 AM
Looking at (26) I just remembered what we all know - Traveler for iOS works via EAS. So it is there. Other devices can use it too and I just found a blog post { Link } that describes an experience with Palm. Simple redirection is needed on the Domino server. I am wondering if someone could experiment with WP7?
- 92
Maciej Tyrakowski | 1/16/2012 7:48:30 AM
I really love my Windows Phone, please finally bring Traveler to it! It's been a while now, and Microsoft isn't going to let WP7 down, especially since they have a great product at hand. So please do us and yourself a favor.
Thanks in advance! ;)
- 93
David | 1/16/2012 8:11:44 AM
Announced at LS 2012: 'Plans to support Microsoft Windows Phone devices for its upcoming Lotus Notes Traveler software'
{ Link }
- 94
Michel | 2/22/2012 9:04:37 AM
Is there already a more precise date for beta availability?
IBM intends to support mail, calendaring and contacts in a beta release of IBM Lotus Notes Traveler for Microsoft Windows Phone on Nokia and HTC devices; the beta is expected in the first half of 2012.
{ Link }
- 95
rk | 3/8/2012 11:36:48 AM
Curious to see how they are just going to keep in on Nokia and HTC devices... Unless they put it on HTC and Nokia's specific app stores...
- 96
Rob | 3/8/2012 2:06:39 PM
We cannot do a corporate Windows Phone rollout until Note Traveler is available. Otherwise, it would be the phone I am using today.
- 97
Peter Nagy | 3/28/2012 8:47:11 AM
Dear Ed,
have you some news in this topic? I would like to testing the Lotus Traveler on my Windows Phone. :D
Many thanks,
Peter
- 98
Elizabeth | 4/19/2012 9:14:57 AM
I love my Nokia Windows Phone, and would enjoy getting my work calender and e-mail on it. Any updates or a chance I could be a part of the Beta?
- 100
Nuno Luz | 4/19/2012 11:15:59 AM
Hi Ed, we have a high level partner in the banking área here in Portugal that has Lotus Notes and wants to sync Lotus Notes with their Windows Phone's. Could you please contact me?
Thanks
- 101
Johns | 5/15/2012 8:31:51 AM
This is getting silly. Our company is seriously considering changing email system beacause of this. Our company has about 600 employees and everyone has a mobile phone as their only phone. Of course all will not get a Windows Phone right away but we do want to have the opportunity to choose that. ALL phones in our company supports Active Sync so it is not so hard to guess what we want to change to...
- 102
Gopal | 5/30/2012 3:57:15 AM
Hi Ed,
Any update on the Windows 7 traveler Beta release?
- 103
Paul Benwell | 5/31/2012 4:18:34 AM
Hi Ed
We are getting more and more Windows 7 and 7.5 device requests now. User's don't accept they can't have their mail on their choice of phone. To them email is a service - nothing more. They expect it to do what they want. If it doesn't they have no brand loyalty these days and will switch. I am seeing more and more either going Exchange or more often these days Cloud based email. I need something to give them. IBM is just too slow in catching up. A six to twelve month plus wait is just unacceptable to them now.
- 104
Michael | 6/6/2012 4:41:56 PM
Hi Ed,
Our company is moving to BYOD and we have several Windows Phone users as well. Any progress on this beta and to get included?
- 105
Lachlan | 6/11/2012 10:45:42 PM
Hi Ed,
Our company is seeing a rising number of Windows Phone users. I wish I could tell them more when they ask why they cannot have work emails on their device. Could we please get an update on the beta? :)
- 106
TAC | 6/16/2012 2:30:56 PM
If Blackberry would re-enter the software market with Blackberry Connect on Windows Phone 7 this Lotus Notes issue would not be such a problem. BBC worked well on my Windows Mobile 6 and 6.5 devices with Lotus Notes. It would seem Blackberry should have some interest in gaining revenue, but they act like the hardware business is better. I just acquired a WP7 device and discovered there was no support for Lotus Notes Traveler. This leaves me little choice other than dumping a nice HTC Titan II and sticking with Lotus Notes Traveler on my Tilt II under WM6.5.
- 107
mark | 6/20/2012 6:49:39 PM
Hi Ed
yes we are very interested in traveler on windows phone 7 as many of our users in 300 seat workforce are starting to bring in their Nokia lumias. As the iPhone users get to receive their emails no problem i need something for the windows phones
- 108
Hugh | 6/26/2012 2:52:53 PM
Hello Ed,
This is just to show you my interest on the wp7 beta for my lumia phone. My company uses lotus notes traveler.... and it looks a bit sad to see support windows mobile 6.5...
I'd be happy to test the beta :-P
Best regards
- 109
Renaud Troillet http://www.geniusinside.com | 6/28/2012 2:49:43 AM
Hi Ed,
I'd be more than happy to test this beta also.
Best regards
- 111
McDougles | 7/25/2012 10:02:25 AM
Hi Ed,
Only one Windows Phone can be important in the company. If it is owned by the CEO, CIO, CFO.....or any other decision maker. So Traveler for Windows Phone 7/8 is important anyway. Sometimes there "must have" developments, without analyzing the real bussines needs.
Bests!
- 112
Snaebjorn Ingi | 8/8/2012 11:28:04 AM
Hi Ed
I would really like to try the beta for Traveler on Windows Phone. What need I do to enter the beta test?
Snaebjorn from Iceland
- 113
Dave | 8/23/2012 5:22:59 PM
Sign me up, been anticipating Traveler availability for Windows Phone for over a year now!
- 114
Zoltan Tanczos http://www.t-logic.eu | 9/1/2012 4:07:08 AM
Hi Dave,
I am using traveller on Symbian since years (Nokia E71 device) with great satisfaction, now i have tested on Android as well (Sony Xpeira S device), and found some frustrating errors. I am keen to test traveller with Nokia Lumia 900 WP7.5. BR,
Thanks !
Zoltan
- 115
Federico Rappelli http://www.eupolislombardia.it | 9/1/2012 12:01:05 PM
Hi Ed,
@110
I'm one of the first users of a Windows 7.5 phone in my company.
Until now, Lotus Traveller has been working fine on 6.5 devices and on Symbian ones (tested personally).
As we have MS software on our computers, I think that the most experienced group of users will probably ask to move towards WP7. My IT manager is worried about the lack of support, so I would like to know if it's possible to join the beta test.
Thanks!
Federico Rappelli
PS: great blog; I've been reading it for one hour no stop!
- 116
rk | 9/6/2012 3:57:49 PM
I'm unable to do the beta test, but am wondering if 8.5.4 (when it's released) will also be compatible with windows 8 phones, and windows 8 tablets.
Thanks
- 118
Maciej Kuczara | 9/13/2012 8:32:25 AM
Hello.
Is there a possibility to beta test Lotus Traveler on Windows Phone? I would love to put my hands on beta client...
- 119
Tom | 9/13/2012 4:36:18 PM
We have Lotus Notes deployed for all students on our campus (over 20,000) and are looking for a solution for our growing population of Windows Phone users. Let me know if/when a beta is available.
Thanks.
- 121
Gabor | 10/30/2012 2:35:11 PM
Hi Ed,
Any news on Traveler for Windows Phone?
- 122
Brian | 10/31/2012 1:45:13 PM
Ditto regarding any info on Traveler for Windows Phone (7.5, not 8)
- 123
Markus | 11/12/2012 4:07:51 PM
Hy Ed
our internal IT's just moved us back today from Exchange to Lotus Notes and I'm a little bit p***** off that I don't have my calender, mails, contacts on my WP 7.5 (35% of our SmartPhones are WP's).
When is the Traveler available? How can we join Beta? Our IT already supports the old stuff iOs/Android.
Thank you for a short answer.
Markus
- 124
Markus | 11/12/2012 4:09:23 PM
just saw your answer above... sorry - i'll check internally and come back at you
- 125
Rob Mark http://www.brunswick.com | 11/29/2012 6:10:52 PM
I have and really like my new Lumia 920! In fact the only issue is IBM not having released Lotus Traveler. At least it works with smartcloud for IMAP/SMTP. Unfortunately I doubt IT would upgrade production Domino servers to a beta. I find it ODD that an upgrade of the Domino Servers is going to be required to get Lotus Traveler on a WP8 phone.
- 126
Markus | 12/18/2012 4:49:40 PM
Bello. Our IT will Not use a beta either and I doubt that will update to the next version quickly. It's unacceptable that you can't make traveller available on todays normal notes...what's the problem?
- 127
Steve Knight http://www.dragon-it.co.uk/ | 12/26/2012 5:53:06 AM
Is there an option now for getting WM8 (Nokia Lumia 820) to sync before getting R9 on - I'll have a dig around now to see but have I missed a Traveler update that does allow?
Currently Lotus Notes Traveler 8.5.3.2 Build 201202250956 running on Lotus Domino server Release 8.5.3FP1
Works great on couple of different Android versions, Nokia, and old Windows phones but really would like to support WM8 considering it is my wife's new one, and one of my other customers is looking to buy a load too.
It connects but the phone says "Windows does not support this server version"
I've downloaded but not yet installed the R9 Beta apps - well I've tried the browser client which is interesting, though bizarre that it doesn't support email at all and points you at iNotes... would be handy for access to other mail template based databases.
Steve
- 128
Steve Knight http://www.dragon-it.co.uk/ | 12/30/2012 9:02:20 AM
Nokia Lumia 820 Works Windows Phone does work very nicely with a test R9 server running Traveller 9, and the new "To Do" gadget for Android etc. useful. Haven't been able to update live server to latest R8.5.3.3 patched version yet so if anyone else has and can confirm if Windows Phone 8 works on any before the R9?
- 129
Erica Schmidt http://www.roallivingenergy.com | 1/2/2013 12:49:21 PM
Hi Ed, I just bought a Nokia Lumia 822 (Verizon) and want to know how to get Lotus Traveler installed. Can you please help?
Thanks,
Erica
Not a formal poll, but at the UC Summit conference this week, Caleb Barlow asked the full audience, "How many of you currently use a Blackberry, iPhone, Android or Nokia device." Everyone raised their hand. Caleb then asked, "How many of you own a Windows 7 phone," and two people raised their hands. "Ah," Caleb commented, "the two that were given away as prizes earlier."