Optimizing Communication and Collaboration with Microsoft Technologies: A wolf in sheep´s clothing

March 28 2005

As I mentioned last week, Paul Robichaux from Microsoft partner 3Sharp attended IBM's "Exchange Alternatives" seminar in New York.  You can read Paul's review here.  I was happy to have Paul there, as we have nothing to hide, and after all, he has invited me to Microsoft's "Optimizing Communication and Collaboration" seminar.  I haven't registered for it as of yet -- there isn't even an e-mail address for registration, you have to use (yuck) the telephone.  Anyway, I assume they won't kick me out, since I know all the presenters, and unlike the last one of these, this one is truly free....

The presentations from Microsoft's seminar have been posted to the event website.  Here's the description of the seminar (emphasis mine):

Microsoft has developed a unique and comprehensive set of platforms, tools, applications, and solutions for today's communication and collaboration needs.  The Microsoft Collaboration platform, including the Microsoft(r) Office System, SharePoint(r) Portal Server 2003, Exchange and the .NET Framework, can deliver tremendous Information Worker solutions that improve the way your organization collaborates.

You can reap the benefits of these technologies even while you maintain your existing investments in Notes infrastructure and developer talent. Find out what is possible by attending this FREE EVENT, specially designed for Notes customers.
Having reviewed the presentations, especially the wrapup/summary deck, I find the bolded text above somewhat disingenuous.  Why?  Here are some of the "optimization opportunities" outlined:
  • "Retire unused and duplicate applications"
  • "Consolidate into company standard business applications"
  • "Re-engineer applications to use your company's DBMS standard"
  • "Re-host these documents in your company standard document management system"
  • "Transition to portal solutions"
  • "Use these products [Windows Sharepoint, Microsoft EA] where appropriate"

Consolidate, re-engineer, re-host, transition, and use [new] products -- none of these verbs sound like "maintain" to me.  The broader question is, why would a Notes customer take advice from Microsoft on how to "optimize" their Notes environment?  Seems like a wolf in sheep's clothing to me.

Ed Brill | Highland Park, IL USA Category:  Microsoft  Add/View Comments [18]

Post a Comment

  1. 1  Duffbert http://www.twduff.com | 3/28/2005 2:33:12 PM

    And this is the *exact* reason I don't trust these seminars (nor Microsoft's stated "new leaf" position) to be a means to show people how to live together productively. Those points are very close to the type of logic that was used in the "Notes to .Net" white paper that Microsoft published/pulled from their site, and that I dissected in an e-Pro article... { Link }

    There was no "co-existance" theme in that document. It was how to shut down your Notes environment and convert it all to Microsoft.

  1. 2  Libby  | 3/28/2005 3:11:24 PM

    Paul R. contacted me as well -- haven't decided yet whether to attend the Houston event, although it could certainly provide ammunition. ;-)

  1. 3  Duffbert http://www.twduff.com | 3/28/2005 3:54:34 PM

    Glad to see I wasn't the only targeted invite, Libby. :-)

    At least I could turn down the invite because there's not one even remotely close... Not even in Seattle!

  1. 4    | 3/28/2005 4:46:19 PM

    Comment removed at author's request

  1. 5  Ed Maloney  | 3/28/2005 7:39:54 PM

    I deleted the message, but none other than the local NUG head sent me a "special" invitation to a Notes to .net seminar.

    I've seen this movie before with Netware, so I hope that IBM isn't ignoring this.

  1. 6  Ed Brill www.edbrill.com | 3/28/2005 7:51:32 PM

    Ed, I blog it specifically to let you know that IBM is NOT ignoring this. Lots of activity...

  1. 7  Tony Ollivier  | 3/28/2005 11:59:26 PM

    so.. what part of capitalism don't you understand :)

    the wrapup seemed pretty factual - lots of companies have a viral infrastructure with lots of Notes apps/discussion databases etc that aren't easily managed. IBM at least has a facility that a database can be created and managed appropriately - ( as long as it's a teamroom) but I suspect most customers can't.

    I know you are shocked that a Microsoft seminar actually tries to tell you that you should buy something from Microsoft - of course, IBM does the same.

    But in the wrap up ( I didn't view the rest) I thought generally was pretty factual.

    And before you nail my ass to the cross - I spent 10 years at IBM selling and supporting Notes and Domino.

  1. 8  Paul Robichaux http://www.e2ksecurity.com | 3/29/2005 7:01:33 AM

    While I'm glad to see that some of you are reading the slides, I think y'all may have missed the point(s). (And Ed, there is online registration-- contact me offline for details. Julian Robichaux actually found it, not me).

    @3: I invited lots of Notes bloggers; y'all weren't the only three! Tom, I'm sorry to hear that you won't be able to make any of our events. I'm working on getting one in Seattle, but (as I'm sure you can understand) there aren't that many Notes customers there.

    @4: no one's getting fired on my account. The "candidates" are applications, not people. Every Notes shop will have applications that could benefit from re-engineering, revision, or rationalization. If your corporate standard DB is DB2, or Oracle, or SQL Server, or whatever, is it not likely that you'd get some business benefit from modifying your db-intensive applications to use that instead? That's certainly what IBM seems to be saying with the advent of DB2 support.

    The truth of the matter is simple, and easy to prove: Microsoft is encouraging Notes customers to *add* functionality and *add* business value by *adding* MS products to existing Notes infrastructures. If you don't believe me, come to the seminar and see what we say in person. Make your own decision.

  1. 9  Axel Janssen  | 3/29/2005 7:07:58 AM

    To me reuse can mean a lot of things.

    Including: Just take the business logic from old app and build a complete new one throwing away all the old code.

    The old code does include a lot of knowledge about how the users work with their domain.

    Often this is cheaper than to keep the old code running in your environment. This is the case: if you have apps with poorly documented code written with the latest notes 4.53 guru tricks from 1997.

    It can be very expensive for an organization if they had lost understanding for an app and old developer is not available.

    So for me is ok what Mr. Robinchaux is saying.

  1. 10  Ed Brill www.edbrill.com | 3/29/2005 7:17:59 AM

    @8 - possibly worthy of a new blog entry... yes, I've noticed how many "Domino bloggers" have been invited personally to this seminar, and how my name has been dropped in the e-mails to them -- as if my attendance at the Chicago seminar adds some level of cred to this event. In part, this blog entry is to make sure that those you have contacted are clear on what my perspective is.

    @7 Tony, yes it's factual. All of these "optimizations" could occur in any IT environment -- Domino shops, Exchange shops, even PROFS users (LOL). That doesn't mean that the "factual" presentation makes for good advice.

    And I note that neither of you really quarreled with my main point, which is that "maintain your existing investments" is a disingenuous hook. When IBM talks to MS customers about Move2Lotus, we're at least clear that we're offering an alternative and an upgrade, not maintainence.

    @9 (and @8) - yes, all Notes environments have old stuff to clean up. For 2+ years, I did a "how to reduce the TCO of your Notes/Domino environment" presentation on the conference circuit. This was just one element. There are partners out there that offer tools to help with that optimization -- partners who aren't then also trying to suggest a migration away from Notes.

  1. 11    | 3/29/2005 8:51:28 AM

  1. 12  Chris Reckling www.lotus.com | 3/29/2005 9:49:49 AM

    You guys forgot to add this to your optimizations list.

    "Evaluate Operating System"

    Common Situation

    o Many customers are finding that they are paying maintenance fees (to MS) for no reason. A steady stream of 'security' patches raises the cost of ownership.

    What to do

    o Dump Windows for Linux, iSeries, Mac, or some Unix flavor

    Benefits

    o Stability, security, efficiency, productivity

    Chris

  1. 13  Paul Robichaux http://www.e2ksecurity.com | 3/29/2005 10:48:46 AM

    @8: Ed, don't take offense where none's intended. I mentioned your name merely to indicate that you had been invited, and that you'd probably be blogging your impressions.

    @10: Some customers who introduce MS technologies into their environments choose to migrate completely away from Notes. Not all do, as you know, nor is that always the best choice-- thus the bit about investment maintenance. I'm sorry you feel we're being disingenuous.

    @12: oh puhleeze. I'm sure Ed would prefer that we not start an OS war on his blog, esp. when there are so many other places to do so.

  1. 14  tonyo  | 3/29/2005 10:50:14 PM

    @11 - By Ed's data - Exchange and Notes seem to be neck and neck... that itself doesn't seem to be a monopoly for a variety of reasons. but capitalism seems to say - grow is better than shrink

  1. 15    | 3/30/2005 6:15:26 AM

    Comment removed at author's request

  1. 16  tonyo  | 3/30/2005 2:26:35 PM

    @15 - I wasn't sure.. but I got the sense the person at the link you posted wasn't really Microsoft friendly..:)

  1. 17    | 3/30/2005 3:11:04 PM

    Comment removed at author's request

  1. 18    | 3/31/2005 8:09:24 AM

    Comment removed at author's request