With a few weeks to reflect on Lotusphere, VARs and analysts are giving the Workplace / Notes strategy a thumbs-up...
"Extending server-managed clients to Hannover next year simplifies deployment issues, but in 2007 it also gives [IBM] a chance to extend Notes more deeply into a Linux as well as a Mac environment," says Dana Gardner, president and principal analyst at Interarbor Solutions in Gilford, N.H.Link: VARBusiness: Big Blue Strikes Back With Next Generation of Notes/Domino > (Via Jack Dausman)
With Hannover, Workplace OS 2.6, Sametime 7.5 instant-messaging software and a new Notes 7.x suite designed to work with SAP's ERP software, IBM is betting it can sway enterprise users it believes are ready to move past traditional, more expensive client-server solutions, such as Vista and Office 12.
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Bill Geimer | 2/20/2006 10:28:33 PM
Its an excellent lineup no matter what the analysts call it!
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Mikkel Heisterberg http://blog.lekkim.heisterberg.dk | 2/21/2006 4:24:50 AM
@1 - Thats one thing. Another thing is calling Microsoft Vista a client-server solution... :-)
@2 - Exactly. I'm starting to get positive feedback from customers as well. It has been a long time since IBM's Notes/Domino strategy was so crystal clear as it is now.
/lekkim
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phil | 2/27/2006 5:05:12 PM
what is IBM doing to persuade the likes of Maximizer or Skype or any one of a number or other 3rd party suppliers to integrate their s/w with Notes rather than just outlook? and to do it without charging extra for something that outlook users get bundled. This is the one thing that I have trouble overcoming when talking to clients.
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Ed Brill www.edbrill.com | 2/27/2006 7:26:02 PM
It's a good question. There are many business development and ISV recruiting efforts going on within IBM, with varying visibility. One recent one is Good Technology's big investment in a Domino-based solution, after initially focusing on the Exchange market. They follow their competitor RIM in realizing that the corporate market has Notes/Domino customers.
I realize that there are a lot of websites and tools that integrate with Outlook (some of these use MAPI calls that work fine with Notes, btw). But there are others, like Infuzer, that built for Notes first. Just have to keep an eye on the market overall.
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Alan Lepofsky http://www.alanlepofsky.net/ | 2/27/2006 8:26:43 PM
@4, I know you are looking for it to be "Out of the box", but just in case you are interested, here is way to easily add Skype to Notes: { Link }
Also, Maximizer Enterprise for Notes can be found here: { Link }
I keep a list of many Lotus Notes/Domino products here: { Link } , hopefully they will be of interest to you.
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phil | 2/28/2006 6:04:58 AM
@6)Thanks! I've already modified my NAB to launch skype :-)but I only cited those as examples rather than specific needs.
@5 I'm pleased to see that there's some effort going in to this. I'm constantly surprised by the 3rd party companies that ignore such a massive market. Something needs to be done to change the mindset.
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phil | 3/1/2006 3:55:08 AM
This is a direct quote from the suppliers of Maximizer:
"I have asked the developers about Lotus/Domino and the view is that Diary integration is hampered by their complex API and probably would not be affordable."
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Ed Brill www.edbrill.com | 3/1/2006 6:25:30 AM
Well, they might be right about that -- today, Notes/Domino doesn't offer a granular-enough calendar API. I know this has been the cause of some of the integration challenges, such as you see.
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phil | 3/1/2006 9:53:06 AM
Hopefully then there is a plan to change that...? (obviously there are a great many plans!)
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Ed Brill www.edbrill.com | 3/1/2006 1:50:52 PM
It's an often-requested addition to the APIs...
I find it interesting they refer to the Workplace Managed client as Workplace "OS" 2.6. I have never heard it called an OS before and it is by far not an OS. It is the Eclipse platform based on the OSGI runtime.