A point of clarification... yes, I *still* believe in the value of Notes/Domino, contrary to what you might think...
Category IBM/Lotus
Yes, I've been more harsh of late, but that's not because I am now anti-Lotus and pro-SharePoint. Even after twenty years, there is still nothing that can equal the power of Domino for rapid application development and flexibility. Many of the hot buzzwords these days (like NoSQL databases) consist of things that Domino has been doing for its entire life, yet those who talk about things like NoSQL have no clue that Domino exists and was the pioneer in that area.
I believe in the community that is Lotus. Yes, we have our differences, but I have never experienced anything like what I've been part of for the last 15 years. Nearly all (actually, *all*) of my close friends come from this community, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
I don't go through the hard work of preparing sessions for conferences like Lotusphere, IamLUG, ILUG, UKLUG, etc., just because it's fun to put slides together. I don't spend a significant amount of my own personal funds (because work certainly won't be sending me any more) to attend these events just to get a vacation. I don't post open Notes/Domino jobs I find in order to run my own recruiting firm. I don't have a monthly deadline for newsletter articles because I have too much free time I don't know what to do with. I don't spend a year of my life (and now starting year #2) co-authoring books to benefit the Lotus community and user base just because it's a checkmark on my bucket list.
I believe in Lotus.
I care a lot about friends who are having to spend a lot of time away from their families because their long-time employer decided to migrate from Notes to Exchange, and they are contracting across the country as that's the only option they could find. I am sad that friends who are working for consulting firms have seen their revenues drop drastically due to the economy and long-time customers deciding to move away from Lotus. These are the personal connections that bother me. Yes, things change, technologies come and go, but Domino is going in many places long before its time.
There are passionate people inside of IBM/Lotus that are busting their butts because they believe in what they do and the value that Lotus can deliver. Thank you for the hard (and sometimes thankless) jobs that you do. Without you, the community would be a shell of itself.
But don't be surprised if I'm not as excited about someone moving their entire mail infrastructure to LotusLive, putting more admins on the potential chopping block. Don't be surprised when I have problems reconciling the stories from various business partners with the positive official news from Lotus (you can thank Enron for that cynicism). Don't be surprised if I have problems accepting various arguments about how Microsoft manipulates SharePoint and Exchange seat counts because of the way they report, when I can't get that level of clarity from Lotus because the numbers aren't broken out that way. And don't be surprised if I'm highly frustrated and upset that academic and government organizations that were once solidly in the Lotus fold are now abandoning Lotus for Microsoft and Google cloud offerings, and that seems to be just fine (academics because there's no money to be made, and government because federal security certification doesn't seem to be a priority). Once I was forced out of my safe little bubble of Lotus-y stuff at work, I started to realize that neither IBM or Microsoft is on the side of the angels. Both companies do good and bad things, and for every bad story you can find the equivalent or opposite story to match it.
I will continue to do what I can to explain and talk about what's good in the world of Lotus software, and help whoever I can in whatever situation they might find themselves in. But I won't be wearing rose-colored glasses, and if I have to ask a hard question or two, so be it.
Yes, I've been more harsh of late, but that's not because I am now anti-Lotus and pro-SharePoint. Even after twenty years, there is still nothing that can equal the power of Domino for rapid application development and flexibility. Many of the hot buzzwords these days (like NoSQL databases) consist of things that Domino has been doing for its entire life, yet those who talk about things like NoSQL have no clue that Domino exists and was the pioneer in that area.
I believe in the community that is Lotus. Yes, we have our differences, but I have never experienced anything like what I've been part of for the last 15 years. Nearly all (actually, *all*) of my close friends come from this community, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
I don't go through the hard work of preparing sessions for conferences like Lotusphere, IamLUG, ILUG, UKLUG, etc., just because it's fun to put slides together. I don't spend a significant amount of my own personal funds (because work certainly won't be sending me any more) to attend these events just to get a vacation. I don't post open Notes/Domino jobs I find in order to run my own recruiting firm. I don't have a monthly deadline for newsletter articles because I have too much free time I don't know what to do with. I don't spend a year of my life (and now starting year #2) co-authoring books to benefit the Lotus community and user base just because it's a checkmark on my bucket list.
I believe in Lotus.
I care a lot about friends who are having to spend a lot of time away from their families because their long-time employer decided to migrate from Notes to Exchange, and they are contracting across the country as that's the only option they could find. I am sad that friends who are working for consulting firms have seen their revenues drop drastically due to the economy and long-time customers deciding to move away from Lotus. These are the personal connections that bother me. Yes, things change, technologies come and go, but Domino is going in many places long before its time.
There are passionate people inside of IBM/Lotus that are busting their butts because they believe in what they do and the value that Lotus can deliver. Thank you for the hard (and sometimes thankless) jobs that you do. Without you, the community would be a shell of itself.
But don't be surprised if I'm not as excited about someone moving their entire mail infrastructure to LotusLive, putting more admins on the potential chopping block. Don't be surprised when I have problems reconciling the stories from various business partners with the positive official news from Lotus (you can thank Enron for that cynicism). Don't be surprised if I have problems accepting various arguments about how Microsoft manipulates SharePoint and Exchange seat counts because of the way they report, when I can't get that level of clarity from Lotus because the numbers aren't broken out that way. And don't be surprised if I'm highly frustrated and upset that academic and government organizations that were once solidly in the Lotus fold are now abandoning Lotus for Microsoft and Google cloud offerings, and that seems to be just fine (academics because there's no money to be made, and government because federal security certification doesn't seem to be a priority). Once I was forced out of my safe little bubble of Lotus-y stuff at work, I started to realize that neither IBM or Microsoft is on the side of the angels. Both companies do good and bad things, and for every bad story you can find the equivalent or opposite story to match it.
I will continue to do what I can to explain and talk about what's good in the world of Lotus software, and help whoever I can in whatever situation they might find themselves in. But I won't be wearing rose-colored glasses, and if I have to ask a hard question or two, so be it.
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Comments
Lotus Notes&Domino were so pioneering technologies, that in comparison anything after, is not that evolutionary, much less revolutionary.
As somebody who has been on both sides of the fence, my perplexity is only about how the demise of Lotus was more a product of the perceived need for continued revolutionary innovation by IBM as opposed to more support for the iris/lotus driven evolution.
Imnsho, MS did not kill the Domino market, IBM WEBSHERE did. And that is sad and silly.
Posted by George Chiesa At 19:09:25 On 18/01/2011 | - Website - |
sharepoint comes with more up to date but rubbish apps.
I do not see the apps people want to use on OpenNTF or they are half-baked.
Posted by Patrick Kwinten At 22:58:40 On 18/01/2011 | - Website - |
Posted by Volker Weber At 05:34:26 On 19/01/2011 | - Website - |
Posted by Duffbert At 05:50:16 On 19/01/2011 | - Website - |
Thank You Sir.
Posted by JP Liggett At 09:34:49 On 19/01/2011 | - Website - |
Posted by Paul Mooney At 15:14:56 On 19/01/2011 | - Website - |
@6... well said, as always.
Posted by Duffbert At 16:14:21 On 19/01/2011 | - Website - |
exactly.
thanks for writing this.
Posted by John Vaughan At 17:03:28 On 19/01/2011 | - Website - |
Posted by Duffbert At 17:05:27 On 19/01/2011 | - Website - |