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Eugen Tarnow

 

    If you don’t use it, you lose it to Microsoft

    Eugen Tarnow  March 21 2012 03:01:30 PM
    I just got off the phone with a large University who converted from Notes to Exchange a couple of years ago.  They told me that Lotus Notes is a beautiful application as long as you keep developing on its platform.  Once you stop creating new applications Lotus Notes dies.

    I have also noticed the correlation between companies halting their Notes development and leaving Notes.  The halt in development precedes the abandoning of Notes by only a few years.

    Are the end users happier now, I asked?  I was told yes, because of Sharepoint.

    Everybody: Does anybody know the reasons why Sharepoint makes for happier end users?  And what should we do to counter Sharepoint?

    The ReduceMail Pro team is very excited give our full attention to all companies who use Notes mail.

    Want to learn more about ReduceMail Pro? Evaluate ReduceMail Pro with a free trial.

    Comments

    1Mick Moignard  3/21/2012 6:48:55 PM  If you don’t use it, you lose it to Microsoft

    And what will happen to those Sharepoint users when they stop developing for Sharepoint, or just become complacent with it?

    2Wayne Sobers  3/21/2012 8:10:18 PM  If you don’t use it, you lose it to Microsoft

    My 2 cents...

    Domino has the capability to do most/all of what Sharepoint can do, except YOU have to put it together. It's not that difficult if you do the proper research, but the proper research is time consuming and MS makes it look very easy to put everything together.

    IBM has Connections, which beats Sharepoint hands down. THAT is the comparison that should be made.

    Given the push that IBM has given to XPages, it should not be difficult to get a Sharepoint like experience operational in a Domino environment.

    Here's the thing. IBM has "Connectors" for Windows & MS Office for both Quickr and Conections, but not for Domino, why not?

    3Fredrik Malmborg  3/22/2012 8:28:52 AM  If you don’t use it, you lose it to Microsoft

    Simple explanation.

    If you invest money and time in a system you often get nice results.

    If they instead of setting up Sharepoint used the same money and time to invest in their current Domino they would also get nice results.

    Then investments are mostly driven by personal gaining. Somehow Microsoft is promising more for the career of the decision maker that IBM does.

    Or am I wrong?

    4sambhavi gargi  3/22/2012 10:33:13 AM  If you don’t use it, you lose it to Microsoft

    boss..sharepoint applications is faster instead of notes applications..many lotus applications take time.. our users go for coffee when they push an action..:)

    domino web is good with xpages.. this is heard by everbody, but the customer are mostly using 6.

    sharepoint is nice because of nice ui

    user can create simple application..

    we can create site without asking for developer.. simple excel kind of data process sharepoint do nice

    lotus notes .. ibm should so something.. they are not selling good product like notes

    in the end notes developer loose lot.. i'm developing sharepoit for 3 years.. i always liked lotus notes, but no jobs for me..

    5Henning Heinz  3/22/2012 2:15:48 PM  If you don’t use it, you lose it to Microsoft

    Why counter what users love?

    Sharepoint already is a reality in most bigger Domino shops anyway.

    IBM calls Sharepoint Fileserver 2.0.

    Their suggestions were

    a) file servers are a bad idea, don't use it

    b) use QuickR

    with the last statement at one time changed to "Connctions can handle all this and more".

    The problem was that customers want a Fileserver 2.0 and that QuickR has always been one of the best arguments for using Sharepoint.

    So the proper answer from an IBM perspective would probably be: Try to implement Connections if you can" ignoring that most companies do not replace Sharepoint with Connections but add it as an additional tool.

    If you can't implement Connections (although there are free entitlements for Files and Profiles I think) then good luck. I would not recommend countering anything in this case.

    6Thomas  3/23/2012 3:12:47 PM  If you don’t use it, you lose it to Microsoft

    Unfortunately the Notes UI has been the bane of Notes existence for over 15 years now. I remember when Notes 5 was released I was hoping things would change, but many many years later the UI is still a laughing stock. That is what users hate, and that is the main reason why companies migrate to Sharepoint/Exchange. Every other reason you can possibly think of does not hold a candle to this one fact. People HATE the Notes UI.

    Apple and Google have proven in recent years that a great UI is really all you need.

    I just don't understand, I really don't.

    7Wayne Sobers  3/23/2012 7:02:00 PM  If you don’t use it, you lose it to Microsoft

    @ Fredrik, I partially agree with your comment - however, as I noted, putting together a Sharepoint app starts further in the development cycle than a Domino or Notes client app. That extra setup, admin and maintenance planning has a higher cost than IBM realize, or maybe they do realize it, and expect companies to call their dev/support services.

    @ Henning - like I wrote, why no "connectors" for simple Notes applications. Did, you know that WordPro can file save to a Domino NSF?

    The Wordpro document ends up as an embedded file in the NSF

    Why is that ability not in Symphony?

    @ sambhavi - your comment is exactly the kind of sentiment that leads to companies dropping Domino.

    Apart from your last comment, none of what you have written has any merit.

    Sharepoint UI is web based, so is a Domino App - it's as nice as the developer makes it.

    If an action takes long to run, that's an indication of poor programming not a poor platform.

    If companies are on version 6 then they shouldn't complain about using ten year old unsupported tech and try to upgrade - XServer has been out for over a year now!

    As for creating sites, this is easily done with a template, some workflow and some applied thinking.

    Sorry, on reflection, I will concede that Notes UI dev is harder than it should be, but it sounds like someone hasn't done their research.

    @ Thomas - Sometimes I feel that IBM deliberately limited the scope of the Notes UI. My gut feel is that if a big enough client asks for a feature, and IBM will get a big enough ROI, then the client will get it and the rest of us get to ride the coat tails.

    8George Banning  12/8/2014 10:00:25 PM  If you don’t use it, you lose it to Microsoft

    I have been an active Notes/Domino developer for 20 years. I even met Ray Ozzie who wrote it and used version 2.0 through 9.

    My company just laid me off since the work is diminishing and they have moved to the Microsoft Platform and SharePoint. Even Ray Ozzie was at one time the CEO of Microsoft. He too jumped off the Domino wagon, a wagon he built.

    So like so many mentioned above and elsewhere, I too am forced to migrate to the SharePoint development platform. I will still do Notes as a consultant but must ride the wave if I wish to remain gainfully employed.

    Best of luck to all.

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