Mat Newman. IBM Champion. #GetProductive #GetLotusNoteshttp://www.matnewman.com/webs/personal/matblog.nsf/en-usWed, 1 Feb 2012 01:33:16 PM +1100 Wed, 1 Feb 2012 01:33:16 PM +1100 Sam S What is the future of Lotus Notes? Will it compete with other technologies?
1. Agree - although 8.5.2 and 8.5.3 are a lot better as far as overhead and usability go.

4. IBM licensing has been simplified significantly. Your best bet in regards to getting pricing is to get a hold of a business partner who 1) will know what the best option for you is [probably not PVU licensing], 2) will know what "plays" are currently running/when a good time to buy is, and 3) ensure things like customer type are taken into account. I would be very surprised if a BP recommended tens of thousands of dollars for a small non-profit. [I will concede that IBM doesn't give stuff away to non-profits like Microsoft does through techsoup - for a small administrative fee, of course]

Additionally, IBM Smart Cloud for Social Business [the product formerly known as Lotus Live] is, in essence, Lotus Notes/Domino in the cloud with a low per user price. I suspect that it would compare well with a hosted sharepoint+exchange offering.

Sam]]>
1. Agree - although 8.5.2 and 8.5.3 are a lot better as far as overhead and usability go.

4. IBM licensing has been simplified significantly. Your best bet in regards to getting pricing is to get a hold of a business partner who 1) will know what the best option for you is [probably not PVU licensing], 2) will know what "plays" are currently running/when a good time to buy is, and 3) ensure things like customer type are taken into account. I would be very surprised if a BP recommended tens of thousands of dollars for a small non-profit. [I will concede that IBM doesn't give stuff away to non-profits like Microsoft does through techsoup - for a small administrative fee, of course]

Additionally, IBM Smart Cloud for Social Business [the product formerly known as Lotus Live] is, in essence, Lotus Notes/Domino in the cloud with a low per user price. I suspect that it would compare well with a hosted sharepoint+exchange offering.

Sam]]> http://www.matnewman.com/webs/personal/matblog.nsf/dx/futureandwillitcompete.htm?opendocument&comments#02012012013316PMYOD4ZU.htm Wed, 1 Feb 2012 10:11:26 AM +1100 Brian Vincent What is the future of Lotus Notes? Will it compete with other technologies?
1) Email: Even though you and I know that Notes is far more than mail, for many users, including executives, the primary role of Notes is email. IBM misses and obvious opportunity here by not insuring the best email experience known. While Notes 8 made the interface pretty it did so by adding the overhead of an eclipse shell, which takes an eternity to load, and operates sluggishly. Notes 8 madee usability improvements, but it still quirky. While developers know how to leverage Notes mail, most muggles don't and they don't want to take a damn training class to learn, they just want email to be quick, painless, and easy.

2) Development complexity: IBM focused too hard on using Notes as a vehicle to get customers to eclipse and other IBM brainstorms, a decade ago they tried to replace notes with "workplace," now they've literally spliced eclipse and other vastly alien products with Notes. Now the development process is a hodge podge of different languages and paradigms that are not in harmony, creating hidden gotchas alienating developers, and lengthening development cycles. Example: When 8.5 came out I asked IBM why the eclipse plug in tool was not part of designer nor did it work like designer, they responded that they envisioned the plug in system to be operated by a different person than the notes developer!?! Like IT managers everywhere were just going to add personnel.

4) Licensing: I normally let the folks in accounting pay the bills but recently a non profit I volunteer for was in need of an application and email platform. I surfed to IBM for Notes pricing, and was schooled. What cost a couple grand a few years ago now is tens of thousands in "PVU's." Given their are package deals, and multi page white papers that will numb your brain while claiming a low TCO. But after being sticker shocked and glazed suddenly development intensive drupal, or a hosted sharepoint start to look attractive.

Notes is not dead yet, nor does it deserve to die. Even the development concepts of .net and adobe air have roots in Notes dna. But Notes is losing its own dna with IBMs unfocused development of the product.

IBM needs to focus on and leverage the main reasons customers originally bought Notes. 1) Quick and easy collaboration for all. 2) Amazingly powerful development capabilities that can be developed far quicker than other platforms for less cost. 3) Low cost of ownership. If a nimble, harmonious, cheap product hits the shelves, notes could survive for decades to come.]]>
1) Email: Even though you and I know that Notes is far more than mail, for many users, including executives, the primary role of Notes is email. IBM misses and obvious opportunity here by not insuring the best email experience known. While Notes 8 made the interface pretty it did so by adding the overhead of an eclipse shell, which takes an eternity to load, and operates sluggishly. Notes 8 madee usability improvements, but it still quirky. While developers know how to leverage Notes mail, most muggles don't and they don't want to take a damn training class to learn, they just want email to be quick, painless, and easy.

2) Development complexity: IBM focused too hard on using Notes as a vehicle to get customers to eclipse and other IBM brainstorms, a decade ago they tried to replace notes with "workplace," now they've literally spliced eclipse and other vastly alien products with Notes. Now the development process is a hodge podge of different languages and paradigms that are not in harmony, creating hidden gotchas alienating developers, and lengthening development cycles. Example: When 8.5 came out I asked IBM why the eclipse plug in tool was not part of designer nor did it work like designer, they responded that they envisioned the plug in system to be operated by a different person than the notes developer!?! Like IT managers everywhere were just going to add personnel.

4) Licensing: I normally let the folks in accounting pay the bills but recently a non profit I volunteer for was in need of an application and email platform. I surfed to IBM for Notes pricing, and was schooled. What cost a couple grand a few years ago now is tens of thousands in "PVU's." Given their are package deals, and multi page white papers that will numb your brain while claiming a low TCO. But after being sticker shocked and glazed suddenly development intensive drupal, or a hosted sharepoint start to look attractive.

Notes is not dead yet, nor does it deserve to die. Even the development concepts of .net and adobe air have roots in Notes dna. But Notes is losing its own dna with IBMs unfocused development of the product.

IBM needs to focus on and leverage the main reasons customers originally bought Notes. 1) Quick and easy collaboration for all. 2) Amazingly powerful development capabilities that can be developed far quicker than other platforms for less cost. 3) Low cost of ownership. If a nimble, harmonious, cheap product hits the shelves, notes could survive for decades to come.]]> http://www.matnewman.com/webs/personal/matblog.nsf/dx/futureandwillitcompete.htm?opendocument&comments#02012012101126AMYODV7P.htm Wed, 18 Jan 2012 01:06:14 AM +1100 Sam S Lotusphere 2012 session: User BLAST! ... Have your say
Look at it this way....the applications/websites that are getting the most market share are not the ones with the most features; they are the ones that have the popular features that are easy and intuitive to use.]]>
Look at it this way....the applications/websites that are getting the most market share are not the ones with the most features; they are the ones that have the popular features that are easy and intuitive to use.]]> http://www.matnewman.com/webs/personal/matblog.nsf/dx/lotusphere-2012-session-user-blast-have-your-say?opendocument&comments#18012012010614YODJJX.htm Tue, 17 Jan 2012 02:56:38 PM +1100 David Hablewitz Hilarious way to start your week, an Email marketer explaining why Lotus Notes is the ’bad guy’ :-) http://www.matnewman.com/webs/personal/matblog.nsf/dx/hilarious-way-to-start-your-week-an-email-marketer-explains-why-lotus-notes-is-the-bad-guy-?opendocument&comments#01172012025638PMYOD6MX.htm Tue, 17 Jan 2012 01:59:22 PM +1100 David Hablewitz Lotusphere 2012 session: User BLAST! ... Have your say
Also, the question "Can it be done?" is different from "Can it be done this specific way?" It isn't valid to say "it doesn't run Connections on iSeries". It DOES run Connections, in fact, it runs on 3 different OS.

Then there is the one about sorting columns after searching. No programming needed. It already does this. Someone needs to more carefully review the search options. In the search bar, click More then in the Sort Results by field, change it to "Keep current order (sortable)" or "show all documents (sortable)".

That said, there are some things it can't do. But most can be addressed. As someone mentioned, a good starting point may be Ideajam.net. I have submitted more than my share of suggestions for product improvements and bug fixes to IBM Technical Support via SPR and posted enough ideas on ideajam.net to be ranked no lower than 4th for the past few years. But in the spirit of the question, what have you tried to create in an app that you couldn't?]]>
Also, the question "Can it be done?" is different from "Can it be done this specific way?" It isn't valid to say "it doesn't run Connections on iSeries". It DOES run Connections, in fact, it runs on 3 different OS.

Then there is the one about sorting columns after searching. No programming needed. It already does this. Someone needs to more carefully review the search options. In the search bar, click More then in the Sort Results by field, change it to "Keep current order (sortable)" or "show all documents (sortable)".

That said, there are some things it can't do. But most can be addressed. As someone mentioned, a good starting point may be Ideajam.net. I have submitted more than my share of suggestions for product improvements and bug fixes to IBM Technical Support via SPR and posted enough ideas on ideajam.net to be ranked no lower than 4th for the past few years. But in the spirit of the question, what have you tried to create in an app that you couldn't?]]> http://www.matnewman.com/webs/personal/matblog.nsf/dx/lotusphere-2012-session-user-blast-have-your-say?opendocument&comments#01172012015922PMYOD5J6.htm Tue, 17 Jan 2012 01:19:14 PM +1100 David Hablewitz 2011 ... what a ride!
BTW, Kam, running software 2 generations older than current isn't the fault of the software, it's the fault of the administrator running the environment.]]>
BTW, Kam, running software 2 generations older than current isn't the fault of the software, it's the fault of the administrator running the environment.]]> http://www.matnewman.com/webs/personal/matblog.nsf/dx/2011-...-what-a-ride?opendocument&comments#01172012011914PMYOD4R3.htm Fri, 13 Jan 2012 01:40:00 AM +1100 Rainer Lux Voting Buttons in Lotus Notes http://www.matnewman.com/webs/personal/matblog.nsf/dx/voting-buttons-in-lotus-notes?opendocument&comments#13.01.2012014000YODK83.htm Wed, 11 Jan 2012 08:19:35 AM +1100 kam Why users hate Lotus Notes, Episode 3: The intuitive misconception http://www.matnewman.com/webs/personal/matblog.nsf/dx/why-users-hate-lotus-notes-the-intuition-misconception?opendocument&comments#01112012081935AMYODSZS.htm Wed, 11 Jan 2012 07:50:40 AM +1100 kam 2011 ... what a ride! http://www.matnewman.com/webs/personal/matblog.nsf/dx/2011-...-what-a-ride?opendocument&comments#01112012075040AMYODSFQ.htm Wed, 4 Jan 2012 10:38:09 AM +1100 Brian Sloan Tip of the day: #GetProductive by setting Flags WITH alarms in Lotus Notes http://www.matnewman.com/webs/personal/matblog.nsf/dx/tip-of-the-day-getproductive-by-setting-flags-with-alarms-in-lotus-notes?opendocument&comments#01042012103809AMYODVQE.htm Tue, 3 Jan 2012 12:36:44 +1100 Mat Newman 2011 ... what a ride! http://www.matnewman.com/webs/personal/matblog.nsf/dx/2011-...-what-a-ride?opendocument&comments#03012012123644MNE3WK.htm Sun, 1 Jan 2012 01:03:12 PM +1100 Mitch Cohen 2011 ... what a ride! http://www.matnewman.com/webs/personal/matblog.nsf/dx/2011-...-what-a-ride?opendocument&comments#01012012010312PMYOD4F3.htm Fri, 23 Dec 2011 13:00:34 +1100 Mat Newman Tip of the day: It’s easier to use the new Lotus Notes 8.5.3 entitlement to bulk upload files to Connections http://www.matnewman.com/webs/personal/matblog.nsf/dx/tip-of-the-day-its-easier-to-use-the-new-lotus-notes-8.5.3-entitlement-to-bulk-upload-files-to-connections?opendocument&comments#23122011130034MNE4DG.htm Fri, 16 Dec 2011 12:51:19 AM +1100 Maurizio Turini Tip of the day: It’s easier to use the new Lotus Notes 8.5.3 entitlement to bulk upload files to Connections http://www.matnewman.com/webs/personal/matblog.nsf/dx/tip-of-the-day-its-easier-to-use-the-new-lotus-notes-8.5.3-entitlement-to-bulk-upload-files-to-connections?opendocument&comments#12162011125119AMYODJ9M.htm Mon, 12 Dec 2011 12:43:39 PM +1100 Stuart Hickson Lotusphere 2012 session: User BLAST! ... Have your say http://www.matnewman.com/webs/personal/matblog.nsf/dx/lotusphere-2012-session-user-blast-have-your-say?opendocument&comments#12122011124339PMYOD42U.htm Mon, 12 Dec 2011 11:43:28 AM +1100 Marty Buckley Lotusphere 2012 session: User BLAST! ... Have your say
Is the answer "There is nothing Lotus Notes can't do"?]]>
Is the answer "There is nothing Lotus Notes can't do"?]]> http://www.matnewman.com/webs/personal/matblog.nsf/dx/lotusphere-2012-session-user-blast-have-your-say?opendocument&comments#12122011114328AMYOD2V8.htm Sat, 10 Dec 2011 02:09:57 PM +1100 Steve Pitcher Lotusphere 2012 session: User BLAST! ... Have your say
Oh yeah, to use complimentary Connections features in Notes 8.5.3 you need a Window/Linux/AIX server to host it. No support for IBM i (iSeries) folks.]]>
Oh yeah, to use complimentary Connections features in Notes 8.5.3 you need a Window/Linux/AIX server to host it. No support for IBM i (iSeries) folks.]]> http://www.matnewman.com/webs/personal/matblog.nsf/dx/lotusphere-2012-session-user-blast-have-your-say?opendocument&comments#12102011020957PMYOD5QS.htm Fri, 9 Dec 2011 11:57:55 PM +1100 pamella How to Convert Outlook PST to Lotus Notes using the built-in tools
Visit: { Link }]]>
Visit: { Link }]]> http://www.matnewman.com/webs/personal/matblog.nsf/dx/30092011ConvertOutlookToNotes.htm?opendocument&comments#12092011115755PMYODH89.htm Fri, 9 Dec 2011 10:04:16 PM +1100 Thomas Lindberg Lotusphere 2012 session: User BLAST! ... Have your say
Regards thomas]]>
Regards thomas]]> http://www.matnewman.com/webs/personal/matblog.nsf/dx/lotusphere-2012-session-user-blast-have-your-say?opendocument&comments#09-12-2011220416YODEZ8.htm Fri, 9 Dec 2011 10:19:52 AM +1100 Tinus Riyanto Lotusphere 2012 session: User BLAST! ... Have your say
2. If you are using local mail.box and automatic replication schedule there is no visible notification if you are trying to send email with size bigger than what your server's router would allow. Well the error appear on replicator page but watching that page kinda made the automatic part moot, isn't it ?

3. No way to delegate your journal even if it is sync to your mail file on server. No way to open other people's journal (if you managed to get the delegation part working)

4. And more on Idea Jam :D

Do you mind publishing your session elsewhere for those of us who can't go to LS12 ?]]>
2. If you are using local mail.box and automatic replication schedule there is no visible notification if you are trying to send email with size bigger than what your server's router would allow. Well the error appear on replicator page but watching that page kinda made the automatic part moot, isn't it ?

3. No way to delegate your journal even if it is sync to your mail file on server. No way to open other people's journal (if you managed to get the delegation part working)

4. And more on Idea Jam :D

Do you mind publishing your session elsewhere for those of us who can't go to LS12 ?]]> http://www.matnewman.com/webs/personal/matblog.nsf/dx/lotusphere-2012-session-user-blast-have-your-say?opendocument&comments#12092011101952AMYODVCY.htm