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The Nokia-Microsoft deal, some observations and the dark side ... how an ex Microsoft employee is undermining IBM Lotus Traveler from the inside

Mat Newman  February 13 2011 07:48:30
It's now been a couple of days since the announcement.  Ed Brill wrote a couple of months ago about the emergence of Traveler as the fastest growing share in the mobile email market, due then mainly to Symbian and iPhone support.  Of course, Android has since been added to that mix.  

In case you haven't noticed, there have been some subtle changes on the Nokia websites.

The launch pages on all the local sites (eg .co.uk, .com.au) for the new Nokia E7 no longer headline IBM Lotus Traveler.  In fact the only references are now Mail for Exchange, and web based services.  I've noticed overnight the last references to Traveler support on the new device have been completely removed.  Note this is NOT one of the upcoming WoMo7 devices, it runs Symbian which has had Traveler support since 2008.

You need to dig deep into the Nokia local sites to find any mention of IBM Lotus Traveler, it's buried at the bottom of the Nokia for Business pages, following Mail for Exchange and Microsoft Communicator.

This is quite a departure from just a couple of weeks ago, when Traveler was highlighted on the individual device pages, as well as several other launch pages on the Nokia websites.

Installing an ex Microsoft employee (Stephen Elop) as CEO of Nokia is obviously a game-changer for the relationship between IBM and Nokia.

Combine that with Nokia alienating a legion of developers by announcing the death of Meego/QT (you don't have to read many comments to understand how unpopular this decision is), and one can see where the new Nokia CEO has drawn his line in the sand.

It's definitely an interesting time for the worlds largest handset manufacturer.  In one fell swoop Nokia have aligned themselves with Microsoft, distancing themselves from IBM and alienated their developer community.

Take note of the following URL, it is probably the most telling sign of Nokia's commitment to work with IBM.


http://europe.nokia.com/find-products/old-nokia-for-business/old-software/old-email-and-instant-messaging/old-ibm-lotus-notes-traveler

Notice the repeating "old"...

Comments

1John Turnbow  02/13/2011 9:38:45  
The Nokia-Microsoft deal, some observations and the dark side ... how an ex Microsoft employee is undermining IBM Lotus Traveler from the inside

Until IBM comes up with their own device OS, IBM will have to "ride" with whatever system is out there. That is the problem with following or riding, have to be willing to be put in the back seat. If IBM had a good OS to offer then things could change, but they don't.

2Carl Tyler  02/13/2011 9:57:36  
The Nokia-Microsoft deal, some observations and the dark side ... how an ex Microsoft employee is undermining IBM Lotus Traveler from the inside

I always find this "fastest growing share in the mobile email market," a bad thing to quote. As it's not a true reflection of what happened.

Domino/Traveler grew because it wasn't there before. Exchange support hasn't been growing as it's been on every device that ships from every vendor on day 1 for as long as anyone has really cared. So not surprising that Domino Traveler is growing, as it's now appearing on devices where it wasn't but Exchange always was.

So Traveler may be growing, but I personally don't see it happening at Exchange/ActiveSyncs expense.

3Volker Weber  02/13/2011 10:08:02  
The Nokia-Microsoft deal, some observations and the dark side ... how an ex Microsoft employee is undermining IBM Lotus Traveler from the inside

Mr. Newman, get your facts straight. Traveler does not support E7, nor N8, nor any other Symbian^3 device.

As a general rule, if you see somebody reporting growth, he has no volume. Otherwise he would report share.

4Mat Newman

02/13/2011 10:35:20  The Nokia-Microsoft deal, some observations and the dark side ... how an ex Microsoft employee is undermining IBM Lotus Traveler from the inside

@1, John: IBM haven't been in the consumer OS market since OS/2 - can't see that changing anytime soon, so yes - it the becomes important for IBM to support or 'ride the coat-tails' of whatever system is out there in use,

@2, Carl & @3,Volker: looks like including the growth quote muddied the message, agreed that growth from nothing is always going to be % amazing.

Mat Newman IBM Champion

5Volker Weber  02/13/2011 10:55:47  
The Nokia-Microsoft deal, some observations and the dark side ... how an ex Microsoft employee is undermining IBM Lotus Traveler from the inside

Matt, it only went downhill from there.

6Giuseppe Grasso  02/13/2011 12:07:56  
The Nokia-Microsoft deal, some observations and the dark side ... how an ex Microsoft employee is undermining IBM Lotus Traveler from the inside

.... and more MS into nokia: { Link }

7Ian Scott  02/13/2011 12:55:29  
The Nokia-Microsoft deal, some observations and the dark side ... how an ex Microsoft employee is undermining IBM Lotus Traveler from the inside

C'mon. The Nokia URL for MS Exchange is nearly the same:

{ Link }

Notice the repeating word "old" :-)

8Giulio  02/13/2011 13:06:51  
The Nokia-Microsoft deal, some observations and the dark side ... how an ex Microsoft employee is undermining IBM Lotus Traveler from the inside

Unfortunate for IBM, but Microsoft are playing a lot if catch-up here. So they're playing hard ball harder than usual.

This should not be of concern as It's like watching 2 dinosaurs mating, (saw that analogy on a tweet). Nokia and Microsoft are taking the same approach to entering the market much like the invasion of Iraq. Wrong place, too late, and are just gonna piss off the locals for purely financial gain not for any advertised noble idea like customer options.

Microsoft are now trying to buy their way into the market by hook or by crook. Possibly the latter as its a very fortuitous coincidence that the new CEO of Nokia happens to be an ex-microsoftie. So, yep its a bit dirty, but I can't see this being a threat for at least 2 years, providing Nokia and Microsoft get it right. Better opportunity following android for the forseeablee future

9Mat Newman

02/13/2011 15:10:41  The Nokia-Microsoft deal, some observations and the dark side ... how an ex Microsoft employee is undermining IBM Lotus Traveler from the inside

@5, Volker: Not supported and does not work are 2 different things. We have a number of clients who have N8's in their Traveler mix, and I saw the E7 running Traveler quite happily @ Lotusphere. Going downhill is observing that IBM Lotus Travler references are being removed from product pages on Nokia's website, or that the Nokia developer community is overwhelmingly not happy with the new direction?

@6, Giulio: I don't think we've seen the last of these sort of moves.

@7, Ian: The observation was that the Nokia for Business pages are currently undergoing a complete revamp. Anything on the previous NfB site is 'old', including Traveler. Under the new site, Traveler is listed way down the bottom of the pages below the Microsoft tools. Even when you visit the old Traveler URL which had the product on a separate page, you are redirected to the new 'Microsoft first' page.

Mat Newman IBM Champion

10Volker Weber  02/13/2011 20:26:28  
The Nokia-Microsoft deal, some observations and the dark side ... how an ex Microsoft employee is undermining IBM Lotus Traveler from the inside

The whole story is ridiculous. Elop has other problems than to "undermine" support for Traveler. And he does not have to be an "ex-Microsoft employee" to understand that. Traveler is IBM's product. If it does not support ^3, then IBM is to blame, not Nokia. If it does indeed work as you insinuate, and it still is not supported, even more so.

You may start to get your ActiveSync story sorted out so that Traveler not only supports iPhone but also Windows Phone 7, lest you want to write another story about how an ex-Microsoft employee undermines Traveler support by shipping Windows Phone 7 devices.

11Keith Brooks  02/14/2011 13:15:56  
The Nokia-Microsoft deal, some observations and the dark side ... how an ex Microsoft employee is undermining IBM Lotus Traveler from the inside

Mat,

The problem really is that Nokia owns so little of the US market that few care at the mother ship because they never see it and only hear about it from Europe or Asia.

This effort by Nokia and MS is purely a last ditch effort by Nokia to get into the Enterprise, which is at least their 4th push to do so, and have failed every time. In the US.

It is also some odd view by MS that a Nokia device can save MS mobile OS side...perhaps in Europe and Asia but almost impossible to imagine it happening in the US given Androids, iPhones and Blackberries.

While I personally love the Nokia UI in their phones they have been consistently behind other brands in one way or another(I am on At&T so I can only provide that view).

IBM is a big company who plays with everyone, sometimes for a short time, sometimes for years. This too shall pass.

Mat Newman

THE Notes (formerly IBM/Lotus Notes) Guy. Productivity Guru. Evangelist. IBM Champion for IBM Collaboration Solutions, 2011/2012/2013. Former IBMer. HCLite. Views are my own.

#GetProductive #GetHCLNotes

Mat Newman




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