In 2000 I co-wrote an article with Steven Knez for Group Computing (ePro) on how to mobilize a Notes database using a Palm VII. Some things never change 🙂
Tag: domino
IBM Notes and Domino: State of the Union – Part 1
This article has been in draft mode for several months and I thought the timing was right to publish it. First let me state that my love affair and relationship with IBM Notes and Domino is now in it’s twenty-first year. So much of my identity as an adult has been tied to the people and technology involved with Notes/Domino. Whether it was my work at Underwriters Laboratories, OpenNTF, SHARP, Taking Notes, Elguji or my consulting customers; everything I did was intertwined together with Notes/Domino being the common thread. I am writing at this time to share the current “state of the union” as it pertains to IBM’s Notes and Domino.
Here is the first part of my address which, focusses on the Independent Software Vendor (ISV) and Business Partner ecosystems. Frankly, it’s the shortest section of my address. The next part will focus on IBM Notes and Domino customers and my thoughts on what they should be planning for.
The State of the ISV and Business Partners
First let me speak from an ISV and Business Partner perspective. Elguji and our IdeaJam software created an amazing opportunity to sell a packaged software application for IBM Domino. We set out in 2007 to prove a few points. The first point was to prove that Domino was an extremely capable environment for creating Web 2.0 apps. Secondly, we were fortunate to have sold a lot of licenses. To this day we continue to sell and improve both our IdeaJam and IQJam products.
It’s no secret that the overall ISV market has drastically shrunk. Sure there are some great ISV offerings out there to help manage Notes and Domino infrastructures, mobile app and other development tools, but its not like what we had say 10 years ago with hundreds of ISVs. One of the things that I hoped would happen and didn’t, was that a web app ecosystem would have developed. Especially with the introduction of XPages and the IBM XWork server. I am aware of a few ISV’s who have created vertical apps with XPages and the XWork server who are doing quite well. This is awesome.
A new PaaS offering was announced at IBM Connect 2014 based on SoftLayer however, I’m not really seeing this as a play for ISV’s to create cloud apps. Much like hosting market leader Prominic do today (and do it very well – Elguji is a happy customer).
The number of exhibitors at the annual IBM Connect (Lotusphere) Product Showcase has also gone down significantly. Frankly, I didn’t recognize many of the exhibitor names at this years conference. Sure, the big ones like Panagenda, Teamstudio, Ytria, BCC and others were there, but not the dozens that used to exhibit.
It was a rich app ecosystem that helped propel the adoption and allure of Notes and Domino in the enterprise. So the question becomes: How can this be turned around or changed? At this point, I’m not quite sure if it can or even needs to be changed. Is there even a need for 3rd party products and apps?
What are your thoughts?
Part 2 coming soon.
dW Answers [BlueMix]: Is Domino Being Offered as a Platform?
Yesterday I ran across this question on the IBM developerWorks Answers site:
Today, IBM’s Peter Janzen posted a response:
Rewind 2010: Innovators of Vancouver Episode #4 – Bruce & Gayle Elgort
Earlier today I was talking with one of my web developments students who came across the “Innovators of Vancouver” video series produced by Chris Martin owner of Vancouver, Washington’s “Chris Martin Studios“. She noted how lucky she was to have a person like me as one of her instructors. It has been awhile since I watched this video and I am truly blessed by what Gayle, Matt and I were able to accomplish.
3 Things I Took Away from IBM Connect Watching from Afar
Here are the three biggest things that resonated for me most about IBM Connect 2014. Keep in mind that I wasn’t there, but I was watching via the LiveStreams, tweets and other social venues:
- IBM Connections is now the flagship product for IBM Collaboration Solutions (or as it’s now known “Smarter Workforce”). All hail the new king.
- While IBM is still “committed” to Notes, Domino and XPages, I’m thinking that this really means that they will be supplying point releases which address fixes and minor improvements. This will keep existing customers happy.
- Announcing a reinvented email client was a good political and strategic move. The one thing that is truly required for this new client to really be embraced is having an IBM Connections deployment. Not only a vibrant deployment, but one that is really being used by employees.
What are your three takeaways from IBM Connect 2014?
Fill in the blank
The other day Voker Weber shared his thoughts about BlackBerry and he stated the following:
The sentiment. BlackBerry smells of old. People want new. iPhone. Maybe Android. Once people have made up their mind to divorce you, it’s a tough thing to turn around. It’s no longer good enough to be good enough. You have to be way better.
Now let me change the above to this:
The sentiment. ______________ smells of old. People want new. iPhone. Maybe Android. Once people have made up their mind to divorce you, it’s a tough thing to turn around. It’s no longer good enough to be good enough. You have to be way better.
Unfortunately, I can think of dozens of products and services that can be filled in the blank. The world has certainly changed over the last decade and sometimes no matter what a company and/or organization does, they can’t turn it around.
Shiny and new are the “new black”.
More changes on the horizon
Back in April I notified the OpenNTF Board that come this October I will be stepping down as Chairman of OpenNTF – The Open Source Community for IBM Collaboration Solutions. October is when my term as Chairman would normally end. You might have seen on the OpenNTF blog that nominations for eight board seats are now accepting nominations. Once the new board is elected a new Chairman will be elected. I will be working with the new Chairman to ensure a smooth transition.
I highly encourage all partners to get involved with OpenNTF in some way or another as it continues to be one of the pillars that supports the IBM Collaboration Solutions ecosystem.
OpenNTF has been a passion of mine since 2001 and after 12 years, it’s time for me to pursue some other things that I have wanted to do, but haven’t had the time.
Masterclass Webinar – Amazon EC2 Demo
Podcast: IBM’s Ed Brill and Trust Factory’s Wouter Aukema
On this episode of the podcast we were joined by IBM’s Ed Brill (@edbrill) and Trust Factory’s Wouter Aukema (@waukema) and talked about:
- The new partnership between IBM and Trust Factory first announced on Ed’s blog
- Trust Factory’s DNA services offerings
- What the partnership means for IBM customers
- A special offer made by Ed
- Ed’s new book project
- What the book will and not be about and when it will be available
- Who else will be contributing to the book
- Notes Social Edition and what exactly it is
- Some of the new enhancements made in the Notes Social Edition
- When it will be available for customers
- How it can be deployed
- Integration with IBM Connections “Next”
- and much more
Podcast: Bring your Lotus Notes data to your mobile devices with We4IT’s docLinkr
With this episode we wrap our mini-series on mobile access for your Notes/Domino applications. Carl Tyler (@flyboytyler) filled in for the traveling Julian Robichaux to interview We4IT’s Simon Peek (@simonspeakeasy) and Christoph Adler (@cadler80) about their docLinkr product.
In this 29 minute show we talked about:
- We4IT and what they do
- What docLinkr can do for your Lotus Notes and Domino apps
- What components are part of the docLinkr solution
- What sets apart docLinkr from the other solutions available
- How much docLinkr costs
- The free 2 user license
- We4IT’s 3rd sponsorship of the OpenNTF development contests
- and much more
Please also be sure and “follow” Taking Notes on Twitter at @TakingNotesPod.
Bruce Elgort 