Carl Tyler's Blog :: The Radicati report

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There has been a lot said about the recent Radicati report. I have not read the report, and don't really have any intentions of reading it, I consider it a bit of a storm in a tea cup. I was interested in one quote from the report which was:

'The company plans to release upgrades to Domino on an annual basis, beginning with version 7 in 2005. The primary focus of these upgrades will be to transform Domino into a J2EE-based infrastructure compatible with Workplace. This is ultimately an end-of-life strategy for Domino as any new functionality that is added to the platform will focus mainly on facilitating the migration to the Workplace platform. In the 2007 time frame, IBM Lotus envisions that Domino will function as an application within the Workplace platform, rather than as an individual client/server solution.'

Now some may hate me for saying it, but this is how I interpret IBM's strategy for Domino too. I can see the day when IBM does say, ok now we have a way to migrate your apps to J2EE, it's time to drop Notes and Domino. Some will point to IBMs public commitment to future releases of Domino and Notes, and I'll say this, SmartSuite still has new releases, but go check out the new functionality that gets added in those releases.

Comments

1 - Yes, but SmartSuite is fully disclosed as minimal updates -- The version number has been stuck at 9.xxx for what, six years or more? We're talking about Notes 7, Notes 7.x, Notes 8, Notes 8.x, etc. kinds of releases.
At any rate, I'm not sure that functioning as an application within the Workplace platform is a bad thing -- it means that Notes apps will continue to be able to run, be modified, and developed for a long time to come.

Posted by Ed Brill At 10:02:30 AM On 08/02/2004 | - Website - |

2 - That's fair enough. But when I look at the changes/additions between Sametime 2.5, 3.0, 3.1 and 6.5.1 I wonder.

We will both have to wait to see the outcome of this one I feel.

Posted by Carl At 05:39:14 PM On 08/02/2004 | - Website - |

3 - I agree with ya Carl - however I think that Domino/Notes will essentially morph into Workplace over time such that one day IBM will simply shout "Hey, you're running Workplace" - and we all will be without even realising it!

Me, I don't care one bit so long as the work that I'm doing right now isn't going to be completely obsoleted in a couple of years time. Clearly IBMs intent is to allow me to run my "obsolete" apps if I choose/they still meet my needs. I for one can't find fault in that at all!

Posted by Colin Williams At 03:27:15 AM On 08/03/2004 | - Website - |

4 - Colin you may well be right, I suppose my issue is not with the whole idea of migration, just that so many people are slamming Radicati (with good reason), that some parts of the report that should generate discussion are being missed. IBM wont call it a migration, but in their dreams they'd love to be rid of Domino and have everyone running J2EE.

Posted by Carl At 08:49:22 AM On 08/03/2004 | - Website - |

5 - Carl, I wish you would stop clinging to that outdated view. maybe we're being more pragmatic about market adoption today than two years ago when the strategy was first announced, but there are few at IBM would would love to be rid of Domino. You've been away for years -- it's not the same.
Also, I think the reason that the parts of the report that you think should generate discussion are being missed is that the overall credibility has been attacked. Have you read it in full yet?

Posted by Ed Brill At 12:08:24 AM On 08/04/2004 | - Website - |

6 - Not sure I'm clinging. I have been away from Lotus for years, and non of my judegements on this issue are based on my time at Lotus. Lotus no longer exists, it's now IBM. My interpretations now days are based upon what I see IBMers talk about at customer sites, and what those customers tell me they hear. The strange thing is, now that I'm out of Lotus, I see and hear more from IBM reps, IGS consultants than ever before. When you're in the company, you hear things in your specific area, I used to know what I was telling the reps, and I used to assume the reps were passing on the same message now I wonder.

I have not read the Radicatti report and it's not currently on my intended to read list.

I'm still passionate for Lotus products, I still think that IBM does not understand what it has with Notes/Domino. It's funny, when you first leave Lotus you try as hard as you can to use everything non-Lotus, as you've been competing against this stuff for so long you think hell let's really see what I can do with this other stuff. Then as you need get a bigger and bigger team to add features that are just taken for granted with Notes/Domino, you think shit, we really did have it figured out.

Posted by Carl At 07:57:17 AM On 08/04/2004 | - Website - |