Is Domino to Websphere the equivalent of Ami Pro to Word Pro?
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If it isn't obvious to us yet, Websphere is the application platform of choice for IBM, pretty much any new web stuff IBM is doing is based around Websphere (Atlantic is a strange one in that it's been built with Domino). The next version of Sametime will be using Websphere for it's Meeting Server, it already uses Websphere for the Gateway. Connections, Activities it's all Websphere. So basically, start learning Websphere and start learning it now.
So why do I wonder if Websphere to Domino is the equivalent of Ami Pro to Word Pro. One of the reasons Word Pro (one of many), did not have a successful migration of Ami Pro users to Word Pro users, was because Word Pro was radically different to Ami Pro. The UI was different, the file formats were different, the performance was radically different etc. Word Pro was sufficiently different that it game companies the justification to consider alternatives, they figured they'd have to train their users on Word Pro, why not just train them on Word.
I wonder if IBMs move to everything Websphere runs a similar risk. Domino admins are comfortable, they know where to look when things go wrong, but they need to learn new skills, they need to understand how Websphere works, how DB2 works. They're going to need training. Which leads to the question will companies consider this justification to consider alternatives?
As far as I can tell, IBMs strategy with Workplace was to move customers off Domino to Websphere, and now the unspoken strategy is one that hasn't really changed, just that they're going about it in a different way. Some will argue that XPages shows IBM is committed to Domino, it could also be argued that XPages could be the perfect intermediate step to get people migrating their apps to Websphere.
If you're sticking with Domino, and Domino companion products, be sure to start learning about Webshere. If you were wondering, is a great place to start learning about some of this.
If it isn't obvious to us yet, Websphere is the application platform of choice for IBM, pretty much any new web stuff IBM is doing is based around Websphere (Atlantic is a strange one in that it's been built with Domino). The next version of Sametime will be using Websphere for it's Meeting Server, it already uses Websphere for the Gateway. Connections, Activities it's all Websphere. So basically, start learning Websphere and start learning it now.
So why do I wonder if Websphere to Domino is the equivalent of Ami Pro to Word Pro. One of the reasons Word Pro (one of many), did not have a successful migration of Ami Pro users to Word Pro users, was because Word Pro was radically different to Ami Pro. The UI was different, the file formats were different, the performance was radically different etc. Word Pro was sufficiently different that it game companies the justification to consider alternatives, they figured they'd have to train their users on Word Pro, why not just train them on Word.
I wonder if IBMs move to everything Websphere runs a similar risk. Domino admins are comfortable, they know where to look when things go wrong, but they need to learn new skills, they need to understand how Websphere works, how DB2 works. They're going to need training. Which leads to the question will companies consider this justification to consider alternatives?
As far as I can tell, IBMs strategy with Workplace was to move customers off Domino to Websphere, and now the unspoken strategy is one that hasn't really changed, just that they're going about it in a different way. Some will argue that XPages shows IBM is committed to Domino, it could also be argued that XPages could be the perfect intermediate step to get people migrating their apps to Websphere.
If you're sticking with Domino, and Domino companion products, be sure to start learning about Webshere. If you were wondering, is a great place to start learning about some of this.
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Posted by Craig Wiseman At 02:02:45 PM On 07/15/2008 | - Website - |
With all the rave around XPages it is often forgotten that the technology was already there within Lotus Component Designer and Workplace. For some reason it did not work.
XPages in Domino is nice because it takes much less resources but at the same time it is ugly because so far it is not well integrated.
I will continue to use the technology that let me solve problems fast, cheap and with moderate skillset requirements. If that is Websphere I am fine with that although sites like BleedYellow or EULUG so far only impressed me with its slow performance and poor feature sets. I find IdeaJam or Planet Lotus a much better fit for a typical Domino task although the later is build with PHP and MySQL.
Posted by Henning Heinz At 03:59:07 PM On 07/15/2008 | - Website - |
You're my hero. (seriously).
Well said.
Posted by Craig Wiseman At 04:07:18 PM On 07/15/2008 | - Website - |
"Is Websphere to Domino the equivalent of Ami Pro to Word Pro?"
Technically, shouldn't it be this:
Is Domino to Websphere the equivalent of Ami Pro to Word Pro?
Posted by Timothy Briley At 05:21:18 PM On 07/15/2008 | - Website - |
Posted by Carl Tyler At 07:37:01 PM On 07/15/2008 | - Website - |
Like anybody knows, both are very different technologies.
What makes WAS interesting?
- Integration with existing technology is much better because of 2phase-commit and apparently uber-complicated SOA stuff, that - to my surprise - does work (Process Server).
- new nifty libraries and frameworks developed elsewhere in java land can more often than not used in Websphere.
- very old IBM technology like MQSeries have it quite easy to adopt J2EE/EE 5 standards like JMS on top. Though hardcore MQseries guys are moaning about JMS, there are ways to make it easier digestible for them.
At least here in Central Europe and for sure also in America and UK, a lot of smaller projects are using Tomcat, JBoss or probably Glassfish.
Posted by Axel At 05:27:25 AM On 07/16/2008 | - Website - |