Bob Baehr has blogged about the possibility that Foundations might follow OS/2 and the PS/2 to the graveyard through a lack of marketing effort by IBM. Bob certainly has a valid point about the need to get the word out to the marketplace. November 12th is coming up real quick and already I see Microsoft getting on the front foot. I keep a number of Google alerts active to stay in touch with what's happening. Here's a summary of one day's Google alerts from last week for "lotus foundations" and "Essential Business Server":
Hits for Lotus Foundations..1 hit
Hits for Microsoft EBS........7 hits
These results are about par for the course. The only Foundations posts Google ever seems to collect are generated by Lotus bloggers and our work is completely self-funded and self-motivated (as it should be). So where is the Lotus contribution to the marketing effort? I'm not talking about spending billions of marketing dollars here - I'm looking at which companies are 'Working the Web' with Press releases etc. in the most effective manner and right now the answer is Microsoft.
I know Lotus have a marketing plan and I understand that "it's 90% complete" and that "it's going through legal approval at IBM". Better late than never I suppose. We consultants might get frustrated with IBM at times but I'm sure its a thousand times worse for IBM employees who are itching to start the marketing engines but have to wait for IBM legal to finish their mocha latte and tick the appropriate boxes on the release forms.
Lotus has the opportunity over the next few months to prove Bob's fears were unfounded, and I'm sure the Pittsburgh Poster boy would quite happily eat a large helping of Yellow Humble Pie if that happened.
.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
OT: Filming Foundations
Most SF readers would recognize the title of my blog as homage to the second book in Asimov's 'Foundation' trilogy which tells the story of how a technically advanced colony called 'the Foundation' took on the might of the galaxy-spanning Empire ... and won. It doesn't take too much imagination to see the analogy in the computer industry.
Now Hollywood is making a film of the first book in the Foundation trilogy. Since Asimov's trilogy is actually a collection of short stories set in a galactic-themed 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' it will be a challenge to create a cohesive script, but I'm sure they have their Best People working on it.
Perhaps the Lotus marketing people could sponsor a few product placements in the film? I can imagine a Yellow flag flying over the Foundation Headquarters on Terminus or perhaps the fire control systems of the Imperial battleships could suffer from BSOD at critical moments.
What the heck... if we're going to do the multimedia thing then maybe I should drag out my copy of 'Group Wars' - a 20 minute Lotus Notes R4.6 vs. MS Exchange 4.0 Star Wars spoof made in the mid 1990s by the Australian Notes community - and dump it on YouTube. Someone please remind me to check the maximum size of a YouTube upload.
.
Now Hollywood is making a film of the first book in the Foundation trilogy. Since Asimov's trilogy is actually a collection of short stories set in a galactic-themed 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' it will be a challenge to create a cohesive script, but I'm sure they have their Best People working on it.
Perhaps the Lotus marketing people could sponsor a few product placements in the film? I can imagine a Yellow flag flying over the Foundation Headquarters on Terminus or perhaps the fire control systems of the Imperial battleships could suffer from BSOD at critical moments.
What the heck... if we're going to do the multimedia thing then maybe I should drag out my copy of 'Group Wars' - a 20 minute Lotus Notes R4.6 vs. MS Exchange 4.0 Star Wars spoof made in the mid 1990s by the Australian Notes community - and dump it on YouTube. Someone please remind me to check the maximum size of a YouTube upload.
.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Foundations Technology: Proxy Server
Lotus Foundation Server comes with a self-configuring Firewall that keeps unwanted visitors out of your network. This is A Good Thing.
If you do want to let some of The Great Unwashed past the Firewall (perhaps to look at a few public web pages or to place an order) then you can do that with the integrated LFS 'Fast Forward' module. FastForward allows you to create up to four sites on your server with each site mapped to a separate IP address. Those IP addresses can then be mapped to your Domain Names so you could run four separate web sites.
Let's imagine that you own the IP block from 98.1.151.143 to 98.1.151.146 and are looking to use them to permit Public access to four different web pages (each with its own layout and color scheme) on your server.
Travellers.org maps to 98.1.151.143
BudgetFlights.com maps to 98.1.151.144
LowCostHolidays.net maps to 98.1.151.145
SuperSaverAirFares.com maps to 98.1.151.146
This can be really handy if your customer wants to get three quotes before he makes a decision :)
.
If you do want to let some of The Great Unwashed past the Firewall (perhaps to look at a few public web pages or to place an order) then you can do that with the integrated LFS 'Fast Forward' module. FastForward allows you to create up to four sites on your server with each site mapped to a separate IP address. Those IP addresses can then be mapped to your Domain Names so you could run four separate web sites.
Let's imagine that you own the IP block from 98.1.151.143 to 98.1.151.146 and are looking to use them to permit Public access to four different web pages (each with its own layout and color scheme) on your server.
Travellers.org maps to 98.1.151.143
BudgetFlights.com maps to 98.1.151.144
LowCostHolidays.net maps to 98.1.151.145
SuperSaverAirFares.com maps to 98.1.151.146
This can be really handy if your customer wants to get three quotes before he makes a decision :)
.
Foundations Technology: idb (Backup)
Including Domino messaging and applications services in their server product was a good move for Nitix and I'm sure that demonstrating that 'proof of concept' in the marketplace was instrumental in convincing IBM to reach for their checkbook and buy the company. The downside is that many of the other technologies beavering away inside the Foundations (nee Nitix) server always seem to take a back seat to Domino and never get their own Moment in the Sun.
Consider the Foundations backup solution, idb (Intelligent Disk Backup). It's a great alternative for a SMB who needs backup but doesn't want to use a Daily-except-on-Friday-except-on-the-Last-Week-Of-The-Month-unless-it's-a-Public-Holiday color-coded schedule of a larger organisation. idb will stream your server data to a backup disk automatically as often as every 15 minutes. Since idb disks are hot-swappable then your offsite backup is always up to date and ready to go when you decide its time to leave the office for the day.
idb supports Complete System Restore, Specific Directory Restore and Specific File Restore. The last two options allow you to overwrite the original directory on the computer (Normal Mode) or restore into a new subdirectory (Safe Mode). You can also optionally restore the system configuration for your server.
If you don't want to use additional hard disks as backup then there's always Rsync. Let me quote the Foundations manual for this one:
Rsync is a Unix based utility that enables incremental files and directory synchronization from one location to another. This can be used to copy data files from the Lotus Foundations server, to another system which must also support rsync. An advantage to using this file transfer method is that only the changed portions of the files are transferred, rather than the entire new version of the files and directories.
Further down the track I can see a model where USB devices are an alternative backup strategy for a SMB who has only a couple of hundred mb of critical data and a once-a-day backup is all that's needed. How much would it cost to get a handful of 1GB memory sticks and use them as your Off-Site Backup storage medium? There's a bit of work to be done to tweak the Linux USB drivers first but if the demand is there then I'm sure IBM will get their Best People working on it.
Foundations is exciting technology for a number of reasons even without Domino Messaging and Applications.
.
Consider the Foundations backup solution, idb (Intelligent Disk Backup). It's a great alternative for a SMB who needs backup but doesn't want to use a Daily-except-on-Friday-except-on-the-Last-Week-Of-The-Month-unless-it's-a-Public-Holiday color-coded schedule of a larger organisation. idb will stream your server data to a backup disk automatically as often as every 15 minutes. Since idb disks are hot-swappable then your offsite backup is always up to date and ready to go when you decide its time to leave the office for the day.
idb supports Complete System Restore, Specific Directory Restore and Specific File Restore. The last two options allow you to overwrite the original directory on the computer (Normal Mode) or restore into a new subdirectory (Safe Mode). You can also optionally restore the system configuration for your server.
If you don't want to use additional hard disks as backup then there's always Rsync. Let me quote the Foundations manual for this one:
Rsync is a Unix based utility that enables incremental files and directory synchronization from one location to another. This can be used to copy data files from the Lotus Foundations server, to another system which must also support rsync. An advantage to using this file transfer method is that only the changed portions of the files are transferred, rather than the entire new version of the files and directories.
Further down the track I can see a model where USB devices are an alternative backup strategy for a SMB who has only a couple of hundred mb of critical data and a once-a-day backup is all that's needed. How much would it cost to get a handful of 1GB memory sticks and use them as your Off-Site Backup storage medium? There's a bit of work to be done to tweak the Linux USB drivers first but if the demand is there then I'm sure IBM will get their Best People working on it.
Foundations is exciting technology for a number of reasons even without Domino Messaging and Applications.
.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Writing Domino Applications for Foundations
Over the last six weeks I've had a few phone calls from Lotus Business Partners wanting to discuss the best way of marketing their home grown Domino applications into the Foundations appliance market. I don't mind the phone calls at all - making it easy for people to talk to me about Lotus Foundations is exactly the reason that I put my personal mobile number (0435 094 694) up on this blog in the first place.
A common issue for all of these callers/emailers is that they generally haven't been able to articulate a prepared case for why their application is a good fit for the SMB market. I'm not putting down their development efforts. I'm sure their applications are well specified, tightly written and professionally presented. It's just that for the most part, their applications were previously sold into a different market - one where there was a resident IT department available to interpret the manuals and configure the software.
So what makes an application suitable for the SMB market? My guess is simplicity and robustness. Keep it simple so that the users are entering live data half an hour after sitting down to play. Keep it robust so that it forgives the inevitable mistakes made by these eager but IT-beginner grade purchasers.
Another issue to consider is that Foundations means a whole lot more than just Domino applications. It would be great to see developers thinking outside the rectangle and asking themselves how they can better integrate their code into the Foundations server stack. If you want the software tools to do this then just ask. Lotus have told me that they are more than happy to find ways to help in this department.
I'm evaluating a couple of open source applications now which I think could go well bundled with Foundations (Disclosure: I did not write the applications in question and I have never met, nor had business dealings, with the people who did write them. As a matter of fact, they don't even know that I'm evaluating their code since I didn't have to register to download the applications.) I'm happy to look at other applications further down the track provided the authors can show me how their code has been tailored to fit the needs of the SMB market.
So for what it's worth, my advice to potential Foundationeering Business Partners is to take their home-grown applications down to the local real estate agent or insurance consultant and get their opinion about what bells and whistles are superfluous to their needs. They will probably have quite different business priorities than you do.
.
A common issue for all of these callers/emailers is that they generally haven't been able to articulate a prepared case for why their application is a good fit for the SMB market. I'm not putting down their development efforts. I'm sure their applications are well specified, tightly written and professionally presented. It's just that for the most part, their applications were previously sold into a different market - one where there was a resident IT department available to interpret the manuals and configure the software.
So what makes an application suitable for the SMB market? My guess is simplicity and robustness. Keep it simple so that the users are entering live data half an hour after sitting down to play. Keep it robust so that it forgives the inevitable mistakes made by these eager but IT-beginner grade purchasers.
Another issue to consider is that Foundations means a whole lot more than just Domino applications. It would be great to see developers thinking outside the rectangle and asking themselves how they can better integrate their code into the Foundations server stack. If you want the software tools to do this then just ask. Lotus have told me that they are more than happy to find ways to help in this department.
I'm evaluating a couple of open source applications now which I think could go well bundled with Foundations (Disclosure: I did not write the applications in question and I have never met, nor had business dealings, with the people who did write them. As a matter of fact, they don't even know that I'm evaluating their code since I didn't have to register to download the applications.) I'm happy to look at other applications further down the track provided the authors can show me how their code has been tailored to fit the needs of the SMB market.
So for what it's worth, my advice to potential Foundationeering Business Partners is to take their home-grown applications down to the local real estate agent or insurance consultant and get their opinion about what bells and whistles are superfluous to their needs. They will probably have quite different business priorities than you do.
.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Links for Lotus Foundations
Over lunch yesterday Jane castigated me mildly for not including a link to the official Lotus Foundations site on my blog. Her point was valid but I escaped further penalty by pleading confusion over whether the official Lotus site meant here or here or here or here.
In the end we agreed that it was all Microsoft's fault and ordered more Szechuan Chicken...
Links to the official Lotus Foundations web sites are now on the left hand side of my blog just under the RSS feed links.
.
In the end we agreed that it was all Microsoft's fault and ordered more Szechuan Chicken...
Links to the official Lotus Foundations web sites are now on the left hand side of my blog just under the RSS feed links.
.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Two meetings with IBM today
A colleague and I had lunch today with Jane Wilson (Worldwide Product Manager for Lotus Foundations) and Nicholas Day (Australian Product Manager). Their titles are similar but Jane's brief is more on the Partner technical enablement side and feeding into long term feature development for the Foundations product range. I forgot to get Jane's clearance to blog about the specific items we discussed so I'll just list a couple of general topics for today.
First, Foundations is a product that is only going to get bigger. The uncoupling of the Foundations Server from the Foundations bundle opens up a whole bunch of opportunities for IBM across a range of products and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see where IBM and Lotus are going with this. I'd love to blog in more detail on this topic but it will probably be more appropriate and more effective to leave those announcements until November 11th.
Second, the meat is starting to appear on the specification of the rumored Foundations Communication Server that is coming later this year or in early 2009, and any SMB customer who commits to the Microsoft solution stack in the meantime is going to find themselves rather embarrassed further down the track... You paid HOW MUCH for that functionality? Well I got mine from Lotus and I only paid ..." .
Third, people at IBM has been reading my blog and are addressing the points I have raised about where Foundations has room for improvement. Obviously others have raised the same points - I'm not suggesting one blog alone would have the power to sway IBM - but it's nice to get the message that IBM is listening to our feedback.
Finally, if you are an IBM dealer in Australia then contact Nick Day (02-9463-5702 or 0409-249-409) and talk to him about how to get onto the Foundations bandwagon. Normally I wouldn't encourage other IBM dealers to jump into my product specialty in my home city, but this baby is bigger than any one of us.
Once I get clearance from Jane to talk about the other topics I'll feed them into the blog.
On a separate non-Foundations note I want to thank Asheet, Kevin (and Fiona in absentia) for the seminar at IBM this morning. I don't consider myself a sadistic person but I really enjoyed hearing about the pain you are causing Microsoft and the financial benefits you are bringing to customers in the process. I'm going to practice your techniques on a few clients I know just for fun.
.
First, Foundations is a product that is only going to get bigger. The uncoupling of the Foundations Server from the Foundations bundle opens up a whole bunch of opportunities for IBM across a range of products and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see where IBM and Lotus are going with this. I'd love to blog in more detail on this topic but it will probably be more appropriate and more effective to leave those announcements until November 11th.
Second, the meat is starting to appear on the specification of the rumored Foundations Communication Server that is coming later this year or in early 2009, and any SMB customer who commits to the Microsoft solution stack in the meantime is going to find themselves rather embarrassed further down the track... You paid HOW MUCH for that functionality? Well I got mine from Lotus and I only paid ..." .
Third, people at IBM has been reading my blog and are addressing the points I have raised about where Foundations has room for improvement. Obviously others have raised the same points - I'm not suggesting one blog alone would have the power to sway IBM - but it's nice to get the message that IBM is listening to our feedback.
Finally, if you are an IBM dealer in Australia then contact Nick Day (02-9463-5702 or 0409-249-409) and talk to him about how to get onto the Foundations bandwagon. Normally I wouldn't encourage other IBM dealers to jump into my product specialty in my home city, but this baby is bigger than any one of us.
Once I get clearance from Jane to talk about the other topics I'll feed them into the blog.
On a separate non-Foundations note I want to thank Asheet, Kevin (and Fiona in absentia) for the seminar at IBM this morning. I don't consider myself a sadistic person but I really enjoyed hearing about the pain you are causing Microsoft and the financial benefits you are bringing to customers in the process. I'm going to practice your techniques on a few clients I know just for fun.
.
Monday, July 21, 2008
How mature is Lotus Foundation Server?
If anyone suggests to you that LFS is not a mature product then show them the release history for Nitix:
Major Versions
1.0 - September 1997
2.0 - January 1999
3.5 - August 2000
4.0 - December 2004
4.1 - February 2005
4.2 - May 2005
4.3 - December 2005
4.3.1 - February 2006
4.3.2 - September 2006
4.4.0a - March 2007
This was followed by its purchase by IBM and subsequent release this year as Lotus Foundations Server. That's over ten years of research and development. For the record, Microsoft's first release of their 'Small Business Server' product was in October 1997 - a month after Nitix hit the streets.
Next question?
.
Major Versions
1.0 - September 1997
2.0 - January 1999
3.5 - August 2000
4.0 - December 2004
4.1 - February 2005
4.2 - May 2005
4.3 - December 2005
4.3.1 - February 2006
4.3.2 - September 2006
4.4.0a - March 2007
This was followed by its purchase by IBM and subsequent release this year as Lotus Foundations Server. That's over ten years of research and development. For the record, Microsoft's first release of their 'Small Business Server' product was in October 1997 - a month after Nitix hit the streets.
Next question?
.
How big is the services market for Foundations?
.
WHAT IS THE MINIMUM INVESTMENT IN LFS ?
Lets set a bottom line for a customer's investment in LFS. Deploying Foundations for a server and five users costs about $1,800 in Australia plus another $250 per additional user. Throw in a few days of consulting work spread out over the first month or two and let's decide that the customer is looking at a $5,000 investment. Of course, the customer may decide to do it all of the installing/configuring/tweaking work themselves in which case I'm happy to sell them the licences but then they drop off the radar for the purpose of this particular post.
WHO CAN AFFORD THAT INVESTMENT ?
Lets read what some experts say. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) defines a small business as one that employs less than 20 people. Australia has 1.88 million small businesses, which represents over 95% of all business. A good indicator of IT penetration in that market is the fact that approximately 80% of small businesses are connected to the Internet. Those Small Businesses generate around 30% of Australia’s economic activity and provide 3.6 million jobs, or 47% of private sector, non-agricultural employment. Australia has a population of just over 20 million and a GDP of $760 billion so readers in the USA could multiply the relevant numbers by 15 for population and 18 for GDP to get a rough approximation for their own country.
LET'S GROUP BUSINESSES BY TOTAL EMPLOYEES ...
My next source document is a presentation given by Professor Michael Schaper, Dean of Murdoch University Business School in Western Australia, on 20th February 2008. Professor Schaper used ABS stats to show the following breakdown of businesses in Australia. The number in [square brackets] is the corresponding figure for the USA.
... THEN LET'S REGROUP THEM BY ANNUAL REVENUE ...
Professor Schaper also gives us the breakdown of annual turnover for Australian businesses:
HOW BIG IS THEIR IT BUDGET ?
That question isn't as crass as it sounds. If a potential customer isn't able to allocate the money for the investment then there's no point in wasting their time helping them kick tyres. Far better to be upfront about the size of the ballpark and let them decide if they want to play. These figures show one survey of IT Budget as a percentage of Total Revenue for selected industry groups.
Multiplying that 4.5% allocated to IT by the $200k turnover mentioned earlier gives that customer an annual IT spend of $9,000 which means there's room for an investment in LFS.
SUMMARY
I'm comfortable in seeing the 646,458 businesses in Australia turning over $200,000 - $1.99 million p.a. as the primary market for LFS with additional customers in the $2m. plus group. Maybe half of these businesses can't see an immediate use for the technology (the local BBQ chicken shop, newsagent or florist springs to mind) but there will still be hundreds of thousands of businesses (such as real estate, car yards or financial consultants) who do want centralised file backup and email and possibly a web site.
That's over 300,000 potential customers for LFS in Australia.
Maybe I'd better hire more staff.
My figures here were sourced from the Internet on a lazy Sunday afternoon so I'm certain there's room for improvement. Feel free to tell me if you have better numbers.
.
WHAT IS THE MINIMUM INVESTMENT IN LFS ?
Lets set a bottom line for a customer's investment in LFS. Deploying Foundations for a server and five users costs about $1,800 in Australia plus another $250 per additional user. Throw in a few days of consulting work spread out over the first month or two and let's decide that the customer is looking at a $5,000 investment. Of course, the customer may decide to do it all of the installing/configuring/tweaking work themselves in which case I'm happy to sell them the licences but then they drop off the radar for the purpose of this particular post.
WHO CAN AFFORD THAT INVESTMENT ?
Lets read what some experts say. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) defines a small business as one that employs less than 20 people. Australia has 1.88 million small businesses, which represents over 95% of all business. A good indicator of IT penetration in that market is the fact that approximately 80% of small businesses are connected to the Internet. Those Small Businesses generate around 30% of Australia’s economic activity and provide 3.6 million jobs, or 47% of private sector, non-agricultural employment. Australia has a population of just over 20 million and a GDP of $760 billion so readers in the USA could multiply the relevant numbers by 15 for population and 18 for GDP to get a rough approximation for their own country.
LET'S GROUP BUSINESSES BY TOTAL EMPLOYEES ...
My next source document is a presentation given by Professor Michael Schaper, Dean of Murdoch University Business School in Western Australia, on 20th February 2008. Professor Schaper used ABS stats to show the following breakdown of businesses in Australia. The number in [square brackets] is the corresponding figure for the USA.
- Large firms: 200+ staff 5,876 ... (0.3%) ... [0.28%]
- Mediumsized firms: 20-199 staff 78,304 ... (3.9%) ... [0.79%]
- Small firms: 5-19 staff 228,313 ... (11.3%) ... [4.75%]
- Micro-enterprises: 0-4 staff 1,699,277 ... (84.5%) ... [94.18%]
... THEN LET'S REGROUP THEM BY ANNUAL REVENUE ...
Professor Schaper also gives us the breakdown of annual turnover for Australian businesses:
- $0 - $49,999 p.a. 501,467 ... (25%)
- $50,000 - $199,000 p.a. 742,288 ... (37%)
- $200,000 - $1.99 million p.a. 646,458 ... (32%)
- $2 million or more 121,557 ... (6%)
HOW BIG IS THEIR IT BUDGET ?
That question isn't as crass as it sounds. If a potential customer isn't able to allocate the money for the investment then there's no point in wasting their time helping them kick tyres. Far better to be upfront about the size of the ballpark and let them decide if they want to play. These figures show one survey of IT Budget as a percentage of Total Revenue for selected industry groups.
- Education = 1.9%
- Finance = 4.9%
- Government = 9.7%
- Health Care = 4.8%
- Manufacturing = 3.3%
- Retail/Wholesale = 2.4%
- Services/Consulting = 4.5%
- Telecommunications = 8.4%
- Transportation = 3.8%
- Utilities = 3.0%
Multiplying that 4.5% allocated to IT by the $200k turnover mentioned earlier gives that customer an annual IT spend of $9,000 which means there's room for an investment in LFS.
SUMMARY
I'm comfortable in seeing the 646,458 businesses in Australia turning over $200,000 - $1.99 million p.a. as the primary market for LFS with additional customers in the $2m. plus group. Maybe half of these businesses can't see an immediate use for the technology (the local BBQ chicken shop, newsagent or florist springs to mind) but there will still be hundreds of thousands of businesses (such as real estate, car yards or financial consultants) who do want centralised file backup and email and possibly a web site.
That's over 300,000 potential customers for LFS in Australia.
Maybe I'd better hire more staff.
My figures here were sourced from the Internet on a lazy Sunday afternoon so I'm certain there's room for improvement. Feel free to tell me if you have better numbers.
.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Go read Bruce Elgort's blog about Foundations
Don't waste time reading my blog today.
Go to Bruce Elgort's blog and write down your questions for his podcast with Caleb Barlow, Senior Product Manager, IBM Lotus Foundations.
.
Go to Bruce Elgort's blog and write down your questions for his podcast with Caleb Barlow, Senior Product Manager, IBM Lotus Foundations.
.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Sex still sells... even for Lotus Foundations
There is a great temptation to blog about items that have the 'video of a snake eating a live chicken' type of hypnotic quality and which made you reread the original article three times even though they have nothing to do with the theme of your blog. If you can't find an item like that for your blog you can probably achieve the same effect by placing the word 'Sex' prominently in the title of your post.
Having reached the grand total of 30+ posts I decided to look back and see what themes prompted a click-through to my blog from the Gentle Readers of PlanetLotus.
156 ....Notes2Exchange migration is not a one way street
118 ....A company that dumped Nitix for Windows
111 ....Vista SP1: Microsoft says 'Wow!' - I say 'Why?' (Microsoft)
108 ....What Mike Rhodin said about Foundations
105 ....Foundations: Where IBM went wrong... (TechnicalDocumentation)
89 ....Four companies who moved to Nitix (MarketingFeatures)
80 ....How not to set up Foundations - #01 in a series
78 ....Yes, but what does Foundations actually do?
77 ....Notes 8.01 session survives Red Box of Death
65 ....IBM introduces per-server pricing for Foundations
58 ....Foundations: The Agony and the Ecstacy
54 ....Costing Foundations against MS Essential Business Server
53 ....Microsoft's spin on increasing prices for SBS 2008
48 ....Bundling your own software with Foundations (Marketing)
48 ....Who's who with Lotus Foundations - Bilal Jaffery
47 ....Foundations and Monty Python's Black Knight
43 ....Foundations: It's easier than you think
34 ....Who's who with Lotus Foundations - The Australian Cast (Marketing)
33 ....Nitix on Wikipedia (Marketing)
32 ....Cost of hardware for Foundations & SBS & EBS (Technical)
31 ....Is the SMB server market shrinking? (MarketingFeaturesMicrosof)
31 ....Who's who with Lotus Foundations - Kevin Krempulec
30 ....Coming soon: The Lotus Foundations Wiki
25 ....Technical training for Lotus Foundations? (TechnicalDocumentation)
24 ....Selling to the Small End of the SMB market
23 ....Foundations enlists new resellers in Australia
23 ....Foundations: Not for Sale in Australia? (LicencingSoapBoxMode)
22 ....Microsoft EBS to launch in November (MarketingMicrosoft)
6 ....Foundations 1.0.0a ships! (Features)
6 ....Converting existing Notes licences to Foundations (Licencing)
6 ....Why Blog about Foundations? (Raison d'Etre)
So it seems PlanetLotus readers are attracted to the human interest side of technology rather than the nuts and bolts of marketing or what Microsoft are doing with SBS/EBS. Thanks for that feedback - I'll bear it in mind when looking at future blog topics.
PS. This post has nothing to do with sex or with a video of a snake eating a live chicken but I'm guessing it will still have a high click-through count. I apologize for misleading you into taking part in my little social experiment. Please collect your free gift at the door on the way out.
.
Having reached the grand total of 30+ posts I decided to look back and see what themes prompted a click-through to my blog from the Gentle Readers of PlanetLotus.
- Top of the pops was news of an Exchange2Notes migration - no surprises there. (156 click-throughs)
- Bad news stories about possible IBM screwups or people dumping Nitix led the rest of the pack. (105 to 118)
- UPDATE: This post that you are now reading came here. (95)
- Articles with a technical or marketing theme made up the bulk of the entries. (65 to 89)
- 'Who's who' or Australian-specific or Microsoft SBS/EBS posts bought up the rear. (6 to 58)
156 ....Notes2Exchange migration is not a one way street
118 ....A company that dumped Nitix for Windows
111 ....Vista SP1: Microsoft says 'Wow!' - I say 'Why?' (Microsoft)
108 ....What Mike Rhodin said about Foundations
105 ....Foundations: Where IBM went wrong... (TechnicalDocumentation)
89 ....Four companies who moved to Nitix (MarketingFeatures)
80 ....How not to set up Foundations - #01 in a series
78 ....Yes, but what does Foundations actually do?
77 ....Notes 8.01 session survives Red Box of Death
65 ....IBM introduces per-server pricing for Foundations
58 ....Foundations: The Agony and the Ecstacy
54 ....Costing Foundations against MS Essential Business Server
53 ....Microsoft's spin on increasing prices for SBS 2008
48 ....Bundling your own software with Foundations (Marketing)
48 ....Who's who with Lotus Foundations - Bilal Jaffery
47 ....Foundations and Monty Python's Black Knight
43 ....Foundations: It's easier than you think
34 ....Who's who with Lotus Foundations - The Australian Cast (Marketing)
33 ....Nitix on Wikipedia (Marketing)
32 ....Cost of hardware for Foundations & SBS & EBS (Technical)
31 ....Is the SMB server market shrinking? (MarketingFeaturesMicrosof)
31 ....Who's who with Lotus Foundations - Kevin Krempulec
30 ....Coming soon: The Lotus Foundations Wiki
25 ....Technical training for Lotus Foundations? (TechnicalDocumentation)
24 ....Selling to the Small End of the SMB market
23 ....Foundations enlists new resellers in Australia
23 ....Foundations: Not for Sale in Australia? (LicencingSoapBoxMode)
22 ....Microsoft EBS to launch in November (MarketingMicrosoft)
6 ....Foundations 1.0.0a ships! (Features)
6 ....Converting existing Notes licences to Foundations (Licencing)
6 ....Why Blog about Foundations? (Raison d'Etre)
So it seems PlanetLotus readers are attracted to the human interest side of technology rather than the nuts and bolts of marketing or what Microsoft are doing with SBS/EBS. Thanks for that feedback - I'll bear it in mind when looking at future blog topics.
PS. This post has nothing to do with sex or with a video of a snake eating a live chicken but I'm guessing it will still have a high click-through count. I apologize for misleading you into taking part in my little social experiment. Please collect your free gift at the door on the way out.
.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Technical training for Lotus Foundations?
There are two faces to Lotus Foundations Server.
For the SMB owners and their system administrators I stand by my tag line, 'Lotus Foundations: It's easier than you think". For the consultants and integrators who are looking to present, advise on, and sell LFS the road is a bit steeper. Most Lotus Business Partners can talk till the cows come home about the technical issues involved in configuring and running a Notes/Domino installation since we know it backwards, forwards and six ways from Sunday (as we should).
Lotus Foundations is a different story.
I don't mind the challenge. To be completely candid, none of the recent developments in Domino had really pushed my buzz button the way that Notes Release 1.0 did in the late 1980s or that Lotusscript did in the mid 1990s. I can certainly see a place for Composite Applications, X-Pages and Unified Communications etc. in the IT market and good luck to everyone in those arenas. For me, the buzz is with Lotus Foundations Server.
So I'm looking forward to the upcoming battle between Lotus Foundations Server and Microsoft SBS 2008/EBS 2008. What would *really* help is some deep-dive technical training from Lotus. For the past few months I've been beavering away at learning the nuts and bolts of LFS with the friendly and supremely competent assistance of the LFS support Team in Canada. What can't change overnight is that the focus of my consulting work has been on software development and server administration with Lotus Domino rather than issues of Firewalls, IP addressing, scheduling Backups etc. Sure, I know how it all works, but in the past configuring those tools has always been a task for my OS-obsessed colleagues. Now I need to know it all.
I read Daniele Vistalli's recent blog entry with more than a twinge of envy. It's great to see Lotus getting the worldwide training machine underway. My questions are:
To quote Winston Churchill...
"Give us the tools and we will finish the job."
.
For the SMB owners and their system administrators I stand by my tag line, 'Lotus Foundations: It's easier than you think". For the consultants and integrators who are looking to present, advise on, and sell LFS the road is a bit steeper. Most Lotus Business Partners can talk till the cows come home about the technical issues involved in configuring and running a Notes/Domino installation since we know it backwards, forwards and six ways from Sunday (as we should).
Lotus Foundations is a different story.
I don't mind the challenge. To be completely candid, none of the recent developments in Domino had really pushed my buzz button the way that Notes Release 1.0 did in the late 1980s or that Lotusscript did in the mid 1990s. I can certainly see a place for Composite Applications, X-Pages and Unified Communications etc. in the IT market and good luck to everyone in those arenas. For me, the buzz is with Lotus Foundations Server.
So I'm looking forward to the upcoming battle between Lotus Foundations Server and Microsoft SBS 2008/EBS 2008. What would *really* help is some deep-dive technical training from Lotus. For the past few months I've been beavering away at learning the nuts and bolts of LFS with the friendly and supremely competent assistance of the LFS support Team in Canada. What can't change overnight is that the focus of my consulting work has been on software development and server administration with Lotus Domino rather than issues of Firewalls, IP addressing, scheduling Backups etc. Sure, I know how it all works, but in the past configuring those tools has always been a task for my OS-obsessed colleagues. Now I need to know it all.
I read Daniele Vistalli's recent blog entry with more than a twinge of envy. It's great to see Lotus getting the worldwide training machine underway. My questions are:
- When is the rest of the world going to get this briefing/training?
- If it's not going to be available in Australia anytime soon, can we at least get the slideware?
- How is IBM going to match the... "Microsoft plans to train more than 25,000 partners through events and online tools" campaign reported by ITWorld?
To quote Winston Churchill...
"Give us the tools and we will finish the job."
.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Coming soon: The Lotus Foundations Wiki
A couple of days ago I had a question from a new purchaser of Foundations asking if there was a public discussion Forum or Wiki available. There is a Foundations Forum/Wiki under development but I wanted to confirm that it was OK to talk about it - hence the delay in my response.
If you want to know more then please contact Bilal Jaffery, Web Marketing Manager for Lotus Foundations, at bjaffery@ca.ibm.com and he will add you to his mailing list.
.
If you want to know more then please contact Bilal Jaffery, Web Marketing Manager for Lotus Foundations, at bjaffery@ca.ibm.com and he will add you to his mailing list.
.
Notes2Exchange migration is not a one way street
I know nothing about this role in the town of town of Mahwah, NJ (pop.24,062 in 2000 census), but it does show that companies do move from MS Exchange to Notes/Domino.
.
.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Foundations: It's easier than you think
I am continually surprised by the simplicity of working with Lotus Foundations Server. More often than not I find that any technical roadblocks are caused by my instinctive reaction to look for a complex Unix-like solution when in reality LFS has already done most of the work for me.
I've already commented on how Foundations automatically sets itself up as an internet gateway and firewall. All you need is a server with two network cards. You plug a connection to your internal hub into one socket (eth0) and plug your ISP-facing network cable into the other socket (eth1) then assign an IP address to your server and select the option to enable DHCP. Total time taken is less than a minute.
I had a similar issue trying to find a way to see the directory structure of the server. A colleague and I wasted an hour stuffing around with Unix-type 'ls' commands in 'telnet' and 'ftp' sessions before we realised that the whole server structure was visible in Windows Explorer. It was embarassingly easy to change the 'Windows Workgroup/Domain' setting under 'File Server' to match the existing workgroup setting on our network. That should have taken less than a minute also if only we hadn't convinced ourselves in advance that the answer couldn't be that easy.
A third issue is that when LFS is first installed the server generates a quasi-random name for itself (eg 'aadvark' or 'eggplant') along with a security certificate for that name. I've naturally changed that name to a more meaningful identifier with WebConfig - let's pretend it's 'Server01' - but of course the original security certificate still thinks it applies to a server named 'aadvark'. So if I try and access my email using Domino Web Access then I create a security error since the 'aadvark' certificate is being applied to the 'Server01' installation. This time life is a bit easier since LFS pops up a dialog box asking if I would like to create an exception so that Server01 at www.bcd.net.au can use the 'aadvark' certificate. I click on 'Yes' and (providing I have enabled my email servers to accept internet connections) I am now happily working with email provided by Domino Web Access.
My current problem is trying to get the IBM Business Partner logo to appear on my web site using the "< img src=name_of_file.gif />" command in the index.php file. I'm sure that when I find the answer I'll realise that I had mentally made the problem more complex than it actually was.
Lotus Foundations: It's easier than you think.
.
I've already commented on how Foundations automatically sets itself up as an internet gateway and firewall. All you need is a server with two network cards. You plug a connection to your internal hub into one socket (eth0) and plug your ISP-facing network cable into the other socket (eth1) then assign an IP address to your server and select the option to enable DHCP. Total time taken is less than a minute.
I had a similar issue trying to find a way to see the directory structure of the server. A colleague and I wasted an hour stuffing around with Unix-type 'ls' commands in 'telnet' and 'ftp' sessions before we realised that the whole server structure was visible in Windows Explorer. It was embarassingly easy to change the 'Windows Workgroup/Domain' setting under 'File Server' to match the existing workgroup setting on our network. That should have taken less than a minute also if only we hadn't convinced ourselves in advance that the answer couldn't be that easy.
A third issue is that when LFS is first installed the server generates a quasi-random name for itself (eg 'aadvark' or 'eggplant') along with a security certificate for that name. I've naturally changed that name to a more meaningful identifier with WebConfig - let's pretend it's 'Server01' - but of course the original security certificate still thinks it applies to a server named 'aadvark'. So if I try and access my email using Domino Web Access then I create a security error since the 'aadvark' certificate is being applied to the 'Server01' installation. This time life is a bit easier since LFS pops up a dialog box asking if I would like to create an exception so that Server01 at www.bcd.net.au can use the 'aadvark' certificate. I click on 'Yes' and (providing I have enabled my email servers to accept internet connections) I am now happily working with email provided by Domino Web Access.
My current problem is trying to get the IBM Business Partner logo to appear on my web site using the "< img src=name_of_file.gif />" command in the index.php file. I'm sure that when I find the answer I'll realise that I had mentally made the problem more complex than it actually was.
Lotus Foundations: It's easier than you think.
.
Foundations enlists new resellers in Australia
In the three hours since I posted my last blog entry I have received:
Toni Roberts
IBM Licensing Specialist
d: 02 8875 0580
m: 0447 678 355
t: 02 8875 0500
f: 02 8875 0599
e: toni.roberts@itx.com.au
w: http://www.itx.com.au
uh... oh... there goes my phone again...
.
- two separate emails from Lotus Australia promising that the problem would be fixed.
- a phone call from Toni Roberts at ITX apologizing for the restrictions on their qualifications to resell Lotus software and an invitation to place my order with them.
- a phone call from the National Licencing manager of an Australian Premium Business Partner offering a teaming arrangement to get the software licences.
Toni Roberts
IBM Licensing Specialist
d: 02 8875 0580
m: 0447 678 355
t: 02 8875 0500
f: 02 8875 0599
e: toni.roberts@itx.com.au
w: http://www.itx.com.au
uh... oh... there goes my phone again...
.
Foundations: Not for Sale in Australia?
Up until now I've been sourcing Foundations licences directly from the US since the distribution arm for Foundations in Australia was still getting itself organised. I now have another sale of ten Lotus Foundations licences so I decided to do the right thing and sign up as a reseller with the two organisations distributing Lotus software in Australia, ITX and Express Data.
Unfortunately I don't qualify as a reseller for either of them.
Reality check Number One:
Websites aren't essential for software consultants. Sure, some of us build those websites for a living and some of us use them as a vehicle for self-expression but our business is not based on sitting back and waiting for the world to google a path to our door. I've just mentally listed four colleagues who work as consultants with Lotus software and are quite capable (and willing) to sell Lotus Foundations but none of whom have their own web site simply because it isn't required for their business model.
OK, I now have a website - www.bcd.net.au - All it does is tell you how to contact me via phone or email and you had that information on my application form anyway. If my website is down it means I'm tinkering with my server trying out a few new configuration settings and normal services should be resumed in a day or two.
Reality check Number Two:
There's a new game in town called 'Software-As-A-Service'. It means that you don't run your own infrastructure if you can find someone who can do it for you at a better price. Hotmail and Gmail have a pretty good price right now for someone who only needs a couple of email addresses as contact points, and if it wasn't for Hotmail I'd have been without email for two weeks while I waited for my new server to arrive.
Reality check Number Three:
IBM already has a mechanism for checking out the bona fides of software resellers. Binary Concepts has paid the fees, passed the exams (technical and sales) and jumped through the required hoops for IBM and is an Authorised IBM Business Partner for the Lotus brand. I'd suggest those are more stringent and appropriate criteria than the identity of my email provider.
I appreciate the point that distributors need to protect themselves against scammers who sign up as a software dealer so they can supply their real business with discount software, but looking for web sites and email addresses is not the way to do it. Foundations is software targetted at small business and those kind of organisations normally uses smaller IT organisations (or even one-man bands) to support them. If those small IT organisations can't source licences for Foundations then that's another sale lost for IBM.
OK... time to send an email back to Lotus in the US and see if they can do me a better deal than the local suppliers. I've got a new purchase order for ten licences of Lotus Foundations and I want to spend my time installing that software for my customer rather than dicking around with application forms.
.
Unfortunately I don't qualify as a reseller for either of them.
- ITX insist up front that resellers have a website and don't use a Hotmail account as their email address.
- Express Data aren't as blatant but I'm still waiting for a call back from their account approver who (I was told by the person who answered the phone there) has a problem since my email address is with Hotmail.
Reality check Number One:
Websites aren't essential for software consultants. Sure, some of us build those websites for a living and some of us use them as a vehicle for self-expression but our business is not based on sitting back and waiting for the world to google a path to our door. I've just mentally listed four colleagues who work as consultants with Lotus software and are quite capable (and willing) to sell Lotus Foundations but none of whom have their own web site simply because it isn't required for their business model.
OK, I now have a website - www.bcd.net.au - All it does is tell you how to contact me via phone or email and you had that information on my application form anyway. If my website is down it means I'm tinkering with my server trying out a few new configuration settings and normal services should be resumed in a day or two.
Reality check Number Two:
There's a new game in town called 'Software-As-A-Service'. It means that you don't run your own infrastructure if you can find someone who can do it for you at a better price. Hotmail and Gmail have a pretty good price right now for someone who only needs a couple of email addresses as contact points, and if it wasn't for Hotmail I'd have been without email for two weeks while I waited for my new server to arrive.
Reality check Number Three:
IBM already has a mechanism for checking out the bona fides of software resellers. Binary Concepts has paid the fees, passed the exams (technical and sales) and jumped through the required hoops for IBM and is an Authorised IBM Business Partner for the Lotus brand. I'd suggest those are more stringent and appropriate criteria than the identity of my email provider.
I appreciate the point that distributors need to protect themselves against scammers who sign up as a software dealer so they can supply their real business with discount software, but looking for web sites and email addresses is not the way to do it. Foundations is software targetted at small business and those kind of organisations normally uses smaller IT organisations (or even one-man bands) to support them. If those small IT organisations can't source licences for Foundations then that's another sale lost for IBM.
OK... time to send an email back to Lotus in the US and see if they can do me a better deal than the local suppliers. I've got a new purchase order for ten licences of Lotus Foundations and I want to spend my time installing that software for my customer rather than dicking around with application forms.
.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Foundations: The Agony and the Ecstacy
Just had a call from a courier company confirming today's delivery of our new X-Series server to replace the box that died two weeks ago. Since that time we've been running LFS from a CD to provide internet and firewall services but it'd be really nice to get our centralized file and print services back.
Now for the Agony... tomorrow is third birthday party for number one son and there is much preparation work still to be done. If I even glance at that new server anytime in the next 36 hours my lovely wife will hang my proverbials from the highest yardarm.
The Ecstacy is that on Sunday morning Belinda and Adam and favorite firetruck are disappearing to Canberra (four hour drive) for a three-day stopover with her sister leaving me to play with my new toy.
There's been a couple of blog postings already about the install process so I probably won't bother documenting my own 30 minute CD-shuffle-and-reboot experience. If you follow PlanetLotus you would have seen Gareth Howell's post and the somewhat reclusive jwylie did it in VMWare but the principles remain the same. (Check out 1, 2 and 3).
Note to the documentation people at Lotus: If these guys can manage to give us screen captures in their installation instructions for Foundations then I'm sure you could do likewise.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Is the SMB server market shrinking?
This post makes some interesting points about the shrinking market for Microsoft Small Business Server but I don't think those trends will adversely affect the market for Lotus Foundations server. Lets look at the points this blogger makes:
"First, a little background. The VAR Guy spent 2006 and 2007 working for a 15-person company in New York. Aside from a file-and-print server, there wasn’t much need for an on-site email server or database server... With the rise of hosted Exchange, on-demand CRM and even hosted databases, more and more small businesses don’t want the hassle of running and maintaining their own servers..."
Print servers will always stay in-house - what company would route their print jobs via the internet with its attendant data transfer costs and potential delays? So if you're running a local print server anyway, then why pay 'x' dollars per month to outsource day-to-day file storage when you can do it on-site for close to zero incremental cost? Sure, a SMB might stick some special purpose servers into the cloud/net/server farm but there is still a comparative cost advantage in keeping their day-to-day data in-house. So my money is saying that SMB will keep their local computer closet humming for a few years yet and they'll certainly be interested in anything that reduces cost or increases return on their investment in that department. The exception might be when the increasing IT workload requires doubling the IT workforce (from one employee to two) and at that point the SMB might consider outsourcing some tasks rather than employing additional staff.
"Unless you have specific vertical-market apps that you need to run in-house, the time is right for small businesses to start outsourcing as many applications as possible to a service provider. "
I don't think so. When has SMB ever been a trendsetter? Most SMB are too busy earning their daily bread to waste time planning for a transition to the bleeding edge of the technology wave. IMHO SMB keep their current infrastructure and applications until it becomes impossible to maintain (Sorry... I can't sell you XP... you'll have to buy Vista) or an IT vendor can explain an immediate and tangible business benefit to justify the upfront cost (Replacing your modem with cable will cost 'x' dollars in cash but save you 'y' dollars in business efficiency because you can do immediate updates rather than overnight transfers). SMB will invest in different technology, but rarely at the bleeding edge. They prefer a low-risk maturing technology with a large installed base - sounds like a job for Lotus Foundations Server based on the mature Nitix technology.
This other blogger makes a point that Exchange, Dynamics and SharePoint are all available as hosted services, but so what? Microsoft is selling overly complex and expensive drill bits when all the customer wants is holes, and that customer wants those holes to be as inexpensive and uncomplicated as possible. Installing Microsoft SBS 2008 or EBS 2008 means upgrading hardware and that's a potential sticking point for an organisation whose total IT spend (including staff) might be less than $150k per year.
On the other hand a SMB could upgrade to Lotus Foundation Server which will happily run on an existing server with 2GB ram and also provide email, firewall, files sharing, optional print server, web site, Domino applications services plus plus plus
The market for Microsoft's Small Business Server might start shrinking but that's Microsoft's problem - not IBM's.
.
"First, a little background. The VAR Guy spent 2006 and 2007 working for a 15-person company in New York. Aside from a file-and-print server, there wasn’t much need for an on-site email server or database server... With the rise of hosted Exchange, on-demand CRM and even hosted databases, more and more small businesses don’t want the hassle of running and maintaining their own servers..."
Print servers will always stay in-house - what company would route their print jobs via the internet with its attendant data transfer costs and potential delays? So if you're running a local print server anyway, then why pay 'x' dollars per month to outsource day-to-day file storage when you can do it on-site for close to zero incremental cost? Sure, a SMB might stick some special purpose servers into the cloud/net/server farm but there is still a comparative cost advantage in keeping their day-to-day data in-house. So my money is saying that SMB will keep their local computer closet humming for a few years yet and they'll certainly be interested in anything that reduces cost or increases return on their investment in that department. The exception might be when the increasing IT workload requires doubling the IT workforce (from one employee to two) and at that point the SMB might consider outsourcing some tasks rather than employing additional staff.
"Unless you have specific vertical-market apps that you need to run in-house, the time is right for small businesses to start outsourcing as many applications as possible to a service provider. "
I don't think so. When has SMB ever been a trendsetter? Most SMB are too busy earning their daily bread to waste time planning for a transition to the bleeding edge of the technology wave. IMHO SMB keep their current infrastructure and applications until it becomes impossible to maintain (Sorry... I can't sell you XP... you'll have to buy Vista) or an IT vendor can explain an immediate and tangible business benefit to justify the upfront cost (Replacing your modem with cable will cost 'x' dollars in cash but save you 'y' dollars in business efficiency because you can do immediate updates rather than overnight transfers). SMB will invest in different technology, but rarely at the bleeding edge. They prefer a low-risk maturing technology with a large installed base - sounds like a job for Lotus Foundations Server based on the mature Nitix technology.
This other blogger makes a point that Exchange, Dynamics and SharePoint are all available as hosted services, but so what? Microsoft is selling overly complex and expensive drill bits when all the customer wants is holes, and that customer wants those holes to be as inexpensive and uncomplicated as possible. Installing Microsoft SBS 2008 or EBS 2008 means upgrading hardware and that's a potential sticking point for an organisation whose total IT spend (including staff) might be less than $150k per year.
On the other hand a SMB could upgrade to Lotus Foundation Server which will happily run on an existing server with 2GB ram and also provide email, firewall, files sharing, optional print server, web site, Domino applications services plus plus plus
The market for Microsoft's Small Business Server might start shrinking but that's Microsoft's problem - not IBM's.
.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Microsoft's spin on increasing prices for SBS 2008
The price of Microsoft's Small Business Server 2008 is up to 80% more expensive than the software it replaces. The Microsoft spin is not the best excuse I've ever heard for increasing prices but it's certainly in the top ten...
"Some observers have questioned the increased cost of SBS 2008 compared with its previous version, but Sider attributed the price increase to meeting customer and partner needs."
Everyone repeat after me... "I have a need to give more money to Microsoft"
.
"Some observers have questioned the increased cost of SBS 2008 compared with its previous version, but Sider attributed the price increase to meeting customer and partner needs."
Everyone repeat after me... "I have a need to give more money to Microsoft"
.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
IBM introduces per-server pricing for Foundations
BEFORE WE START:
Did you notice that the US price for Lotus Foundations had recently crept up from $849 for 5 users to a new price of $949? It seems a bit disorganised for IBM to bring in a new price this soon after the product launch, but I don't have a problem with that particular price point - USD$190 per user is still quite competitive with Microsoft's Small Business Server.
The Australian pricing for Foundations is a bit different.
Well, actually it's a lot different...
START:
At yesterday's presentation to Business Partners in Sydney IBM talked about the server component of Foundations costing $352.66 while client licences cost $229.46 each. Therefore a five user installation of Foundations in Australia costs AUD$1,499.96. Late last week the Australian dollar closed against the greenback at 0.9614 which means Australians are paying just over USD$1,440 for a $USD949 product.
The party line is that the local IBM office has to work at a fixed AUD to USD exchange rate which is set by some gnomes living in an inaccessible locked office somewhere in the US and no-one can do anything about it. I don't buy that story and I don't see why I need to charge my Australian customers a 50% premium over the US price just for the cost of shipping 4 CDs from the US.
Not happy IBM.
At this point it isn't clear whether this pricing includes the anti-spam and anti-virus options which would be another USD$250 value for the five user pack. If it does, then Australians are only paying a c.20% premium over the US price. Still not happy, but I can live with it.
GETTING BACK TO THE TOPIC OF TODAY'S BLOG:
Now that gripe is out of my system I'll take a punt at guessing at the thinking behind introducing a separate licence for the server component. IBM is quite open about its plans to push the Foundations applicance model and in that scenario it makes sense to create a separate Foundations server licence to cover those computer tasks that aren't dependant on Client Access Licences. Anyone for a Foundations powered SAN? How about a generic communications server? Or a web server marketplace with authenticated customers? I can see Foundations moving in those directions, and having a separate server licence gives IBM more flexibility than using CALs. That part of the model makes sense and you'll see that development in other markets in the near future.
.
Did you notice that the US price for Lotus Foundations had recently crept up from $849 for 5 users to a new price of $949? It seems a bit disorganised for IBM to bring in a new price this soon after the product launch, but I don't have a problem with that particular price point - USD$190 per user is still quite competitive with Microsoft's Small Business Server.
The Australian pricing for Foundations is a bit different.
Well, actually it's a lot different...
START:
At yesterday's presentation to Business Partners in Sydney IBM talked about the server component of Foundations costing $352.66 while client licences cost $229.46 each. Therefore a five user installation of Foundations in Australia costs AUD$1,499.96. Late last week the Australian dollar closed against the greenback at 0.9614 which means Australians are paying just over USD$1,440 for a $USD949 product.
The party line is that the local IBM office has to work at a fixed AUD to USD exchange rate which is set by some gnomes living in an inaccessible locked office somewhere in the US and no-one can do anything about it. I don't buy that story and I don't see why I need to charge my Australian customers a 50% premium over the US price just for the cost of shipping 4 CDs from the US.
Not happy IBM.
At this point it isn't clear whether this pricing includes the anti-spam and anti-virus options which would be another USD$250 value for the five user pack. If it does, then Australians are only paying a c.20% premium over the US price. Still not happy, but I can live with it.
GETTING BACK TO THE TOPIC OF TODAY'S BLOG:
Now that gripe is out of my system I'll take a punt at guessing at the thinking behind introducing a separate licence for the server component. IBM is quite open about its plans to push the Foundations applicance model and in that scenario it makes sense to create a separate Foundations server licence to cover those computer tasks that aren't dependant on Client Access Licences. Anyone for a Foundations powered SAN? How about a generic communications server? Or a web server marketplace with authenticated customers? I can see Foundations moving in those directions, and having a separate server licence gives IBM more flexibility than using CALs. That part of the model makes sense and you'll see that development in other markets in the near future.
.
Microsoft EBS to launch in November
Microsoft Watch reports that Microsoft's Small Business Server 2008 and Essential Business Server 2008 will launch on November 12th this year.
That gives IBM four months to make hay while the Foundations sun shines. Watch for the release of some new Foundations products in the first week of November.
Hey, if Microsoft can do their 'product announcements' just before Lotussphere then why shouldn't IBM have some fun too?
.
That gives IBM four months to make hay while the Foundations sun shines. Watch for the release of some new Foundations products in the first week of November.
Hey, if Microsoft can do their 'product announcements' just before Lotussphere then why shouldn't IBM have some fun too?
.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Who's who with Lotus Foundations - The Australian Cast
Last week we met Matt Martinkus from Western Materials.
Today I would like to introduce two other Matts, both IBM employees.
Matthew Webb is a Senior IT Specialist looking after the Lotus Foundations brand in Australia. He is available as a resource for IBM Business Partners who have technical questions about Foundations. You can contact him via email on mwebb@au1.ibm.com or on +61 3 9626-6393.
Matt Tredinnick is the ANZ Marketing Manager for Lotus Software Workplace, Portal and Collaboration. You can contact Matt via email on mattred@au1.ibm.com or on +61 2 9463-5074. Matt works with Nicholas Day, the Business Development Executive tasked by IBM with the job of getting Foundations-powered servers into the hundreds of thousands of small and medium businesses across Australia. Nick is the man for IBM Business Partners to call (email on sbcday@au1.ibm.com or +61 2 9463-5702) to help refine their own marketing plans for Lotus Foundations.
All three were present at today's information session about Lotus Foundations run by local software distributor iTX at IBM in Sydney. The session took the attendees through the famous 30 minute install (yes... it is achievable) and fielded questions about the marketing strategy for Foundations in Australia. For obvious reasons (Hello Microsoft lurkers...) I'm not going to detail the contents of those discussions.
If you are a software reseller in Australia or New Zealand and are working with Microsoft Small Business Server then give Nick Day or Matt Tredinnick a call and see what Lotus is doing in the SMB market space. You'll find you now have a new option to offer your customers and that can't be a bad thing.
Today I would like to introduce two other Matts, both IBM employees.
Matthew Webb is a Senior IT Specialist looking after the Lotus Foundations brand in Australia. He is available as a resource for IBM Business Partners who have technical questions about Foundations. You can contact him via email on mwebb@au1.ibm.com or on +61 3 9626-6393.
Matt Tredinnick is the ANZ Marketing Manager for Lotus Software Workplace, Portal and Collaboration. You can contact Matt via email on mattred@au1.ibm.com or on +61 2 9463-5074. Matt works with Nicholas Day, the Business Development Executive tasked by IBM with the job of getting Foundations-powered servers into the hundreds of thousands of small and medium businesses across Australia. Nick is the man for IBM Business Partners to call (email on sbcday@au1.ibm.com or +61 2 9463-5702) to help refine their own marketing plans for Lotus Foundations.
All three were present at today's information session about Lotus Foundations run by local software distributor iTX at IBM in Sydney. The session took the attendees through the famous 30 minute install (yes... it is achievable) and fielded questions about the marketing strategy for Foundations in Australia. For obvious reasons (Hello Microsoft lurkers...) I'm not going to detail the contents of those discussions.
If you are a software reseller in Australia or New Zealand and are working with Microsoft Small Business Server then give Nick Day or Matt Tredinnick a call and see what Lotus is doing in the SMB market space. You'll find you now have a new option to offer your customers and that can't be a bad thing.
Friday, July 4, 2008
A company that dumped Nitix for Windows
In February 2007 Western Materials dumped Nitix and installed Microsoft Server 2003 and Exchange Server 2003. What prompted this organisation to move back to the Dark Side? My source material for this story is a document downloaded from Microsoft's web site and you can decide for yourself the ratio of substance to spin. If you think I'm ready too closely between the lines of Microsoft's story then feel free to add your own interpretation.
According to this document the prime mover in this migration was Matt Martinkus, Chief Financial Officer at Western Materials. In times past Western Materials "... had an internal employee who handled IT. He was bright and did a good job but the reliance on one person left us too vulnerable."
Matt moved into the CFO role a few months previous to the February 2007 migration to Windows Server and "...one of my first acts as CFO was to find a good Microsoft partner to support us".
He picked Parsec Computer, a Gold Certified Microsoft partner who took over supporting the Nitix infrastructure for Western Materials. Matt didn't look for help from the dealer who had sold them Nitix since "...they had been acquired and were moving away from Nitix".
Matt goes on to say that "Nitix seemed to be lukewarm about helping us" , but if he had taken the job and immediately introduced a Microsoft Partner to support their Nitix servers I'm not sure what room there was for Nitix to get any technical traction with the client.
Matt listed a number of reasons for the move to Microsoft. Some of them are impossible to review from this distance eg. Were the server crashes and the delay in opening files a failure of Nitix or of some other technology? However we can look a bit deeper into some of the other reasons that Matt listed:
1. Microsoft Office: The first issue is lack of compatibility with Microsoft Office programs, especially Outlook. At the time Nitix only supported the Outlook 2000 client and Western Materials were using Outlook 2003. The installation of Nitix had apparently fixed the original business problem of paying 'tens of thousands of dollars a year' to maintain frame-relay connections but now there was a new issue of maintaining compatibility with the Microsoft email client.
2. Speed of accessing files: This was another problem. Western Materials didn't rely on their existing Nitix vendor to resolve these issues because "... you could tell [Nitix] wasn't their core competency." but I don't see where they bought in another Nitix partner to help.
3. Mobile Devices: "[Nitix] didn't adequately support mobile devices" is a valid comment. Nitix doesn't support mobile devices but they have their best people working on it and I'm not allowed to tell you that an answer might be available towards the end of 2008.
4. Server Crashes: "A few times per month the server would crash..." Hang on a minute Matt! You're having regular server crashes and your VPN is slow and you aren't impressed with your current dealer so the best answer is to bring in some Nitix-illiterate Microsoft consultants? How about bringing in some Nitix-qualified experts to reconfigure the software and look for performance improvements that way? Sounds like the Cadillac buyer from Texas who always buys a new car when the ashtrays on the old one are full. It's difficult to argue with that kind of logic.
5. IT Maintenance: Western Materials had to pay Parsec for everyday tasks such as managing employee e-mail accounts."We were paying thousands of dollars per month in support costs just to keep existing IT services running." I'm curious about the size of Western Materials support bill before Parsec Computer came into the picture. If you ask someone to support a server technology they hadn't seen before then a spike in your support costs is inevitable while they come to grips with the different software. Strangely enough there's no mention of what happened to their bright, hard-working IT guy. Isn't 'managing employee e-mail accounts' one of the reasons why you have full-time IT employees, or is Matt suggesting that Nitix should have automatically added a new email account whenever a new employee walks through the door?
In the end Matt wanted server software which supported Outlook 2003 and mobile devices and in early 2007 Nitix couldn't do that. It is worth noting that Western Materials bought 'three custom-built server computers' while 'Nitix firewall and VPN services were replaced with dedicated hardware devices.' It would be interesting to see what the total investment in hardware was for this exercise and whether Western Materials will need to invest in another round of servers if they want to migrate to Windows Server 2008 and Exchange 2007.
'Now that the company is running Microsoft software, Parsec computer is able to better support Western Materials.'
Well that's a no-brainer. Parsec is a Gold Certified Microsoft partner so of course they can support Microsoft products better than they can support Nitix. I'm sure Parsec Computer is a fine and ethical computer services organisation and I see nothing wrong with them trying to sell their chosen products into a potential customer but note the weasal words in this paragraph - the objective is to get better support from Parsec so the answer is to switch to Microsoft software.
It seems to me that Matt Martinkus chose to standardise on Microsoft products mainly to support Outlook 2003. Whether he had that agenda before he came into the job is a question everyone has to decide for themselves.
We've all heard the story before.
NOTE: Lotus Foundations includes IBM Lotus Notes® and Domino® (v8.0) and provides IBM Lotus® Domino® Access for Microsoft® Outlook 2003 and 2007.
.
According to this document the prime mover in this migration was Matt Martinkus, Chief Financial Officer at Western Materials. In times past Western Materials "... had an internal employee who handled IT. He was bright and did a good job but the reliance on one person left us too vulnerable."
Matt moved into the CFO role a few months previous to the February 2007 migration to Windows Server and "...one of my first acts as CFO was to find a good Microsoft partner to support us".
He picked Parsec Computer, a Gold Certified Microsoft partner who took over supporting the Nitix infrastructure for Western Materials. Matt didn't look for help from the dealer who had sold them Nitix since "...they had been acquired and were moving away from Nitix".
Matt goes on to say that "Nitix seemed to be lukewarm about helping us" , but if he had taken the job and immediately introduced a Microsoft Partner to support their Nitix servers I'm not sure what room there was for Nitix to get any technical traction with the client.
Matt listed a number of reasons for the move to Microsoft. Some of them are impossible to review from this distance eg. Were the server crashes and the delay in opening files a failure of Nitix or of some other technology? However we can look a bit deeper into some of the other reasons that Matt listed:
1. Microsoft Office: The first issue is lack of compatibility with Microsoft Office programs, especially Outlook. At the time Nitix only supported the Outlook 2000 client and Western Materials were using Outlook 2003. The installation of Nitix had apparently fixed the original business problem of paying 'tens of thousands of dollars a year' to maintain frame-relay connections but now there was a new issue of maintaining compatibility with the Microsoft email client.
2. Speed of accessing files: This was another problem. Western Materials didn't rely on their existing Nitix vendor to resolve these issues because "... you could tell [Nitix] wasn't their core competency." but I don't see where they bought in another Nitix partner to help.
3. Mobile Devices: "[Nitix] didn't adequately support mobile devices" is a valid comment. Nitix doesn't support mobile devices but they have their best people working on it and I'm not allowed to tell you that an answer might be available towards the end of 2008.
4. Server Crashes: "A few times per month the server would crash..." Hang on a minute Matt! You're having regular server crashes and your VPN is slow and you aren't impressed with your current dealer so the best answer is to bring in some Nitix-illiterate Microsoft consultants? How about bringing in some Nitix-qualified experts to reconfigure the software and look for performance improvements that way? Sounds like the Cadillac buyer from Texas who always buys a new car when the ashtrays on the old one are full. It's difficult to argue with that kind of logic.
5. IT Maintenance: Western Materials had to pay Parsec for everyday tasks such as managing employee e-mail accounts."We were paying thousands of dollars per month in support costs just to keep existing IT services running." I'm curious about the size of Western Materials support bill before Parsec Computer came into the picture. If you ask someone to support a server technology they hadn't seen before then a spike in your support costs is inevitable while they come to grips with the different software. Strangely enough there's no mention of what happened to their bright, hard-working IT guy. Isn't 'managing employee e-mail accounts' one of the reasons why you have full-time IT employees, or is Matt suggesting that Nitix should have automatically added a new email account whenever a new employee walks through the door?
In the end Matt wanted server software which supported Outlook 2003 and mobile devices and in early 2007 Nitix couldn't do that. It is worth noting that Western Materials bought 'three custom-built server computers' while 'Nitix firewall and VPN services were replaced with dedicated hardware devices.' It would be interesting to see what the total investment in hardware was for this exercise and whether Western Materials will need to invest in another round of servers if they want to migrate to Windows Server 2008 and Exchange 2007.
'Now that the company is running Microsoft software, Parsec computer is able to better support Western Materials.'
Well that's a no-brainer. Parsec is a Gold Certified Microsoft partner so of course they can support Microsoft products better than they can support Nitix. I'm sure Parsec Computer is a fine and ethical computer services organisation and I see nothing wrong with them trying to sell their chosen products into a potential customer but note the weasal words in this paragraph - the objective is to get better support from Parsec so the answer is to switch to Microsoft software.
It seems to me that Matt Martinkus chose to standardise on Microsoft products mainly to support Outlook 2003. Whether he had that agenda before he came into the job is a question everyone has to decide for themselves.
We've all heard the story before.
NOTE: Lotus Foundations includes IBM Lotus Notes® and Domino® (v8.0) and provides IBM Lotus® Domino® Access for Microsoft® Outlook 2003 and 2007.
.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Four companies who moved to Nitix
Why would companies move to Lotus Foundations? What are the key factors that would lead organisations to invest in a comparatively unknown technology to support their critical business processes? Here are four case studies of organisations which moved their IT infrastructure to Nitix:
1. Tina Gasperson wrote an article about the Freedom Partners network of car dealerships moving from Exchange Server 2000 to Nitix. The key pain points were overcoming the limitations of Exchange being tied to Windows workstations, creating a VPN to link geographically remote sites and the ability to control employee web surfing.
2. Frederick’s Appliance Center in Redmond, WA had two old Microsoft Windows servers and two Cisco routers, and needed webmail, file sharing, and a reliable backup solution. The off-the-shelf Windows server solution that Frederick’s initially considered was much more expensive than NitixBlue. The installation of NitixBlue took only ten hours and requires little ongoing work to manage.
3. No names were provided for this case study for a bank and its branch office in rural Ohio which had been using a dedicated $1,200-per-month 56k line to stay connected. Nitix provided employees at both locations with email, Internet access and a VPN protected with server-based email virus protection. In addition, the Vice-President of the bank must now approve all websites that anyone attempts to visit, so no unauthorized or potentially dangerous sites are available. In 12 to 14 months, the bank paid for the entire upgrade through its savings alone.
4. Swish is a chemical maintenance supply company based in Peterborough, Ontario with 13 locations across Canada. The costs involved in keeping every office connected with a frame relay system was costing $1,200 per month, per office. Other significant benefits of Nitix for this company were firewall, email and anti-virus. Return on investment for the cost of Nitix Net Integrators was six months and for the entire implementation was just over two years.
soapboxmode
My point in listing these companies was to show that the common factor for all of these case studies wasn't just email and it certainly wasn't collaborative applications since Lotus Domino wasn't in the picture at all. The moral of the story is that Lotus Foundations is first and foremost a small business server with an abundance of technical riches and that is how Lotus needs to market it. Any Domino consulting that comes from the client afterwards is a bonus.
/soapboxmode
Tomorrow I’ll be posting the story of a company that decided to move from Nitix to Windows.
1. Tina Gasperson wrote an article about the Freedom Partners network of car dealerships moving from Exchange Server 2000 to Nitix. The key pain points were overcoming the limitations of Exchange being tied to Windows workstations, creating a VPN to link geographically remote sites and the ability to control employee web surfing.
2. Frederick’s Appliance Center in Redmond, WA had two old Microsoft Windows servers and two Cisco routers, and needed webmail, file sharing, and a reliable backup solution. The off-the-shelf Windows server solution that Frederick’s initially considered was much more expensive than NitixBlue. The installation of NitixBlue took only ten hours and requires little ongoing work to manage.
3. No names were provided for this case study for a bank and its branch office in rural Ohio which had been using a dedicated $1,200-per-month 56k line to stay connected. Nitix provided employees at both locations with email, Internet access and a VPN protected with server-based email virus protection. In addition, the Vice-President of the bank must now approve all websites that anyone attempts to visit, so no unauthorized or potentially dangerous sites are available. In 12 to 14 months, the bank paid for the entire upgrade through its savings alone.
4. Swish is a chemical maintenance supply company based in Peterborough, Ontario with 13 locations across Canada. The costs involved in keeping every office connected with a frame relay system was costing $1,200 per month, per office. Other significant benefits of Nitix for this company were firewall, email and anti-virus. Return on investment for the cost of Nitix Net Integrators was six months and for the entire implementation was just over two years.
soapboxmode
My point in listing these companies was to show that the common factor for all of these case studies wasn't just email and it certainly wasn't collaborative applications since Lotus Domino wasn't in the picture at all. The moral of the story is that Lotus Foundations is first and foremost a small business server with an abundance of technical riches and that is how Lotus needs to market it. Any Domino consulting that comes from the client afterwards is a bonus.
/soapboxmode
Tomorrow I’ll be posting the story of a company that decided to move from Nitix to Windows.
Notes 8.01 session survives Red Box of Death
I'm using a R8.01 Designer saving a modified mail file to a R7 server and up pops the Red Box of Death. Before I can do anything the Red Box goes away and I'm left in my designer client wondering what happened. Everything seems to work OK now but that was spooky. Has anyone else's Notes session ever survived the Red Box of Death? Is this a Notes 8.01 enhancement?
I tell you I really saw it ... honest I did!!!
UPDATE:
I can't use the icon to open my mail file. I can open the calendar with an icon and switch to mail... but the mail file icon doesn't work. Love to stay and play but I'm going to reboot because I need to get some work done.
I tell you I really saw it ... honest I did!!!
UPDATE:
I can't use the icon to open my mail file. I can open the calendar with an icon and switch to mail... but the mail file icon doesn't work. Love to stay and play but I'm going to reboot because I need to get some work done.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Nitix on Wikipedia
I've been getting into the habit of spending five minutes a day surfing the internet looking for blog-sized, Foundations-flavored news snippets. Today I found myself over at Wikipedia reading the entry on Nitix and wondering whether Nitix is really Wikipedia material?
Lotus Notes and Microsoft Exchange and Small Business Server all have their own Wikipedia entry so maybe its my understanding of Wikipedia which is faulty. It does provide a place to provide the history of the software but, like all of Wikipedia, its accuracy is dependant on the intellectal honesty of the author.
There is (as yet) no corresponding Wikipedia article about Lotus Foundations.
Lotus Notes and Microsoft Exchange and Small Business Server all have their own Wikipedia entry so maybe its my understanding of Wikipedia which is faulty. It does provide a place to provide the history of the software but, like all of Wikipedia, its accuracy is dependant on the intellectal honesty of the author.
There is (as yet) no corresponding Wikipedia article about Lotus Foundations.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
