What to tell a CEO who wants to migrate off Notes?

There's been a lot of useful stuff published over the last few years about how to best counter the "Move to Microsoft" mantra that sometimes comes down from senior management. I figured it would be a Good Thing (TM) if all of that information was readily accessible from one place.




Filling the application with useful links is the hard part since I won't be writing much of this stuff myself. My emphasis is on providing links to other peoples work (with proper accreditation of course). If you've got some information you think should be available through this application then please send me a LINK (not the original material) via email: gdodge at bcd dot net dot au.


BTW I did consider writing this in XPages but code re-use won out over innovation and the whole box of dice wound up taking only a couple of hours to recode from an existing application. I'll look at making it look pretty further down the track.
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Something free from IBM?

IBM/Lotus have provided some excellent self-paced online software tutorials at no charge to Business Partners. Some of the tutorials need to be updated with current software versions but there's more than a few nuggets of gold in Them There Hills for the Business Partner who wants to get a toehold into a previously unexplored Lotus technology. Some examples are:

• IBM Lotus Quickr 8.2 Workshop: The Workshop will provide you with an understanding of the features of Lotus Quickr 8.2, both those that are new and those that were introduced earlier. The course will show you how to operate and manage Lotus Quickr Activities and tools. It will illustrate how to install and configure Lotus Quickr 8.2, how to use connectors to integrate productivity applications and customize Quickr themes and places, and how to manage a Lotus Quickr environment.
  
  
• Lotus Notes/Domino 8.5 Building Collaborative Applications Workshop: The Workshop will show a student how to use the Lotus Notes client to write collaborative applications that use the features of the Lotus Notes platform. The student will also learn how to package applications and deploy them to the Notes client through the Domino server. The XPages technology will be introduced and the student will learn how to develop XPages applications. After completing the workshop the student should be able to describe the primary features of the Notes and Domino platforms, describe how these platforms can enhance an enterprise’s business, define common terms used with this technology, and write a composite application and an XPages application that will run in the Notes client to provide additional capabilities. The student will be able to write Eclipse plug-ins which extend the user interface of the Notes client and deploy them to the client platform, and be able to incorporate widgets for use in collaborative applications.

• IBM Lotus Connections v2.5 Workshop: This technical skills hands-on workshop will show you how to leverage the eight integrated services for social networking delivered by Lotus Connections 2.5. You will learn how to use the functions and features that capture, communicate, share, collaborate, organize, and deliver social software for business. Setup and use of Lotus Connections features, how to integrate them with each other and incorporate them with other applications and Web sites. Learn how to use the tools and underlying servers to configure the products for use. All reinforced by hands-on labs.

These courses won't take you from from Zero to Hero but they will give you the ability to talk confidently to your customers about the products.
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Hey IBM... how about running Salestalks on a Pacific time zone once in a while?

I have a customer with c.300 Notes seats who has specifically asked me to get him information on Web Content Management. With perfect timing I received an IBM News update advising me that there will be a Lotus SalesTalk on this topic and then I realize the call is scheduled for 1:00am Australian time.

10. Lotus: Lotus SalesTalk: Put information to work at customer sites with Lotus Web Content Management
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Customers and prospects are increasingly looking for ways to reduce costs, maximise value, increase ROI, and enable top-line growth. This call provides valuable information that can help you talk with your customers about the solid ROI they'll see with Lotus Web Content Management.

Date: Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Time: 11:00 a.m. EDT (90 minutes)

We all know that IBM has historically had the majority of its software market on the North American continent and in Europe, but the markets in Asia have a significant proportion of the worlds population and a much higher growth rate than the USA. I concede that Australia and New Zealand have only 3% of the world IT market but what about India, China, Korea, Japan etc etc.

Lotus Knows that Asia wants to be in on the action also.
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