A wakeup call for the Australian Lotus Channel

Yesterday we completed the third of our free two-day Domino R8.5 Proof of Technology seminars which takes the cumulative total of attendees to well over fifty, and we've had some interesting feedback about the seminars:

• Customers love getting two full days of technical training and product positioning for free. I think the most popular session in the last seminar was the one about the best methods to counter the suggestion that their organizations should move to Exchange and Outlook. We'll be expanding that session for our next seminar in June
  
  
• Some of our competition admire the idea and at least two of them are now putting on their own free Lotus-centric seminars (according to friends of mine who work in those companies). I've heard that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery so thanks for the compliment guys.
  
  
• Some of our competition hate the idea and claim that these seminars causes 'disharmony' in the Lotus sales channel because their present customers might wind up attending a seminar put on by another Lotus Business Partner. Well, Bollocks to them! IMHO the Customer is King and is entitled to talk to any and all Lotus Business Partners and to pick and choose between them to get the best mix of services. If our efforts in running these seminars makes another Business Partner feel 'disharmonized' then perhaps they need to ask themselves what are *they* doing to offer a better service to their customers.
  

These seminars will continue as long as the customers want them. We have our first Sametime/Quickr seminar running in May and the fourth Domino R8.5 Proof of Technology will be running in June. Now maybe those Australian IBM/Lotus Business 'Partners' who have been ignoring the Lotus portfolio will start talking to their current customers about the Lotus product range.

Because if they don't then we will...
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Free SameTime/Quickr training in Sydney

One interesting factoid that came out of the R8.5 Proof of Technology seminars that we have been running in Sydney is that not many (actually, almost none) of the attendees were aware that organisations with a current Lotus software subscription were entitled to run Lotus SameTime Entry and Lotus Quickr Entry in their environment at no extra charge.

Since Terry Boyd and I are having such fun running our R8.5 Domino seminars we have decided to start a new series of one day seminars to show people how to install and use the Sametime and Quickr software that they have already have. The seminar will be in Sydney in mid-May (date to be decided) with SameTime in the morning and Quickr in the afternoon so you can book for just half a day if you want.

The SameTime sessions will include:

• What can Sametime do - a demonstration of the full product.
• Installing Sametime - system requirements and integration with existing Domino servers.
• Administering a SameTime server.
• Advanced features - eg linking to other IM systems
  

A similar set of sessions will be held for Quickr in the afternoon.

Contact me (details on the left) if you want a free ticket for yourself or your managers to this SameTime/Quickr training. Limit two attendees per company.
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RINSE AND REPEAT: more free training for Sydney Domino customers.

With just over a month to go before the second free Domino R8.5 Proof of Technology seminar in Sydney, the confirmed bookings are well into double digits. Rather than asking people to double up on the 24 PCs installed in the seminar room we've decided to hold a third seminar and we're currently taking bookings for both seminars.

Seminar 2: Tuesday 16th and Wednesday 17th February 2010
Seminar 3: Tuesday 6th and Wednesday 7th April 2010
Location for both seminars: IBM Building, St. Leonards

During the seminar there are separate half-day sessions for:

• C-level execs and IT Managers
• System Administrators
• Application Developers
• Application Developers and webmasters

Day 1 AM Executive Briefing - 3hr 15m

• 015min - Welcome and introductions
• 060min - What is the Return on Investment of Upgrading Domino to R8.5?
  
• 060min - Group Discussion: The Roadblocks to upgrading Domino to R8.5
• 060min - Lotus Traveler and UC2.

Day 1 PM R8.5 System Administration - 3hr 30m

• 045min - Short overview of the benefits of R8.5 for the System Administrator
• 075min - Hands-on tutorial for DAOS
• 090min - Hands-on tutorial for ID vault.

Day 2 AM R8.5 Application Development - 3hr 15m

• 015min - Recap of previous day
• 060min - Tools for tuning your Domino server (DDM and DCT)
• 090min - Overview of the R8.5 Design environment
• 030min - Hands-on tutorial for Composite Applications.

Day 2 PM X-Pages - 3hr 30m

• 210min - The most popular segment of the last seminar - now one hour longer to allow more hands-on instruction.

If you're an IBM/Lotus customer interested in attending either of these events then contact me (my details are on the left sidebar) and we'll reserve a seat for you. We have a limit of two attendees per organisation but we accept hotseating i.e. two people come for Day One and two different attendees from the same company attend for Day Two.
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Free Domino technical training in Sydney

In November last year two IBM/Lotus Business Partners (Binary Concepts and Saxon Systems) ran a free two day Domino R8.5 Proof of Technology seminar for Lotus customers at IBM in Sydney. This event provided IT Managers and other decision-making executives with hands-on learning for DAOS, ID Vault, X-Pages and other enhanced features that come with Domino R8.5.

This technical training event is being repeated on Tuesday 16th and Wednesday 17th February 2010 at IBM in St. Leonards and is an excellent opportunity for organisations that are considering an upgrade to Domino R8.5 to understand the nuts and bolts of the new Lotus technology.

During the November seminar attendees were encouraged to raise technical issues relating to improving their own Domino environment and this theme of the seminar was so successful that it is being expanded in the February event. With over twenty customer attendees and four software consultants (plus a smattering of local Loti) spending two days talking about the problems of maintaining a Domino infrastructure, you're sure to get some good answers to your tough questions.

Terry (Terry Boyd - Saxon Systems) and I will also give you our unvarnished opinion on the announcements made by Lotus at the recently concluded Lotussphere 2010.

To obtain more information about the seminar or to reserve your seat at the event, contact me via email on gdodge at bcd dot net dot au.

Limit of two attendees per organisation.

Did I mention that the seminar is Free?
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Should you pay less for multi-skilled consultants?

While clicking away at the multiple choices in my R8.5 Application Development update exam this morning I came across a piece of Javascript that I didn't comprehend. It was one of those questions that gives you a scenario and asks you which piece of code would Randy have used to accomplish the desired outcome and I can't go into more detail without violating the conditions of the test.

Anyway, I probably failed that particular question (but comfortably passed the test anyway) and it left me with an interesting question about the need for self-education with software development ie. How do you put a limit on the education effort that you need in order to be a professional application developer with Domino R8.5? Obviously if I try to learn ALL of Javascript (ha!) then I'm probably spending too much time Learning and not enough time Earning, but at least I can justify the self-education effort with Javascript on the grounds that it enhances my Domino programming abilities.

So (tongue in cheek and waiting for the barbed responses) how do individual Domino Developers who have decided to learn Sharepoint and .NET (or Google Apps or any direct competitor to Domino) justify selling themselves at their same old consulting rates for Domino work, since their Domino skills must inevitably have suffered from the decrease in their staying-current-with-Domino time? Should customers demand to pay less per hour for multi-skilled consultants on the grounds that those consultants obviously can't be fully skilled in any technology - Jacks of all Trades and Masters of None? That's not a slur on the technical ability or character of anyone, but there is obviously a limit on how much technology any of us can learn. Or perhaps more accurately, they might have been Masters in the older versions of Domino but are no longer at the Bleeding Edge of the Yellowverse.

I'm interested in knowing how other people decide how to put an upper limit on what they learn with Domino and (if they are moving to the Dark Side) at which point do decide to stop the serious self-education effort with new Domino technology such as XPages, Themes or Lotusscript classes.

Anonymous posts are acceptable (and expected).

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Free Technical Training for Notes/Domino R8.5x in Sydney

Over the past few months the talented Holli Konig and her All-Dancing Business Partners have been running R8.5 'Proof of Technology' seminars across the USA. These seminars are targeted at IT Managers, Application Developers, System Administrators and Architects evaluating IBM Lotus Notes/Domino.

Now this two day seminar is coming to Sydney with hands-on sessions for System Administration ( Domino Attachment and Object Service plus ID Vault and Shared Login) and for Application Development (Composite Applications and Xpages). The dates for this two day course are next Thursday 19th and Friday 20th November and the venue is the IBM Innovation Centre at 601 Pacific Highway St. Leonards.

This is NOT a marketing event. IBM are providing the facilities for the seminar but the course will be presented by technically skilled and certified IBM/Lotus Business Partners.

The seminar treads a middle ground between management and technical issues eg There are hands-on exercises in building an X-Page but there is also discussion on why an X-Page is a better web construct than a legacy 'webified' Notes application from a business process perspective.

Attendees are encouraged to bring their own questions and to partake in a vigorous and free-flowing discussion about the technical 'how-do-you-do-this' nuts and bolts of working with Notes/Domino R8.5. On Friday morning there will be a 30 minute opportunity to quiz Mike Garbett (Director of Worldwide Sales - Collaboration, Lotus Software) about directions for the Lotus Product suite.

Did I mention that the seminar is free? Attendance is restricted to 24 people (one PC per attendee) and there is a limit of two attendees per organisation. If you are interested in attending the event then contact me on 0435 094 694 or by email on gdodge at bcd dot net dot au.
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@Remember(Lotus Foundations > Domino + Linux)

I've had a few requests for technical pointers over the last couple of weeks from people setting up their first Foundations server and there has been a common thread to all of these emails. Most of the people have been (more or less) experienced Domino Administrators who have looked on the Foundations environment as a cut-down SUSE Linux installation with a few extra bells and whistles, and they have been baffled by Foundations' refusal to respond positively to some standard Domino server commands. I went through some similar frustrating experiences for a while early last year until the penny dropped. I'd say it happens to everyone who has the "benefit" of already being a trained Domino Systems Administrator when they first install Lotus Foundations.

It doesn't work that way. Domino has been tailored to fit the Foundations environment. The two products are tightly bound together and you need to Read The Friendly Manual before you dive into administering Domino on a Foundations server. If you read far enough into the manual you'll probably find that your Domino administration tasks are already being done for you automatically by Lotus Foundations Server.

Just to clarify myself here: I don't mind getting these emails and giving a hand where I can - just one way of paying my dues to the Lotus community.
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Domino Double Certifications - Jack of All Trades and Master of None ?

I had an interesting chat with a colleague last week regarding the evolution of consulting roles in the Notes industry. In the 'Good Old Days' (TM) of Notes Release 1 through R4 every man and his dog was both a System Administrator and an Application Developer. Perhaps they were better at one side than the other but you could have a chat with everyone you met at Lotussphere without encountering too many blank looks.

R5 through R7 drove a wedge through the tribe and split it into two separate camps - not quite as bad as the Hatfields and the McCoys but it suddenly seemed acceptable to wear only one hat and to plead ignorance as to what the other tribe was doing.

At the risk of becoming a "Jack of All Trades and Master of None", some of us have kept a foot in both camps by maintaining certifications in both System Administration and Application Development, but I'm wondering how long that can go on. I'm just about to embark on a one-week intensive e-learning experience with X-Pages to prepare me for my R8.5 App Dev upgrade exam followed later by a similar effort for the R8.5 Sys Admin upgrade. My point is that the Notes/Domino environment is just so d@mn big these days that no-one can hope to know it all.

I'm interested in hearing what other people's approach is to certification. Is it worth the effort to maintain a double certification? I see it as a good personal benchmark but do customers really care about such things?
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What value is IBM Top Gun Virtual Learning?

Yesterday morning was the end of my three-day stint logged in to the IBM Top Gun Virtual Learning seminar and I enjoyed the experience more than I expected. It was the first Virtual Learning I had done in this classroom format, and as I sat at my desk at home, unshaved, wearing trakkies, and drinking my own coffee I thought to myself "All mornings should start like this".

(I listed the curriculum in a previous post so I won't revisit it here.)

eLearning has a number of advantages compared with a regular classroom format:

• It's easier to get international speakers - we had maybe ten presenters logging in from multiple worldwide locations and only one speaker came from Sydney. If I wanted to hear from all of those guys in a classroom format it would have cost IBM a few zillion dollars to fly them in and the event probably wouldn't be held in my town anyway. Sydney might have got the world premiere of the new Star Trek movie but IBM is a little more pragmatic than that.
  
  
• Sitting at my own desk meant that I could multi-task more effectively and I didn't have to close down my business to attend the seminar. While the course was going on I could answer my own emails and phone calls without disturbing anybody. Obviously I only "stepped out" to handle urgent stuff, but it's reassuring to know that I had the option of juggling both balls at once.
  
  
• You can tune out during the boring/repetitive stuff - I probably already knew 80% of the stuff in the course and I'm sure many other attendees were in the same boat. I don't blame the organizers for that - the course curriculum was publicized well in advance. It would have been impossible to persuade myself to attend a three day classroom event covering the same material.
  

Is the course worth attending? It was for me, but I can't answer that question for you. My objective is to position my company (Binary Concepts) with IBM as a skilled and reliable business partner specializing in the Lotus software brand, and doing this course and passing the subsequent exam was one way of showing IBM that they can confidently recommend us to their customers.
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Time to drink the Lotus KoolAid!

From tomorrow I'll be joining dozens of other interested people in attending the on-line IBM Top Gun Virtual Learning: Lotus Foundation class. (NB: This course covers the entire Lotus range - the word 'Foundation' in its title is misleading). This is three consecutive half-days of training across the entire Lotus product line. Here's the blurb:

*************************************************************************************
This IBM Top Gun Virtual Learning class provides a look at the Lotus offerings from a non-technical sales standpoint, focusing on what the products deliver and where they fit in the marketplace. An overview of the Lotus product strategy kicks off the class, building a framework for the more detailed product sessions to follow. Product features are explained and the types of customers to target are identified. This class can serve as a prerequisite for attending a face to face IBM Lotus Foundations Top Gun Class.

Topics include:
* Surveying the Overall Lotus Product Strategy
* Building an Understanding of the Lotus Product Family
* Identifying Target Customer Types
* Previewing Competitive Insights

Duration
The class is held on 3 consecutive days for 4 hours each day.

Audience
Any seller who needs to understand the Lotus portfolio, including Sales, Services, Business Partners, and non-software sellers who wish to enhance their sales by including Lotus Software.

Objectives
This class builds foundational skills and knowledge for enabling students to:
* Gain a basic understanding of the Lotus strategy.
* Understand the Lotus product offerings and their functions.
* Identify the target audience for Lotus products and solutions.
* Recognize potential opportunities for Lotus solutions early in the sales cycle.

Agenda
Day 1
* Lotus Software Strategy Overview
* Lotus Notes / Domino
Day 2
* Lotus Sametime / Unified Communications and Collaboration (UC²)
* Lotus Quickr
* Lotus Connections
Day 3
* WebSphere Portal
* Portal Accelerators
* Mashups
* Wrap-up and Final Test
*************************************************************************************

I've been selling and supporting Lotus software for over twenty years - that's no big deal, so have many other people - and the song sheet has changed a fair bit in that time. Time to make sure that I'm up to date with the current Top Ten Hits. If you sell any part of the Lotus portfolio and you want some street cred with IBM then maybe you need to check in for a music lesson also.

The bit that annoys me is that Day Three of the class is scheduled for the morning of Easter Friday. As an IT consultant I normally don't worry about Public Holidays, but Easter and Christmas carry a special significance far beyond the average Labor Day or Bank Holiday. I do think Lotus could have been a bit more sensitive on the timing.
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More training in Sydney

I spent all of last week learning Linux (courtesy of IBM) and what I learned is dovetailing quite nicely into my eight months of working with Lotus Foundations. My immediate reaction after completing that course is that Linux certification will be what separates the high value Foundations consultants in the marketplace. You don't need Linux skills to install and support Foundations but everything makes a whole lot more sense when you have those skills on board.

On 13th and 14th November I'll be attending another (free) training course at IBM in Sydney to go through the official Foundations training and after that I'll be feeling ready to take on the world. Anyone else out there booked into the Sydney Foundations course?
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All the Linux training I can eat... for free!

I'm spending this entire week at IBM's Innovation Center in St. Leonards in Sydney having my brain overloaded with 13 days of Linux training crammed into five 12-hour days. Today was day 1 during which we covered the entire 3 day 3071 SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 Fundamentals Course. Tomorrow should be easier since we only have to cover 2.5 days of training (the first half of the 3072 SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 Administration Course). Then on Thursday and Friday we do the five day 3073 SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 Advanced Administration Course.

Total cash cost = $0

Thank you IBM.

BTW... anyone out there done the SUSE Linux certification exams and want to share some pointers on what are the hot topics?
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The easy way to learn the nuts and bolts of Lotus Foundations

If you're just starting out with Lotus Foundations Server then make sure you have the Foundations Wiki near the top of your Firefox favorites. Jennifer Bloom has been updating the wiki with some short tutorials on key topics:

• How to install PHPMyAdmin to your Lotus Foundations Server
• System Recovery: Recovering from a failed disk (practice)
• Using WebConfig for adding muliple users and setting up permissions.
• Install and Configure the Lotus Notes Client - on Lotus Foundations
• Install and Setup IBM Lotus Foundations Start (Domino)

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Webcast - Introducing Lotus Foundations

Hey Lotus...

While poking around the IBM site I found a techtalk from 30 April 2008 titled "Introducing Lotus Foundations". Unfortunately when I click on the link get the following error:

We're sorry, you are not authorized to access the page you requested.

Since the event was a Webcast Replay it seems to my poor brain that you should be able to bundle this file up for download by tragic people like me who don't have a life and want to spend their evenings watching webinars about Lotus Foundations Server.

How about unlocking that cupboard?

FYI - I was logged in with my IBM Partnerworld ID at the time
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The Worldwide Foundations Training Tour!!!

The Mountain has come to Mohammed!!! Two days of classroom training on Foundations in Sydney!

I am one happy blogger :)

This is the Virtual workshop that I blogged about earlier, but now the Show is hitting the Road. Check out the schedule for the worldwide tour and click here to register

• 09 Sep 2008 - 10 Sep 2008, Virtual workshop (09:00 a.m. - 05:00 p.m. central time)
• 29 Sep 2008 - 30 Sep 2008, Waltham, Massachusetts
• 07 Oct 2008 - 08 Oct 2008, Toronto, Canada
• 22 Oct 2008 - 23 Oct 2008, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
• 04 Nov 2008 - 05 Nov 2008, Virtual workshop (09:00 a.m. - 05:00 p.m. central time)
• 11 Nov 2008 - 12 Nov 2008, Sydney, Australia
• 18 Nov 2008 - 19 Nov 2008, Hursley, United Kingdom
• 19 Nov 2008 - 20 Nov 2008, Paris, France

IBM Lotus Foundations Start technical workshop

IBM Lotus Foundations Start is a complete software appliance that provides the essential software you need to focus on running the business, not managing computer systems. It allows a small business to use e-mail; create, share and centrally manage documents; and ensure information is backed up and protected. If you need to know how to install, configure and use the new Lotus Foundations Start, this workshop is for you.

After attending the workshop, you will be able to do the following:

• Install and configure Lotus Foundations Start applications such as IBM Lotus Notes and IBM Lotus Domino, Lotus Domino Access for Microsoft Office, and anti-spam
• Restore and recover from a failed main drive
• Describe product features in terms of capabilities, such as autonomic behavior, backup, and fault tolerance
• Perform administrative tasks such as importing multiple users and optimizing Lotus Notes clients
• Describe the key security features in Lotus Foundations, such as Web-based administration, firewall, VPN, router support, backup, restore, disaster recovery, anti-virus, and anti-spam
• Install Domino Access for Microsoft Office and set up users
• Describe the messaging and e-mail environment of Lotus Foundations, including mail capabilities, protocols, and third-party integration with Microsoft Office
• Provide examples of the servers that are part of Lotus Foundations, such as POP, IMAP, SMTP, IP-based printing, Web, and FTP servers
• Explain the high-level architecture of Lotus Foundations Start
• Discuss integrated applications available for Lotus Foundations, such as Samba, Apache, PPTP and intelligent database backup
• Explain the hardware and software requirements for Lotus Foundations Start

Highlights

• Knowledge of product installation and operation
• Live instructor-led lectures
• Hands-on lab exercises that will:

o Install the core product on a third-party hardware platform
o Conduct package installations and configuration of server applications
o Install and configure client applications
o Administer the Lotus Foundations server including account setup, disk configuration, integrated services facilitation, and user account creation and removal from the Web
o Perform system recovery

Prerequisites
This workshop is for people who will install, configure, and maintain Lotus Foundations. Suggested skills and knowledge are:

• Basic familiarity with Lotus Foundations
• Computer application and installation
• Familiarity with Internet terminology
• Experience with Lotus Domino and Lotus Notes (optional)

This is a technical class and does not include a product introduction. For introductory materials, you may access the following references:

• Lotus Foundations documentation
• Lotus Foundations Start

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Foundations University now accepting enrollments

IBM (bless their little cotton socks) are running some free Foundations training in a virtual university format on 9th and 10th September. Unfortunately it'll be running from 9am to 5pm US Central Time which means from somewhere round midnight till 8am for those of us living Down Under. That unfortunate fact by itself wouldn't stop me, but since I've already promised to run a R8 System Admin course on those two days plus my sister is in town on her once-in-a-blue-moon holiday from her day job in Kabul (yes... Kabul in Afghanistan... don't ask... it's a long story) it means that I would be burning the candle at both ends plus in the middle if I tried to do the Foundations course as well. I'll take a rain check and sign up for the November intake.

Enrollment priority is given to ISVs who are members of IBM partnerworld and are looking to Foundationize their products. I don't see anywhere that says your product needs to be based on Lotus Domino, so this could be your chance to be first to market with the Foundations Games Pack :)

Here's what you get:

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IBM Lotus Foundations Start technical workshop
IBM Lotus Foundations Start is a complete software appliance that provides the essential software you need to focus on running the business, not managing computer systems. It allows a small business to use e-mail; create, share and centrally manage documents; and ensure information is backed up and protected. If you need to know how to install, configure and use the new Lotus Foundations Start, this workshop is for you.

What you will discover by attending: After attending the workshop, you will be able to do the following:

• Install and configure Lotus Foundations Start applications such as IBM Lotus Notes and IBM Lotus Domino, Lotus Domino Access for Microsoft Office, and anti-spam
• Restore and recover from a failed main drive
• Describe product features in terms of capabilities, such as autonomic behavior, backup, and fault tolerance
• Perform administrative tasks such as importing multiple users and optimizing Lotus Notes clients
• Describe the key security features in Lotus Foundations, such as Web-based administration, firewall, VPN, router support, backup, restore, disaster recovery, anti-virus, and anti-spam
• Install Domino Access for Microsoft Office and set up users
• Describe the messaging and e-mail environment of Lotus Foundations, including mail capabilities, protocols, and third-party integration with Microsoft Office
• Provide examples of the servers that are part of Lotus Foundations, such as POP, IMAP, SMTP, IP-based printing, Web, and FTP servers
• Explain the high-level architecture of Lotus Foundations Start
• Discuss integrated applications available for Lotus Foundations, such as Samba, Apache, PPTP and intelligent database backup
• Explain the hardware and software requirements for Lotus Foundations Start

Highlights

• Knowledge of product installation and operation
• Live instructor-led lectures
• Hands-on lab exercises that will:

• >> Install the core product on a third-party hardware platform
• >> Conduct package installations and configuration of server applications
• >>Install and configure client applications
• >> Administer the Lotus Foundations server including account setup, disk configuration, integrated services facilitation, and user account creation and removal from the Web
• >> Perform system recovery

Prerequisites: This workshop is for people who will install, configure, and maintain Lotus Foundations. Suggested skills and knowledge are:

• Basic familiarity with Lotus Foundations
• Computer application and installation
• Familiarity with Internet terminology
• Experience with Lotus Domino and Lotus Notes (optional)

Virtual workshop participants:

• Must have Internet access using a high speed connection
• Lectures will be via interactive instruction voice over IP (VoIP)
• Noise canceling headset and microphone for improved VoIP interaction
• Should consider having a telephone as backup

This is a technical class and does not include a product introduction. ****************************************************************************

Other news:
Lotus Australia is having their annual Sales conference (sorry... Sales University) this week at a top-secret location somewhere south of the border in the Yarra Valley. These events are a quite excellent opportunity to rub shoulders with assorted Australian Lotii and possibly even pick up some web marketing tips from older and wiser Business Partners.

Belinda and Adam are coming also and while I'm soaking up the technology and industry gossip they'll be checking out wildlife parks and doing all of the things that these Resorts offer but us conference attendees never get around to doing. Adam's pretty good at putt-putt for a three year old, but somehow I couldn't find the link for the putt-putt course on their list of local golf courses. I'll ask at reception when we check in.

All of that means that I won't be blogging for the rest of this week but if all goes well I'll be back next Monday with more Foundations goodies to share.
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