I'm backing IBM to win in the collaboration space

I have been a Lotus Notes consultant for 17 years now. That's a long time for a product to exist in the IT product market (actually it's been around since 1989 I think); so it's worth examining why it's still around, and why it is still the market leader in the collaboration space.

For me, the number one reason is its flexibility, continued evolution, and the stark fact that it was a brilliant product concept that others are still trying to match. Actually, that's three reasons :-)

Flexibility

Although Notes was originally developed as a big company product, and had a price tag to match, in fact it is applicable in organizations of all sizes. It's scalability is legendary as it's ability to work on all sorts of platforms. Want to runit on a Linux Server, Windows Desktop and Mac Laptop? No problem: you can use them all; and get basically the same functionality and common look and feel across them all. Add in the support for mobile devices and you really do have a one-size-fits-all approach.

Evolution

I've scratched my head and I cannot bring to mind a product that has changed so much over the years whilst having never changed its basic architecture, abandoned any of its users and their data, or required a rip and replace upgrade. Unlike other companies, Lotus has always adopted an approach that secures backwards capabilities in new releases. Of course that has not always been perfect: e.g. when the macro language interpreter was re-written and some applications stopped working. In their defence though, this was because developers had exploited undocumented functionality.

Product Concept

The creation of Notes/Domino was driven by the need for users to be able to collaborate on a shared repository of data regardless of their physical location, their timezone, or the capabilities of their local infrastructure. This spawned a product that replicated a common non-relational object store that could contain just about anything, to all sorts of clients, across communications links that varied from LAN speed local networks to damp pieces of string, with world class security built in from day one. Not bad eh? Also, and critically, THAT REQUIREMENT STILL EXISTS, and STILL ISN'T SATISFIED BY THE COMPETITION.

That's why so many companies that publicly committed to a Microsoft/Google/Oracle etc based solution still have Notes/Domino in daily use in business critical processes. Also, I know from painful personal experience that those companies that migrated 100% LOST CORE BUSINESS CAPABILITIES, which in some cases have never been restored.

Looking Forward

So, at the beginning of 2010 and after another successful Lotusphere (sorry I couldn't make it this year), what does the future hold for IBM and its collaboration strategy?

In the past few years we have seen major enhancements to Notes/Domino, the introduction of the Lotus Foundations appliance (that runs Notes for small businesses) and the launch of the ground breaking Lotus Connections. Admittedly, not everybody I have spoken to about Connections sees it as the game changer that I believe it to be. The market is growing for Business Quality social software that delivers significant enhancements to collaboration amongst disparate, ad-hoc groups of people who don't have a formal relationship but do have a mutual dependency. Remember that it's often the informal relationships and networks that really deliver value to a business. Lotus Connections is the means by which those networks form, evolve and collaborate. The ability to identify the real domain experts, not by their job title but by the fruits of their labours, is fantastic.

Conclusion

On the basis of all the above, I really do believe that IBM, and particularly its Lotus division, truly have the opportunity to continue their domination in the collaboration space. The question is not whether they can do it, it is whether or not they have the passion to succeed.

What do you think? I'd love to hear your perspective.