Lotus Notes Is Still Thriving -- or Is It?
I recall covering the launch of Lotus Notes two decades ago, when many companies were using it to improve their productivity. IBM's $3.5 billion investment in Lotus Development Corp. has served it well, even as it is now seen by many as a legacy platform.
Nevertheless I was surprised to read a report in The Wall Street Journal Monday that it was a $1.2 billion business, according to IDC, as of 2011. IBM, which yesterday exceeded analyst forecasts with revenues of $29.3 billion for the quarter ended Dec. 31 and earnings of $6.1 billion, said its Lotus business grew 9 percent for the period.
However, company officials didn't refer to Notes in its discussion with analysts yesterday, according to a transcript of its earnings call. Rather it referred obliquely to its social business offerings such as Connections as well as Kenexa, a cloud-based talent management and recruiting platform the company acquired last month. IBM is placing a big bet on social communications, perhaps hoping it will marginalize e-mail.
That leads me to wonder, how many enterprises are still using the Lotus Domino and Notes portfolio as their core messaging platform? Moreover do you intend to stick with it or are you looking to move to a hosted offering? If so which one? Or perhaps you're considering a move to the forthcoming Exchange Server 2013 and SharePoint 2013 tandem? Feel free to comment or drop me a line at [email protected].
Posted by Jeffrey Schwartz on 01/23/2013 at 1:14 PM