The hardware and software SMBs need to succeed

Hi there,

I've been struggling with this comment for a while since the above article was written. Let me start off by saying that I think Jon Honeyball is normally right on the mark especially in this article with his assessment of the current offering of cloud services and let's face it, he has probably forgotten more than most of us will ever know about computers. To be honest in my case he has probably forgotten 10 x more than what I know about computers at a conservative guess. But to paraphrase what he said "If Microsoft is the answer to your question then you are asking the wrong question."

Obviously Microsoft are big in the business arena and depending on who you believe they have 50% - 80% of business e-mail systems. However to mention the Kerio Mailserver as an alternative to Outlook but not mentioning Lotus Domino / Notes as an option is a bit of an oversight. The SMB may not have Windows 2003 Server installed - perhaps they have decided to go to Linux or they have Unix. Not a problem Domino works on those but Exchange doesn't. It doesn't matter what computers your workers have either there are clients for all the widely used OS's including Windows, Linux and Mac. I have used Notes for a while now and I would be the first to admit that it could be a bit clunky and the User Interface wasn't all it could be. The latest versions however are pretty slick UI wise.

Jon also mentions the Collaboration side of things that can be done by using Mail Groups - absolutely true and Domino does that as well. He then goes on to say that to increase your collaboration (or was it productivity?) software then you get into serious money. Not with Domino. No extra server or software needed - it's all there straight out of the box - along with sample templates that can be used. No extra Client Licenses required either. If the template is not there you can alter it using a Designer Client although this may only be available on Windows - I'm not sure.

One of the big advantages that I've experienced is that all the older Notes databases will work with the newer versions of the Server so you can have mixed environments in terms of Domino and Notes Versions. I tweaked one of the "Teamroom" templates 6 years ago and it still works fine at least 4 versions later (although I must admit it is starting to look it's age). I have even used more modern versions of the Notes Client than the Domino Server and it STILL worked fine. Upgrades work great - you put in the CD / DVD and hit "Setup", away it goes and 15 - 30 minutes later you are on the latest version of the software on the Server or the Client. I understand that is not the case with Exchange / Outlook where you can end up having to rebuild your Mail Servers when you upgrade.

Also included is your productivity software, Lotus Symphony, again available for the popular Operating Systems - Windows, Mac and Linux and as far as I know they all look the same regardless of what OS you use. I've heard but don't know for a fact that this is not the case for MS Office - apart from the fact that MS Office does not have a Linux option. Lotus Symphony has some tie-in with the OpenOffice code and like OpenOffice it has the same price - it's free to download from the IBM site.

I understand that Lotus have also introduced a "one-stop shop" box called I think the Foundations Server which covers all the stuff that Jon mentions in the article including Anti-Virus and Automatic Back-Up. It's supposed to even be able to fix it's own faults. I don't know how this works in practice but it might be worth having a look at it as a subject as a future review.

With all the recent coverage that Outlook has had in PC Pro how about addressing the balance and looking at the sort of stuff that can be developed using Lotus Domino and Notes? There is a 90 day trial on the Server Software, the Designer and the Notes Client - it would definitely be worth a look.

I'm sorry this has turned out a bit long but trying to cover all the points that I could from Jon's article means this is a necessarily long comment.

By jtlindsay1 on 27 Aug 2009

Lotus Foundations Server

Hi Jon,
jtlindsay1 is spot on with his recollections about LFS being: simple to install, simple to use, robust, secure and - most important for small business - VERY cost efficient. I would be happy to meet up to discuss/demo LFS to you, but in the meantime you might like to check out: http://www-01.ibm.com/software/lotus/products/foun
dations/start/ for base information. Best regards jeffpclark@uk.ibm.com

By JeffPClark on 28 Aug 2009