Simon Scullion

Bruce has posted a quote which got me thinking….

“No IdeaJam is not the issue, just people afraid of Domino applications as they have only been exposed to lousy ones in the past”

Putting it mildly I’d say!

I’m a strong believer that the “bad reputation” suffered by Notes is far too often due to shocking Notes app development. That can include every aspect from programming to UI. All too often this is extended to Domino apps, aided by the mess that Domino makes of web development if we leave it to its own devices.

So a question for you. How many times have you seen an experienced web developer brought in to help on a Domino project? Exactly! Time and again its the original Notes developer asked to “put that app on the intranet”.

And I’m not trying to say that a PHP developer or the like could come in and work magic with Domino. Just that good results depend on the Notes developer adding new tools to the toolbox. At the same time, employers need to recognise the breadth of knowledge required to be a competent Notes Domino developer with the latest releases.

Xpages can save the world!

Bruce goes on to ask whether Xpages are the answer. In one word, No. The introduction of XPages, like composite apps, and even web services before it, just add to the problem IMHO.

If Notes developers aren’t already up on their CSS, Javascript, etc, then they’re not up to building respectable Domino apps, let alone taking advantage of XPages.

I’m not so sure it can be solved simply providing CSS themes or samples either. There are plenty of examples out there. Notes Domino developers need to be prepared to explore new areas, outside of Domino Designer, and then come back and work in what they have learnt. Those doing this are ready for XPages, like any of the new features that have come before.

I’ll sum it up in one word. Attitude.

A penny for your thoughts!

So what can we do about it? The Lotus blogsphere is only the tip of the iceberg. We all recognise that there are far more developers out there that don’t even read the blogs or forums, and aren’t privy to all our ranting and raving! We need to reach them to solve this problem.

Sample apps with a few “Wow, how can Notes do that!? Can I have it in my XYZ app?” features, to help push these developers into pastures new can only be a good thing.

But if Lotus were to show users and management what all this new “stuff” is really capable of, with some must-have, must-use, out-of-the-box templates, that really demonstrate the capabilities bringing a benefit to the business, then that would certainly help.

As Bruce’s quote attests, in today’s economic climate, business will not invest in new product, let alone new features, if they don’t see a clear benefit. Something only compounded if they have been scarred in the past.

Notes and Domino developers need to be forced out of their comfort zone, pushed by business drivers demanding functionality delivered through the new features. Lotus for their part, need to regain the confidence of the developers with a polished product, avoiding some of the disappointments and frustrations in prior versions.

My money is on it taking some time.

PS: One more thought, do other technologies suffer the same problems?

This caught my eye via google alerts, emphasis is mine.

In a perfect world, all email clients would render our designs the way we intended it to be. Seeing as how browser compatibility for the web is still some way off, email client standardization would be eons away from reaching display nirvana.

Together with Outlook 2007, Lotus Notes is a very difficult email client to comply your designs with.

I left a comment explaining how Lotus Notes 8 is somewhat improved in this area.

Source: Online Marketing Business Blog: HTML Email and Lotus Notes

Content from this Web site that is not provided under an agreement, such Content is not provided as “public domain”; you may use such Content for your personal, non-commercial use only and only in connection with your use of XXXXX.

Yes, afraid so, its IBM with their Terms of Use on the Lotus Symphony website.

So, basically that means the plugins, and the templates, can only be used for personal tasks, not at work, and only using Symphony! Oh, and don’t forget, these are, on the whole, user contributions.

Lets step back a minute. This software comes embedded within a leading enterprise collaboration tool, uses open standards, and its manufacturer is pushing interoperability…..

Doesn’t quite add up for me, and certainly not in the spirit of things…..!

Whats the alternative? If I have a template or plugin I want to share, do I have to host it myself, away from symphony.lotus.com, where it is obviously going to get the same visability?

Enough said, come on IBM, you can do better than this!

Via Shadow Logs.

I noticed this yesterday, the embedded Sametime client in Notes 8 is now able to connect to extst.ibm.com.

If this is actually new to anyone, IBM has an externally facing Sametime server, to which anyone with an IBM registration can login, and chat with IBMers internally.

The server to connect to is extst.ibm.com using your IBM username and password. It should work from behind a firewall or proxy over port 80.

Good news, and watch out all the IBM peeps!!

Then promote the idea and sign the petition.

Dear Mr. Jobs,

We love the iPhone. But we are frustrated that you have focused your attention for Enterprise customers on Microsoft shops, while effectively snubbing IBM Lotus technologies, who remains a strong player with over 40% of the global messaging market.

Maybe of us already support thousands of Blackberry and Windows Mobile devices in an enterprise context and, particularly in light of your new pricing announcements, would love to transition our users to the iPhone. We understand that it could be a powerful business tool especially for our corporate leaders.

IBM leadership has stated that they are in communication with you about improving integration, but that they must work at a closer level than the SDK provides for today. Please help IBM enable the millions and millions of current Lotus customers to take advantage of your wonderful device.

Thank you.

I simply don’t understand why Apple would want to alienate such a huge chunk of the market, basically gifting it to Blackberry.

Wow, what a great week!

Firstly I must join the ranks of all those heaping thanks on the team that made the event possible, Paul, Eileen, Kitty, Warren, Bill, Tom, Matt, Julian, and Rob. This may be a free to attend event, but that takes nothing away from the organisation, and quality of the sessions.

Choosing the sessions to attend was a no-win situation, there were too many I wanted to see, but which coincided. Again, not the fault of the agenda, rather a reflection on the quality of the speakers and their sessions.

I got a lot out of the 3 days, both technically and personally. It was great to meet in person so many names from the blogs. There are too many of you to mention, as I’d only forget someone! You know who you are!

Some highlights then:

• Alan’s opening session. Entertaining jabs at twitter, and thought-provoking insights into what IBM Lotus are working on for the future. I’d have loved to have been able to quiz him further, as I see the culture change needed for successful adoption of social software as currently the biggest challenge.
• Speedsponsoring. What a great way of “forcing” sponsors and delegates together! Well done to all the sponsors who had a shot at this, it was almost enjoyable for us too!
• Speedgeeking. The first time I had experienced this, it lived up to expectations! While far more difficult than it must appear, its something that must be fun to have a go at. Now just to find something vaguely interesting to rant about 20 times in an hour!
• The Guinness. This was my first time to Ireland, and so tasting the real thing was pretty special for me. Not something to be taken for granted!

I do feel I’m being a little unfair in just picking out a few of my personal highlights, there was so much I enjoyed that I haven’t mentioned!

Anyway, thanks to all of you who said “Hi” and put up with me during the week, and hope to meet you all again some place soon, if not, ILUG2009!?

As many others, today I am off to Dublin to attend ILUG2008.

I get in this evening before heading to check-in at the Camden Court Hotel. I hope to arrive in time for a pint or two of the black stuff, so hope to meet some of you later!

I am really looking forward to getting over there, never been to Dublin before, and hoping to meet some of the people behind all the blogs I have been reading for so long!

So if you see a lost-looking, self-confessed ILUG newb, please go easy on me and say hi!

This should be a must read for all Lotus developers, even those of us who consider ourselves experienced.

There are so many badly designed and developed Notes applications out there, giving the technology - and by implication also us as developers - a bad name, that sometimes I think it wise that we revise even the most basic concepts from a best practice perspective.

This white paper addresses the most important and most serious factors affecting IBM® Lotus® Notes® and Domino® application performance. It is intended for developers of Notes client applications, to help them maximize performance by identifying problem areas and by offering solutions.

In this article:

• Introduction
• General principles
• Database-level performance considerations
• Formula performance
• Form design
• Views
• Code
• Testing
• Use Profile documents
• Conclusion

Direct link to the PDF

Via Per Henrik Lausten

Registered and recieved my email confirmation already, wow, that was quick guys!

So, looking forward to it all ready, now to book flights and hotel!

Dublin here we come!

Warning, this is a bit of a gripe post!

Why is it that the dates for Lotus events in Spain always seem to be the last to appear!? Spain isn’t even on the list for the Lotusphere Comes to You events, which I hope that is just temporary!

It could go quite some way to explain why the Lotus community here in Spain has struggled for so long. I just hope that all the effort of late from those behind Spanish Lotus User Group - SLUG.es, are matched by IBM Lotus.