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I find myself saying this too often to people who don’t work for a company that used Notes. One might think I hate giving the speech about WHY I use Notes but the truth is that I see it as an opportunity to share a great story.

Last night I met up with another IT guy for drinks who was surprised to hear I was down in FL for a conference from Lotus. Interestingly enough, I found that my “yes, I use Lotus Notes” speech was MUCH longer and more empassioned a few days after Lotusphere.

The poor guy wasn’t asking for the run down I gave him but at the end of it he had to admit he was intrigued enough to want to go back to the office and ask why THEY weren’t using Notes.

Mission accomplished!

The last time I attended a BOF session at Lotusphere was two years ago (a blog session). They’re really not my “thing” because by that time of the day, I have slight information overload and there’s always some event I want to get to for the evening. Last night’s BOF was no exception, however I felt that as a blogging member of both the Apple and Notes communities, I needed to at least appear.

There was a nearly packed room of Notes & Apple enthusiasts. It was clear that the room represented a “need” for iPhone support and that the majority of the room had installed and been VERY pleased with Notes 8.5. The usual questions came up: “when will Designer be available,” “when will Admin be available” and “when will true iPhone support happen?” (Answers: “Someday – its Eclipse now,” “probably never (use the web admin tools)” and “soon!” respectively).

I walked away from the session both late for a business partner event – and also impressed. Lotus/IBM have really done what they said they’d do in the last several months: delivered releases across OS’s at the same time; shown up in surprising places to do marketing that really attracts attention; not treat Mac users as second class – rather as early adopters of a growing trend.

One final note – one of the attendees asked the room how stable they felt 8.5 on the Mac was. Response was (I thought) positive. Personally, I was quick to raise my hand to vote that it was “very solid.”

Later that evening, I went to check emails and was greeted with the following error messages. I actually found this funny (and attribute it to other stuff that has crashed – and my reluctance to reboot for the last few days). I also was pleased to see this crash process take place vs. the eclipse error that falls off my screen which was in the beta. Again … another improvement. Although this is one I hope to not see often.

I spent some time (OK, a lot of time) in the usability lab at LS09. One of the things I got to see was Sametime 8.5, running on an iPhone.

This isn’t inteded to be a full blown application – just a web version. The UI is really shapping up nicely. Its very intuitive and they’ve come up with a few handy tricks to make it even easier to use. There’s just one problem: its a website. The second you close your iPhone you no longer will get messages.

Now… the intended use isn’t to be a mobile Sametime client that goes with you (which I would use the heck out of, if I had it), rather a way to access IM services while mobile. That’s still handy.

I haven’t spent a lot of time with other IM apps for the iPhone – mainly because none of them support Sametime and that’s really the only IM software I use anymore; so I’m not sure how those applications handle getting messages when you’re phone is “closed.” I know that a lot of the opportunity to provide a good way of handling this lies on Apple. By their own admission, there needs to be a way to deliver IM alerts to you as simply and efficiently (saving battery life, etc.) as text messages happen on the device today. I honestly don’t know how well other apps are doing that today – but can certainly understand that it would be a HUGE incumbrance to Lotus’ deployment of a true Sametime client app on the iPhone as well.

But they’re smart guys and gals – they’ll figure it out.

Tags: iphone, ls09, sametime

Finally!

As recent as last night, I found myself talking with a group of people from Lotusphere about when true iPhone support would come for Notes/Domino users. It is safe to say that by Tuesday, most everyone interested in the topic had heard Ed Brill say something about future support for ActiveSync (and my favorite quote from him was something like ‘… we said we’d support ActiveSync in a future Traveler release… I guess you could use that to connect an iPhone’).

I’m thrilled about this news – even if there is no ETA. Now, I’ve been… eh… let’s say “challenged” … by people at IBM in the past about my strong stance on the need for iPhone support beyond uber-lite. Various persons from IBM that I’ve talked to have often reminded me about the dominance of BlackBerry in the enterprise and the long list of other perfectly good (notice I didn’t say “great”) mobile phones. Those are good points. However, Lotus is doing something incredibly smart with this announcement… something I didn’t expect, think of, or request… they’re adding ActiveSync support to Travler.

My organization uses GOOD for mobile PIM connectivity. We’ve tried lots of other solutions and that’s the one that fit the best. We also have an interest in Traveler, but, while its a very strong product, we stay committed to GOOD because we can’t justify the transition on any feature improvements (infact, we’re still trying to figure out the final answer on wether or not Traveler supports global address books). But this announcement changes that perspective completely.

Beyond the sheer power the iPhone offers through its ease of use and outstanding applications, its use of a full featured (sans flash) web browser means that I can get to nearly any website I need. Including web-faced Domino apps, Quickr, etc. Sure, some optimization would be nice — but doing that development work for ONE platform (iPhone) is much easier. And doing it with a head start (the rendering ability of a full Safari web browser) means it doesn’t take the entire IT staff to deliver mobile applications.

Couple this huge benefit of using the iPhone vs. other devices with the now upcoming Notes support – and the value proposition of using Traveler vs. anything else suddenly is a no-brainer. AND I can transition existing users/devices to Traveler first if needed, then to an iPhone (to help manage cash flow for buying new devices).

Score one for Lotus! This is an exciting announcement and a brilliant plan. Well done!

Tags: domino, iphone, lotus, notes, qucikr, safari

Under the category of: “stuff I don’t want to admit is wrong with my Apple products…”

My MacBookPro has been having a battery issue lately. This is due either to voiding the heck outta the warranty to get the drive space upgrade I needed, or a battery that’s nearing the end of its life. The result has been a more heavy dependence on my iPhone.

I didn’t realize just how much I’d be using this device down here. Twitter, email, contacts, brightkite, the LS09 app (which is SOOO much nicer than carrying one more book), camera, photos, beamMe (business card xfer), iNotes uberlite and, oh yeah, phone calls.

This has given me a whole new appreciation for the already-huge appreciation I had for this device… with one tiny exception: battery life. Ugh. I’ve yet to deplete it completely, but I’ve seen it get lower than ever before. To compensate, I’ve stopped using brightkite (which does a lot of GPS) and check email a few times less.

Kinda makes me wonder what the deal is with Mac/Apple/iPhone batteries in my life.

Tags: battery, iphone, lotusphere, ls09

An odd thing happened in my first session today… I heard someone say “… blog post about things to do to get applause down here.” I wondered if someone else came up with the idea also, or if he was talking about my post. Either way, during the first session of the morning, I found myself inspired to create another helpful list of sorts – this time of things you should, or should not, do as a LS presenter. Enjoy:

• DO shut off ALL IM programs. All of them.
• DO shut off weather alert software
• DON’T keep Skype logged in
• DO your Windows updates the night before
• DON’T put your start bar in the “moron” position (I have to admit – I’ve now heard ONE explanation for why to do this that made it seem a bit less like a silly idea.)
• DON’T run your presentation off your battery only if its at <60% when you get started
• DO pick a WiFi status (on and connected or off completely)
• DON’T put your screen in anything higher than 1024×768, its just too tough to see in big rooms
• DON’T use a beta or alpha build of the thing you’re doing a demo on – when you’re in a session about “what’s new” in the most recent version release of software.

Tags: lotusphere, ls09

I realized today that there is a sort of “fool proof formula” for obtaining applause at Lotusphere! You simply need to do a few of the following things. Hopefully this helps some of you who are presenting. 

• Take any function/process that everyone hates – and fix it
• Show editors for inline complete of javascript, xml, html, etc.
• Pause for 3 seconds after you do something in your demo
• Ask: “Do you want that?” when showing an upcoming feature
• Do a demo in 5 minutes of something that today takes us 1 day to create, 2 to test and 3 to debug
• Let Maureen do the presenting (she’s always got great stuff!)
• XPages. Any time you talk or demo about it – you win
• Mention ANYTHING about support for Mac’s
• Mention ANYTHING about support for the iPhone
• Copy/paste a replica ID

Tags: lotusphere, ls09

I just sat through Ed Brill’s session on the future direction of Notes. I’ve kept up with his blog and shared a few spirited (in a positive way) emails with him over the year – but it dawned on my today that I had never seen him speak at Lotusphere. I set out to change that and I’m glad I did. He did an excellent job presenting and is one of those rare speakers you enjoy listening to for a long period of time.

The session was really what I thought was missing out of the OGS. They covered details about where Notes/Domino is going; highlighted features in 8.5; talked about some specifics in the next release; etc. They also talked about IBM/Lotus’ overall vision and philosophy – which really helps explain a lot of what they’ve been doing lately. He talked about how they are working to sort of “pop up” in unusual places, like Macworld. Its a good plan because it gets Lotus in front of end-users with their message (which has been something I’ve said would be a great idea for years now). IBM/Lotus is very happy with their results so far (Ed cited a few articles from a variety of sources that covered product announcements in the last several months). That’s all really positive stuff and frame their mindset as they go to market.

But by far THE MOST EXCITING thing they SHOWED was an iPhone using ActiveSync to connect with a Domino server. The demo was almost lackluster because it worked so well. They opened mail, calendar and contacts – all of which were connected to a Domino source using ActiveSync. VERY impressive!

They said that they weren’t in a position to make an announcement, which means no ETA has been established. Still, it was increadibly exciting to see that its being worked on (and appears to look VERY close to usable!)

Tags: iphone

Update: I attended a session this afternoon which provided the components of the OGS which I thought were missing. The two together have prompted me to change my opinion here. I now have a better understanding of why the OGS was structured the way it was (although they probably could have lifted 5 minutes of content about the direction of Notes/Domino from the INV102 session). I suggest reading that entry first, and then coming back to this one with the understanding that I’ve eased up a bit on my original thoughts.  -KH 1.19.2008 @ 2:45PM EST

The Lotusphere 2009 Opening General Session just finished and, as much as I honestly hate to say this, I can sum it up with one word: disappointing.

Normally, I have 8-12 pages of notes after this session; I want to redo my schedule selection because I’m so excited about new announcements; and I’m just so completely excited and enthusiastic that I start to “get” why people wear those “I bleed yellow” t-shirts. This year? Not so much.

I think Lotus was really trying to shift the OGS from being a demo session “lite” (which we all actually like) and be something that tells the story about their product portfolio. They also talked very little about the direction of Notes/Domino. Infact, hardly anything was mentioned about the Domino server at all.

Some of the highlights:

• 12,236 new Notes customers since the launch of version 8 (impressive!)
• 2% more attendance at Lotusphere this year vs. last (take THAT recession!)
• “Bluehouse” is now “LotusLive Engage” – gone is the cool logo. Instead, it now has both a very Microsoft name and font logo.
• “Alloy” is the new name for Project Atlantic – a sort of joint venture between Notes and SAP
• LinkedIn appeared throughout various slides
• Sametime looks like its getting some BIG improvements! Zero footprint. Great telephony integration. Slick interface. Looks great – can’t wait to use it! My team and I actually decided we need further evaluate this and potentially revamp some of our Cisco strategy.
• “Stuff’ (connections, LotusLive, etc.) works on the iPhone (’cause it has a browser)
• BlackBerry, BlackBerry, BlackBerry, BlackBerry, BlackBerry. (Lotus wants you to say that four times every time you THINK about the iPhone. It was really quite frustrating – the amount of focus they put on the BB and lack of mention of anything helpful for the iPhone.)
• Quickr for Domino will get ECM integration in the next release
• WebSphere – this section compelled people to leave, yet again. I’m really surprised at how many people get up and leave when this starts.
• Integration – its clear that Lotus/IBM have spent A LOT of time getting all of their apps to work together well. Connections, Quickr, LotusLive Engage, Sametime – all of it works together well and will continue to do so in the future.

One other item that’s worth noting is the use of Twitter. The “#LS09″ flag allowed people to tweet realtime throughout the event. I can’t imagine being a presenter and getting instant feedback like that. When its good feedback, I’m sure it helps the energy build – when its not, its got to make things that much worse.

Overall, the feedback I’ve been hearing from people has been surprisingly split. IBM/Lotus employees and business partners seem to be saying that it was the best OGS in a long time. Nearly all of the other people I’ve talked to who are customers completely disagree. I’m hearing people complain about the lack of new announcements for the Notes Client, Domino and Administrator. I’m hearing positive things about Sametime, but a mixed interest in Connections and disappointment in improvements for Quickr. Even the Mac crowd seems to be subdued … most likely largely due to the fact that they now have a great Notes client (and can shut up about wanting one – myself included, btw) and the disappointment about NOT hearing an announcement about an iPhone PIM application (and the repetition of “BlackBerry” throughout the morning didn’t help.)

So there you have it — I’m anxious to hear what others thought as the week goes on. So far (yesterday and the one I’m in now), the sessions have been outstanding. I’d also offer that I had my hopes up for the OGS since the decision was made to announce 8.5 at MacWorld … I assumed Lotus had more surprises up their sleve for their own conference.

Tags: Apple / Mac, iphone, lotusphere, ls09, mac, notes, ogs, quickr, sametime

After being pulled due to some bugs, the LS09 app is back on the iTunes app store. It’s a nice app for checking up on sessions, speakers and abstracts. A nice mobile companion to the quick guide in your badge kit.

Below are a few screen shots. It’s also worth noting that my battery life indicator would suggest that I’m using my iPhone a bit too much if I expect to get through the day. Must be the GPS tracking with BrightKite (“Netcot” if you want to follow).

Tags: iphone, lotusphere