That’s not the case at all.

Sure, I still run Mac’s at home and I’m not interested in changing that, but as a word device, my 64-bit Windows 7 environment makes everything much easier. Network drives? No problem. Cisco/Sametime integration – check. Quickr connectors? Eh, don’t go there.

So while I once called this move going to “the dark side” I have to admit I’ve only benefited from the change. In fact besides the overwhelming sense of being cool, the only thing I miss from the Mac environment is quick look and expose/spaces.

It was interesting to think about all this on the drive in this morning and then see an article about the Top 10 Reasons Apple is the future of IT. I get the point and I’m open to the idea in our environment but my own personal experiences as a HUGE Mac fan suggest that in our environment (which has lots of IBM, Cisco and Lotus Notes based utilities), its not something that makes as much sense as Win7, XP or even Vista.

The book is great and relevant even today (despite being printed circa 1993). I really like the format which is straight to the point and easy to plow through quickly or have on hand during down-time (aka “conference calls” – j/k). Here are some examples of what’s inside:

• Be nice to receptionists – if they like you, they can help you. If they don’t, they can hurt you.
• Brag about someone to another person – that person is bound to find out.
• Never take a problem to your boss without some solutions.
• Don’t write memos of more than one page – use graphics wherever possible.

All good stuff. I’d recommend picking up a copy.

Articles on InfoBOOM are nice and short, so I won’t retrace Dan’s steps other than to say that I agree with his perspective 100%! Many people throughout organizations (most of which are often found in your Accounting/Finance departments) are drawn into fancy presentations about BI tools that will easily allow you to slice and dice your business information effortlessly and without the help of heavy lifting from IT. Nothing could be further from the truth!

Dan touches on some key topics around a successful BI implementation and how IT is still the cornerstone of deploying and managing a BI tool within an organization. I encourage you to check out this article and join in on the discussion!

As Ed pointed out in his blog, it was a bit odd that I ended up writing about Notes while he wrote about social media (those topics ended up being chosen completely independent from one another). Now that his article is posted on theInfoBOOM.com I think Ed was quite right in saying that our selection of topics gave us each a more authentic voice. If Ed would have talked about Notes, it could have been perceived as an ad. Likewise, if I would have talked about blogging/social media – it would have had far less of an impact since my posts come from the perspective of someone outside of Lotus/IBM.

Its a good article and I encourage you to go read it and post a comment.

Oh… and see you at Lotusphere! (If you’re like me, you’re frantically finishing up as many projects as possible to have a clear mind down there … and in anticipation of coming back with hundreds of new ideas!)

Hearing that comment couldn’t have come at a better time. I was struggling to come up with a topic for an article I was writing for theinfoboom.com and this prompted me to have a clear topic to talk about. In the required “300 words or less” I focused on some of the best real-world examples for how & why our company continues to use Lotus Notes in an attempt to help demonstrate that it is FAR from a tarnished brand; rather a thriving product!

Please take a moment to check out this article and leave a comment. In addition, I’ll be hosting a hour on-line chat session Thursday December 10th at 8am central – please join in on that as well if you can!

Your participation will not only help foster some good discussion, but also help me make a point about the power of getting these types of messages out in the IT community at large, specifically to companies who have dismissed Notes based on some very old misconceptions.

Lotus technologies are the “secret sauce” to the IT dishes our company serves up. And NO, Lotus Notes isn’t just email, there’s so much more! Here are some real-world examples of how and why it is such a powerful component of how we deliver outstanding IT systems…

Mobility & Flexibility
The entire Lotus Notes client can run off a USB memory stick! Simply plug in the USB stick into any computer and an icon appears on the desktop allowing the user to access the full Lotus Notes client experience without installing any software to that computer! Our users can now access Lotus Notes at home or from another computer if they ever have a hardware failure on their primary machine. For users who simply need email access, each email file includes an “iNotes” version which can be accessed via the web. The web interface is nearly identical to their Notes client, so there’s no learning curve!

Operating system agnostic
We have a mix of Windows XP, Vista, 7, Linux and even Mac users in our organization. ALL of these users are able to have the exact same email and application experience by using the Lotus Notes client. The only differences between these operating systems are found in core components (title bars, scroll bars, etc.).

iPhone
Apple’s wonder-phone is closing in quickly on RIM’s BlackBerry devices. With Lotus’ Traveler utility running on your Lotus Domino server your users can use a variety of mobile devices (Windows Mobile, Symbian and many more) including the iPhone! Traveler integrates directly into the iPhone’s mail, calendar and contacts applications and the result is a fast, easy and secure way to access your information … when you’re not playing games, of course.

Getting business done!
Have an ERP or legacy system you need to connect Notes to? No problem. The Lotus Enterprise Integrator (LEI)  is a low-cost solution that is easy to use. Simply point it to your data, establish the type of data link and BOOM your systems are integrated giving Notes a powerful connection to your other key business systems.

Application Development – Easy and Free
Development in Lotus Notes is easy and free with the recent announcement of no additional cost for the Lotus Designer client. Just about anyone can easily design a Notes application in a short period of time – its that easy. However, don’t think that means its “limited” – its not. With support for JavaScript, Java, Lotuscript, XML and much more, Lotus Notes is as powerful as you need it to be!

Cost Cutting
There are many different types of Lotus licensing available making it a cost-effective product for just about anyone. Small/Medium organizations might want to look into Lotus Foundations an all-in-one server solution that is an integrated email, VPN, firewall and file/print solution that’s self-healing, easy to setup and even backed-up all within the one device. Think of it as an “IT department in a box!”

Powerful Web Tools
Notes has progressively become a better web-friendly system. The addition of Xpages allows developers to build powerful, web 2.0 applications within the Notes Designer. There’s even built-in Ajax functionality alongside tools that support CSS, XML, etc. (etc. is not a web standard – didn’t want you to think you had something new to learn).

What’s more, the developer community for Notes is building their own cool applications – many of which you can download for free. The ext.nd project is based on ExtJS and gives you an easy jump-start to web enabling databases with a very contemporary, intuitive user interface that instantly gives users lots of dynamic functionality on the web. There’s also plenty of applications to download from OpenNTF.org, a community of web developers who produce fantastic Notes apps (many web-enabled) for free download.

Project Management & Collaboration
Lotus Quickr offers a web based project management & collaboration system. The result is an easy-to-use, highly configurable utility for managing project teams. Quickr “places” (project sites in Quickr) allow users to control access/security, store files in a library, create/manage gantt charts, calendars and even write their own custom forms.

Quickr also includes “Connectors” – software integration that works with Windows Explorer, Microsoft Office, Lotus Notes and many more. Connectors allow you to check in/out documents from a Quickr place without having to leave the software you’ll use to view/edit the document.

Like much of the Lotus software there’s a strong community around Quickr – and that community is so passionate about the power of the software that they provide free stuff! Quickrtemplates.com offers a number of free Quickr place types (customized Quickr site types for specific uses, like wiki’s, contact management and corporate communications) that will let you quickly download, install and launch great Quickr functionality in your organization.

Lotus software offers so much more than I’m able to type out – or you’re willing to read. The bottom line is this: people who hear “Lotus” and think “Lotus Notes – that old email system” are missing out. Lotus software offers some amazing software and has a community around it that makes the software even more powerful. With systems like Notes, Quickr, etc. you’ll be able to easily, quickly, and cost-effectively make a dramatic change in your IT application landscape. Before you know it, you’ll suddenly realize why its the secret sauce behind powerful applications.

One presentation stuck out as particularly interesting to me, thus the re-link below. Yes, its 112 slides, but it goes quickly. I highly recommend checking it out.

With the release of Lotus Notes/Traveler support for the iPhone we have seen an amazing amount of interest. We have limited our deployment of iPhones to ensure we do our due diligence of testing it in our environment but continue to have daily inquiries about the status of that testing. I’ve never seen so many people interested in “beta testing” something for our group. I’ve also NEVER seen people offer to pay for the device out of their own pocket if they can simply get one with their company-issued cell phone number attached. I’ve even had a few people who have asked if they can buy the device AND pay the additional monthly service costs, if any.

Hmmm… perhaps I’m sitting on a profit center and don’t even know it?

This report suggests not only that there continues to be a strong migration to the iPhone (although, not necessarily at the expense moving away from RIM) but that the customer satisfaction for using the iPhone continues to be very strong… an item I find interesting in light of a variety of articles suggesting that as many as 30% of iPhone calls are dropped (I’ve never experienced anything anywhere near that number).

Regardless, I find it interesting that a device which has nominally changed in three generations (face it, it hasn’t changed significantly) still has so much interest that people are still wanting to migrate to it; love it when they have it; and willing to pay out of their own pocket so they can have it. Amazing!

And if anyone ever dismisses social media sites … I would argue they aren’t going to be very successful in business very long.

Box 1: Managing the Present. Items here are all about improving efficiency, productivity, etc. He states that this is the area where most people focus their attention, especially when sales can be off 50-70% in many cases; however he cautions to not spend all of your time there.

Box 2: Selectively forgetting the past. This is where I was instantly drawn to the article. There are so many topics in any organization that just never die. I like the idea of grouping them together and killing them in order to make way for “new.”

Box 3: Creating the future. Here Dr. G. distinguishes between “adjacency innovation,” a less risky type because it often relates to your core business, and “breakout innovation” where you are going multiple steps outside of your core business.

We’ve all been taught to think outside of the box for so long that I found this an interesting way to both do that, yet compartmentalize thoughts into a methodical approach designed to manage your way through today, forget yesterday and look to tomorrow.

Apply to your role as needed.