Last month, IBM revealed that everything that’s left of Lotus – including Lotus Notes, Domino, and Portal – will be sold to India-based company HCL technologies, in a deal worth $1.8 billion. And the reason behind their decision was rather simple: even with some big investments, platforms like Lotus Notes will still lack a lot of the features that are nowadays present in modern enterprise content management systems, as well as content services platforms.

However, it’s worth mentioning that Lotus Notes, for example, was designed in a different era, so the only way to compete with the functionality of newer enterprise content management systems or content services platforms would’ve been to come with something completely new, but use the same name. Still, this requires big investments, which can be intimidating, even for successful companies.

Ok, so what’s next for users?

Technically, there is some good news! It appears that HCL Technologies is planning to invest into Lotus Notes more than IBM did, as soon as some of its biggest issues will be solved. In this case, users who remain faithful have a limited number of options at the moment.

Wait until the transition is complete

It is still unknown what are HCL Technologies’ exact plans for Lotus Notes, but they will definitely put some money into it. In this case, users can choose to stick it out. Sure, there will be some bumps along the road, but there’s no way HCL will abandon the project.

At the moment, since there is no backing from IBM, a lot of developers might feel like abandoning everything, creating a sizeable maintenance risk, but we can’t say that this was unexpected.

Switch to another on-premise Document Management System

If you’ve been using Notes for some time but don’t trust HCL’s abilities to take over the management, it’s obvious that you will start looking for another option. And this is what a lot of people will probably do, as they will want a newer and more modern on-premise document management system.

Sure, this can be a big undertaking, as it presumes migrating files. Still, it will also help minimize any disruptions or service gaps, not to mention that it can provide additional capabilities that the ones currently available with Lotus Notes.

Move files to a cloud-based Content Services Platform

Considering that cloud-based content services platforms, as well as ECMs are very easy to adopt, thanks to the significant advances in cloud software technology and infrastructure, this can be a viable solution for any Lotus Notes users. Still, before doing this, they need to make sure that their platform of choice can meet the same requirements.

The differences between most cloud-based ECMs and Lotus Notes are significant, so long-time users can even have a shock at first. On the other side, they have significantly smaller infrastructure requirements, not to mention that they are cheaper to implement.

To wrap it up, after IBM’s sale of Notes, a lot of users will consider enterprise software options, as well as their long-term content management strategies. On the other side, if you decide to stick to it, you can always use professional help, no matter what kind of service you need.

Since 1996, IB Systems has been an IBM Business Partners, able to provide custom apps for any business, as well as administration or support for Lotus Notes and Domino. Whatever you need, their experience allows them to help!

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The outsourcing of the innovation and marketing of Domino/Lotus Notes has made a noticeable and palpable difference, as the clamoring users must have figured out. The mood in a webcast related to the future course of the longstanding computerized program, organized in the bygone week, was definitely upbeat. Participants in the webcast felt the vibes of a product that was on a comeback trail. Financial investments and unprecedented progress on the innovation front made the participants feel as if a phoenix was rising from the ashes.

Although there is still a lot of ground that has to be covered, but one thing is sure. Lotus Notes in its present avatar can only march onward. Kim Greene, a consultant who has been in this domain for long as one can remember, strongly felt that Domino, after a long time, was being showered with the attention it deserved. The community that had been unflinching adherents of this software application was finally being heard. He added that a change in management was long overdue in the Domino setting and it was ultimately taking roots.

Kim Green has been with Domino through thick and thin and witnessed the ups and downs of IBM i shops which heavily invested in the brand that was originally known as Lotus Notes. He went on to iterate that the deal with HCL has proven to be remarkably effective as of now, and will surely turn out to be an incredibly crucial in the near future. He was of the opinion that had IBM dragged its foot on the pact, the product surely would have become extinct. HCL was handed over the responsibility to oversee the development of the entire product package of the technological behemoth 4 months back.

HCL was successful in stepping up the momentum, thanks to the retention of the hub of product developers. A release of Domino v10 is scheduled towards the latter part of the year, most probably in the third quarter and so things have to be paced up pretty fast. Last week’s webcast gave a sneak peek of the achievements of the development team and how the accomplishments will appear on the roadmap in the long run.

Fast-paced development is the order of the day and that entails exposing codes and experimenting with betas and prebetas complete with accompanying feedbacks, adjustments, and tweaks. Viewing from a technical standpoint, the executives has emphasized development on framework and state-of-the-art tools, doing away with conventional limitations, and stepping up core performance. A sequence of Domino Jams were held towards the end of 2017 and beginning of 2018, where approximately 22,000 users came together to voice their opinions regarding upgrading the product. It is the incorporation of those feedbacks that facilitated the emergence of a crystal clear roadmap and product vision.

Users may also experience enhanced compatibility of Node.js and JavaScript with application development. This will evidently be an initial move towards giving weightage to smartphone applications and open standards. Priority will be accorded to the development of apps that will compliable for using on mobile gadgets. V10 Domino is being looked upon as the first installment as far as the future development course of Lotus Notes is concerned.

iBSi is an IT and online marketing firm based in Clearwater, Florida that can offer full-scale support on Lotus Notes and Domino applications to those who wish to take advantage of the same.

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