Just Enough Governance for Notes Blog :: Notes' Old Threat

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I was reading Scott’s post here and its associated thread (Notes New Threat – Salesforce.com with Google), and it got me thinking. I agree with the general view from the thread that actually there is not much of a threat from Salesforce.com and Google, largely because the costs associated with moving to this (unproven) platform would be prohibitive.

However, that is not to say that there are no threats to Domino’s long term future, and it seems to me that the biggest one is resourcing. Here in the UK at least, it is getting harder and harder to find experienced administrators and developers for Domino. I suspect that this is mostly down to new blood coming into the software industry being far more interested with what is perceived to be the cutting edge (Java, .NET, Web 2.0, etc). I say ‘perceived’ because we all know that Domino can provide a robust platform on which to build this stuff, but I think the prospect of using formula language and LotusScript strikes a lot of potential Domino professionals as a step backwards on the career development scale.

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This is why I think that the transition of the Notes client and associated technologies to an eclipse base is an extremely sound strategy. It may not be perfect – I suspect that it will be 8.6 or even 9.0 before Notes is fully comfortable in the environment – but it is definitely the way to go. It gives developers in particular the opportunity to do some fairly cutting edge stuff, using transferrable skills from within the Domino environment.

Lotus did this before. With the rise of the Internet in the late 1990’s, they saw the way the wind was blowing and embraced the technology within Notes, giving rise to Domino. This was before Microsoft got their act together in that space incidentally! That much extended Notes life then, and I think the eclipse strategy will do the same now.

Comments

1 - I totally agree with this. I work for a small ASP in Canada. We develop all our applications on the Domino platform, and haven't been able to find any developers with Domino experience. We have the need for growth, just can't find the bodies.

Posted by John J At 08:25:38 AM On 09/04/2008 | - Website - |

2 - John J. - Apparently you aren't the only one who is having difficulty finding qualified Notes/Domino professionals. ComputerWeekly.com just posted an article { Link } saying that Lotus Notes and Domino are "hot skills".

Posted by Scott Johnsen At 11:22:27 AM On 09/04/2008 | - Website - |

3 - Is Eclipse the way to go? Or will the environment be so difficult/different that it will scare some of the old-schoolers to something else.

Posted by tom At 03:43:43 PM On 09/06/2008 | - Website - |

4 - Tom - I'm curious about your point that Eclipse may be too difficult or different for Notes developers. If that's the case, what do you think they would turn to? Is there something out there that would be a logical choice for Notes developers?

Posted by Scott Johnsen At 09:53:49 PM On 09/07/2008 | - Website - |

5 - Tom - First let me say that I agree with you that the Eclipse move may scare some old-schoolers off (apparently 85% of Notes developers use LotusScript as opposed to embedded Java). I myself am finding it difficult to find time to get up to speed on the new skills that Eclipse demands. However, there are plenty of developers out there with Java skills, and Java is still perceived to be an attractive skillset for new developers to acquire. So even if some old-schoolers are lost, there is potentially much more new blood to replace them.

Posted by Matthew Fyleman At 05:29:28 AM On 09/10/2008 | - Website - |

6 - @5 I hope Java developers look at the Notes environment and join us. But... I really don't see it happening. They're in their whole world of design patterns, struts, EJB's, etc...

Notes is what is... a RAD tool. We are who we are... RAD developers. Java (IMHO) does not fit RAD. LotusScript and Formula language do.

There are obvious exceptions. Encoding and XML are still best left for the Java environment in Notes. And there are some really great Notes developers who kick butt coding in Java (Julian robichaux comes to mind). But we (the Notes Developer collective) are the people who can truly give you a working prototype in a day. I thank the Lotus Notes environment and its simple tools for that.

@4 A lot of us corporate Notes developers sit across the aisle from the .NET team. Visual Studio is still a better IDE than Eclipse. That is one alternative.

Posted by tom At 11:11:14 PM On 09/10/2008 | - Website - |