Ubuntu and Notes/Domino
Category Technology
There has been discussion on some other blogs about whether or not IBM should support Ubuntu and/or other Debian based systems. The current response from IBM is that they are focused on platforms that have a lot of business use and see little value in supporting "home use" versions. Now, I will readily admit that I know little or nothing about Linux. I'm ashamed to admit that getting some better skills has been on my priority list for the last several years and every year it doesn't get done. I made a commitment earlier this year to have half of my server "farm" migrated to Linux by the end of the year and while I have a server up and running I have never felt confident enough to make the move.
That being said, the new Beta of Domino has doubled my resolve in this area, and convinced me that IBM should rethink their support of Ubuntu.
There has been discussion on some other blogs about whether or not IBM should support Ubuntu and/or other Debian based systems. The current response from IBM is that they are focused on platforms that have a lot of business use and see little value in supporting "home use" versions. Now, I will readily admit that I know little or nothing about Linux. I'm ashamed to admit that getting some better skills has been on my priority list for the last several years and every year it doesn't get done. I made a commitment earlier this year to have half of my server "farm" migrated to Linux by the end of the year and while I have a server up and running I have never felt confident enough to make the move.
That being said, the new Beta of Domino has doubled my resolve in this area, and convinced me that IBM should rethink their support of Ubuntu.
For 15 years, I supported mostly large government or commercial entities and spent most of my time convincing them to make Domino a part of their infrastructure. (and as most readers know this can be a daunting task). Now, I work with organizations at the opposite end of the spectrum - companies that have 10 or 20 employees and very little money to spend on infrastructure. Where large organizations can afford multiple applications and approaches to every problem, small organizations have to pick one thing and make it work. I've written elsewhere that I think the value from Domino comes not from creating "killer" agency/corporate wide applications, but rather from the preponderance of small department level applications (It is one of the few areas where quantity can trump quality) and likewise, I think Domino is better suited to supporting small organizations than any other product. But, cost is the issue....
The problem is not IBM's, with the express pricing available I can convince even the smallest organization of its value. What I have a hard time convincing them to make are the needed investments in hardware upgrades, servers, and related licenses. However, many of these companies use (and most pay for) copies of Office and Windows XP for their workstations, and then cobble together a collection of spreadsheets, web apps and paper to run their business. Manufacture support is not a big issue for anything other than hardware, as most small companies realize that they do not have the time or clout to be able to utilize most support issues. They either have a trusted partner that solves the problem or they figure out a work around and get back to business.
I think there is an opportunity to change this and at the same time get a lot of small businesses converted to using Domino. The push from Microsoft to upgrade to Vista has started and the pressure on small businesses will be intense. I still don't see a compelling reason to make the change, but it will be difficult to resist. In conjunction with this upgrade is the upgrade to Office 2007 so small organizations are looking at spending at least $500 per machine in the next year or so to move to an OS and application platform that will bring little or no additional value to their business.
I haven't seen the pricing for Notes/Domino 8 yet, but if the pricing stays anywhere close to the current pricing, then the inclusion of the new productivity tools creates an opportunity for a very different conversation with a small business. If there was a Ubuntu support for Domino and Notes, then I can show a customer how they can implement a platform that will provide them with great business value for little more than the cost of an express license for each user and the hardware to set up a server. Yes, they will have to pay for consulting hours, but they will be spending their money on productivity enhancements. Will I make the same pitch regardless of support for Ubuntu? Of course - at $50 a user and $800 or so per server, there is still a good case to be made, but obviously, free is always easier to sell. (and yes, I know the old adage of getting what you pay for..... ) The reality is that while Suse and Redhat enterprise servers come with "support" the customer is still going to pay me to figure the problem out. I know how little most of them can afford so at the end of the day buying a "supported version" might make my job a little easier, but the impetus is on me to make the solution cost effective.