In the various meetings I attend as Lotus Sales in Israel it always comes down to the same question: what’s the difference between Notes and Outlook? where are the benefits? I’m used to Outlook, why migrate? Most of the remarks are coming from a Microsoft-based companies, that are aware of the limitations Outlook has, in terms of team collaboration and messaging, but they haven’t heard enough about Lotus Notes. As a prefix I’ll explain that Outlook has a very strong hold in Israel, mainly because it was faster to adopt Hebrew in its user interface, which appealed to many businesses.
I read recently an interesting post, from Michael Sampson, a blogger writing about collaboration and effective team management. He interviewed Mark Bennett, the IT manager of a New Zealand based company. Mark has a strong technical background in Microsoft/Citrix technologies and he came right into a Lotus Notes R5 company. His natural instinct was – I’m going to migrate them away from Notes and back to MS Exchange.
- He was horrified, and immediately started talking about an Exchange/Outlook migration. In other words, a classic default position for an IT Manager with a Microsoft background.
Fast forward a few years and he is (a) increasingly convinced of the tremendous value of Notes, (b) increasingly drawn to IBM and repelled by Microsoft, and (c) looking for ways to extend the depth and reach of Notes in the Firm.
How did this transition take place? Mark says, “A little while after I joined, I attended a wider Firm meeting where some of my new colleagues talked about the power of Notes. I kept saying to myself, ‘I didn’t know Notes could do that’. That meeting was a turning point in my appreciation of what Notes could do … and the possibilities for using Notes to Firm advantage.
Lotus Notes is a leading messaging and collaboration software, that enables strong teaming and increases efficiency. You just have to be open for other products, that can bring great value to your business. You can read the full interview here.
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