Although I’m with Lotus Software only a year, reading the latest, very detailed, IBM press release on Lotus 2Q results, was a pure joy. Working for IBM Israel the past 8 years I often hear from customers that we ‘play it safe’, ‘too safe at times’, when it comes to publicizing our success, unlike Microsoft – that glorifies every win, focusing on migration stories even if they are not true.
From the first paragraph you can understand that this press release is different:
Led by strong sales of IBM Lotus Notes and Domino 8 in the second quarter of 2008, IBM’s Lotus software business outgrew Microsoft by winning millions of customer seats worldwide in direct competition with Microsoft, aided by key wins over its Redmond-based rival in emerging markets.
And there is more:
Customers that chose Lotus Notes and Domino over Microsoft in key markets included Max New York Life, Reliance Industries, Vedanta, and Aviva in India; GD Development Bank, Johnson Electric, HKG Environ Protect, CED, DL Cosco Shipyard in China; Affin Bank and Trakando in Singapore; and Russian Railways in Russia.
and more:
Many clients of all sizes are questioning their investments in legacy Microsoft software products. Migrating to new versions of Microsoft Exchange has proven to be a daunting and expensive task. Ferris Research recently published a report (Exchange 2007 Implementation Issues, December 2007) that indicated 70% of Microsoft customers felt that migrating to Exchange 2007 was either “Difficult or Very Difficult.”
The latest report not only states sales numbers and number of sold licenses, but also mentions, by name, 25 recent customer wins:
Other clients who have recently invested in Lotus Notes and other Lotus software over the competition include consumer goods giant Colgate-Palmolive, chemical manufacturer Ineos of Belgium, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, NutraFlo, Dutch Railways, Rohm Haas, Imerys and the Salvation Army. Specifically moving to Lotus Notes 8 were CFE Compagnie d’Enterprises of France, Virginia Commonweath University, Winsol International, The U.S. General Services Administration, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, Standard Insurance, New York Life, Kentucky Baptist Convention, Verizon, Publishers Printing, Hyatt Hotels, Union Pacific and Nationwide Insurance.
Impressive. Very different from what I, and others, are used to. Every customer and business partner needs to read this. My email/FB/del.icio.us/twitter is already on its way.
