InformationWeek

November 23, 1998

The Domino Theory

Will Lotus Domino release 5 stand or fall? InformationWeek Labs takes an in-depth look at the first beta and finds that the answer depends on who asks the question.

By Steve Gillmor and Jeff Angus

arely in computing have so many organizations' futures been hanging on so many vendors' new, unreleased versions of platforms. As Microsoft churns out beta pieces of Windows 2000, Lotus and IBM are trying to push a new version of Notes and Domino out the door. We recently completed our testing of Domino release 5 Beta 1--just days before Lotus released Beta 2. The beta version we looked at is incomplete--a work in progress, especially in the Notes client, although fairly advanced in the Lotus Designer and somewhat polished on the server side.

Notes platform development continues to follow an evolutionary incremental strategy of first locking down architectural changes, then building the IDE toolset, and finally constructing templates for mail, document library, discussion, and workflow databases.

Microsoft's and Lotus' products are in competition to be the best solution to customers' groupware needs. For Lotus, the competition is a struggle for basic survival; if the company fails to hold its own in groupware--the last remaining horizontal application not completely dominated by a Microsoft product or standard--its reason for existence evaporates.

The emerging model for deployment is Web-based client software, with full clients either still available as a more expensive alternative or perhaps completely subsumed in a browser that has all its functions. With the browser world balkanized between competing component strategies, dynamic server-side assembly of browser-neutral pages becomes the defining technology of the next generation of application servers. Reassembling client-server groupware in the stateless, asynchronous world of the Web requires an expanded toolset and developer base drawn equally from RAD programming environments and Web authoring constructs.

Groupware staples--threaded discussions, "smart" views, granular authentication, and message-enabled workflow delegation--must be melded with sometimes counter-intuitive browser metaphors (forward, back, history, and bookmarks). But the rewards are many: preserving custom development investments while leveraging the cost efficiencies of the Web, converting Intranet applications into extranet revenue streams, and standardizing on business-to-business protocols that lower the cost of acquisitions and E-commerce initiatives.

Lotus has integrated Web services (including the Internet Explorer ActiveX component) in the Notes client while adding IP access to the Domino server. Release 5 largely completes the transition to a write-once application development model for both the native Notes client (now only available for Win 32 and Macintosh desktops) and Java-enabled browsers. On the server side, Domino leverages version 3 of the Lightweight Directory Assistance Protocol, transactional logging, and interoperability with Microsoft's Internet Information Server to keep pace in the application server sweepstakes.

So is Lotus' update of Domino and Notes the way to proceed? The answer depends on your situation--where you are now with Notes and Domino will determine whether you'll want to follow Domino 5's path.

The Five Groupings
DomiNoters are organizations that have already sunk an investment into Notes and Domino infrastructure, training, and custom applications. They are basically satisfied with the platform but are looking to advance their ability to capture, search, and manipulate critical unstructured information via dedicated Web connections. DomiNoters have already made the substantial investment in expensive Notes development and administrative skills; they need easier access to legacy back-end data and browser-based deployment to retain management buy-in.

Like DomiNoters, Escapee organizations have deployed the Lotus infrastructure. The difference comes in their desire to have an excuse to jettison or freeze their Notes investment--either because specific platform limitations have frustrated them, because they've already standardized on another vendor's office suite and operating system and would like to reduce the number of vendors they have to manage, or because they use a different vendor for messaging. Escapees will make a decision to stay with Notes or jump to other products based on specific advancements they're looking for.

Conscientious Objector shops are not planning to implement Notes. They're committed to other vendors' solutions, mostly Microsoft's or Novell's. It will take an extraordinary set of delivered functions as well as an advanced development model to unglue these folks from their current standards--though in this radically changing IT environment, it's not impossible, given the right solution.

In Play organizations are the most numerous. While they may have a pilot groupware project or some test networks, these organizations still haven't committed exclusively to a specific model, waiting either for the funding or for a solution that seems just right. Many of them have some Notes installed but are also standardized on Microsoft desktop applications and operating environments. Most of these shops will commit to a standard in the next 30 months.