Thursday 10 July 2003

Now this sounds interesting: Proposion ASPEN is an add-in for IBM Lotus Domino servers that allows them to run ASP.NET applications. ASPEN eliminates the need for Domino shops to install Microsoft's Internet Information Server (IIS) or any other web server in order to build and deploy a wide range of ASP.NET-based applications. Furthermore, applications deployed with ASPEN can now leverage the world-class security and robustness that the Domino server provides. See the proposition site for more details [Found through VOWE.net and Wissel.net] 11:54:07 AM

	Friday 14 March 2003

Been doing a bit of research lately on IBM's WebSphere Portal - Express server (lots of capitals). Part of the reason is that there might be some interest for this at work. I did more than just look at the marketing blurb, though. For example, IBM is merging its Lotus and portal divisions [march 3 2003, CNet news.com]. And not all portlets mentioned on the IBM website are readily found anymore. I explicitly looked for the integration of Oracle Applications with WebSphere Portal Server (WSPS in short). All announcements and news about that solution are from 2001, and it is (was?) made by SAP Portals, a subsidiary of SAP... which has now been absorbed by the SAP mother company, and its products are nowhere to be found. Which is not all that surprising, as SAP offers the mySAP Enterprise Portal, which competes head-on with IBM WSPS. Oracle has its own offering: Oracle9iAS Portal. According to research company Jupiter, Oracle has the largest market share (in a highly fragmented market), while IBM and PlumTree Software have the strongest products. A final comment for now: needs more research . 7:51:56 AM

	Friday 04 October 2002

It seems to me that the world of mail and collaboration software is getting interesting. Of course, last tuesday IBM / Lotus finally delivered the new release of Lotus Domino and Notes, R6. Microsoft, of course, is also moving ahead: Microsoft to detail new Exchange, Outlook. The company will announce plans to add new features to the Web-based version of the Outlook e-mail program that will make it as comprehensive as the regular PC version. CNET News.com, 03/10/02 And a new / old player in the messaging field is also offering some options. Oracle renews battle with Lotus, Exchange. The company's new Collaboration Suite lets businesses manage e-mail, voice mail and scheduling, as well as hold Web-based meetings and allow employees to sync data. CNET News.com, 03/10/02 I, for one, would suggest that Oracle stay at what it is good at. That is, creating database software.   8:21:17 AM

	Sunday 29 September 2002

IBM is taking its first major step in integrating WebSphere and Domino into what the company is calling its next-generation platform, in which Domino takes on a supporting role as collaboration component provider for applications built on WebSphere. [Network World, 09/16/02] Is this where IBM is taking Domino? The more I hear about it, the more I tend to think being just proficient in Lotus Domino is not the way to go. And you almost have to know Java nowadays, which is a totally different thing from being able to build Domino forms and views, and writing @Formula language and some LotusScript. Perhaps moving to .NET is not such a bad idea after all 6:23:08 PM

Stuff to try out: found some Undocumented LotusScript. Might be usefull... if it works. 9:14:22 AM

	Wednesday 25 September 2002

Microsoft eases Lotus to Exchange migration. Application Analyzer enable users to assess which apps to migrate [InfoWorld: Top News] Question is: which way to go? Microsoft seems to be going strong concerning new developments, while IBM/Lotus is slowing down. Domino R6 is (by now) quite close on the horizon, but what next? WebSphere Domino? WebSphere Collaboration Server (sounds colourfull)? My medium-to-long term bets are still on Microsoft. 3:36:08 PM

	Saturday 21 September 2002

Had someone at work say that using pixels to size your fonts in CSS is not the way to go. Found some reference to an article by Jeffrey Zeldman, who tells us "just give up and use pixels even though it's the wrong way to do it." At least, until everyone is using IE6 or Mozilla. Inside a company that is an option (though some people are still using IE5 or older browsers); "out on the web" that is not an option. Read the article and see why you must be carefull. 10:04:40 PM

	Monday 16 September 2002

Lotus ponders KM future. Collaboration drives upgrade path as knowledge management fades SEEKING TO BOLSTER its position in the deflated KM (knowledge management) segment, IBM's Lotus Software is going back to its collaboration roots. [InfoWorld: Top News] A few notes about where things seem to be going: Microsoft is building support for collaboration into it's .Net capabilities, and connecting with (amongst others) Groove Networks. This might prove something of a threat to Lotus in the long run. Notes/Domino 6.0 ship next month, after a long beta. Question is, are people waiting for the next version of what has essentially become a proprietary application server? At least, Microsoft seems to be offering "us developers" more of a choice in programming language (already tried out Perl.Net ?) Al Zollar (Lotus CEO) claims that Lotus Discovery Server is delivering the kind of content management customers are seeking. It is a shame, then, that it seems to be competing with the (aptly named) IBM Content Manager family of products. And of course, it becomes increasingly difficult to choose the right (IBM) tool for the job... should we be using Lotus Domino.Doc to store our documents, or is Content Manager CommonStore the right solution? Extended Search of Discovery Server? Will we keep on using the Lotus .nsf database format, or should we choose DB2? It is not getting any clearer. Especially when separate products get combined... K-Station portal with WebSphere Portal, for example. And I could go on... The good news is, everyone seems to agree it is a good idea to use Web Services to offer all this funtionality. Even IBM and Microsoft seem to agree on that. Now just hope those services are compatible with one another. 11:47:36 PM