Magazine: Computerworld
Issue:
Title: Notes Goes Mainstream
Author: Michael Vizard


Notes Goes Mainstream

By Michael Vizard
Orlando, FL. 

   
Seeking to make Notes more attractive to deploy, Lotus Development Corp. is 
working on several initiatives that should make it easier for corporate sites 
to more quickly recoup their investment in the groupware package.

Lotus last week revealed plans to ship in February a version of its groupware 
that runs seamlessly with Novell, Inc.'s NetWare. Moreover, the company plans 
to deliver a more user-friendly interface in a major upgrade due within a 
year. The company made both announcements at its user conference here.

The Notes NetWare Loadable Module could help reduce the time it takes for 
most companies to gain a return on their investment in Notes. That is because 
many sites will no longer have to purchase a separate OS/2-based server to 
run Notes. Additionally, the improved user interface should reduce training 
costs, analysts said.

Also contributing to reduced training costs will be a new set of applications 
being developed using graphical tools from companies such as Powersoft Corp. 
[CW, Jan. 6]. Meanwhile, users are getting around the Notes interface by 
employing standard PC applications as a front end to the Notes environment 
(see story page 14).

Waiting for return

But most Notes sites have yet to fully see their investment in Notes pay 
dividends, according to a study to be released next month by International 
Data Corp. in Framingham, Mass. (see chart page 14). That research indicates 
that the larger the Notes installation, the more difficult it is to recoup 
the investment. Previously, Lotus executives had claimed that the return on 
investment (ROI) for Notes was as high as 400%, based on results from eight 
companies that installed Notes for one year.

"The big bang for the buck in terms of ROI comes from companies with 
relatively small investments. The return tends to moderate at the larger 
companies," said Scott McCready, an industry analyst at IDC.

Despite the long lead time to recoup the investment, however, corporate 
buyers are still lining up to buy Notes. "Purchase plans still exceed 
hundreds of thousands of copies," McCready said.

Process re-engineering

In fact, many information systems executives said traditional ROI models do 
not really apply to Notes. "Notes requires a three- to five-year commitment, 
and the only measure that really matters is changing the business," said  
Seth Pinsky, an IS manager at Sandoz Pharmaceutical in East Hanover, N.J. 
"You need to focus your efforts on one or two applications that will change 
the business cycle."

Pinsky said many Notes installations fail to achieve specific ROI targets 
for Notes because their implementation goals are too vague for what is 
essentially a set of 1G-byte distributed databases. Instead, many sites 
approach Notes like an extension to their electronic-mail system that is 
deployed in search of an application, as opposed to an  environment that 
has to be managed like any other database, he said.

"Notes becomes a different type of animal at the enterprise level, and it 
grows everywhere. You have to make sure the technology doesn't outpace your 
ability to support it," said George Goldsmith, president of the Human 
Interface Group in Wethersfield, Conn.

Despite these caveats, large IS organizations are still plowing ahead with 
Notes deployment.

"Notes is a required technology platform for everybody. You can apply an 
ROI to specific tasks, but ROIs don't take into account the investment in 
technology people are making for future applications," said John Faig, an 
industry analyst at Meta Group, Inc.

For example, Boston Chicken is deploying 2,000 copies of Notes to link its 
restaurants with its corporate IS headquarters in Chicago.

At the same time, the telecommunications division of The Travelers Corp. 
in Hartford, Conn., plans to deploy up to 210 Notes copies in the first 
quarter, said IS manager John T. Murphy. "We'll have one Notes server and 
treat it like a glass house," Murphy said. Overall, the firm has 1,000 Notes 
users accessing five servers.

And the Canadian National Railway system is using Notes to track its efforts 
to re-engineer the railroad using technology acquired from the Sante Fe 
Railroad Co., according to systems manager Glenn Chafe. The railroad is 
using Notes as the primary vehicle for keeping track of the specific jobs 
on the $150 million, four-year project.

Cooperative cartel

Meanwhile, Lotus chief executive officer Jim Manzi said Notes will be one 
of the technologies that fosters the creation of "electronic keiretsus" 
among companies. Keiretsu is a Japanese term for a cartel of suppliers and 
customers who work cooperatively together.

Partly with that goal in mind, QCS Development Co. in Valbonne, France, 
plans to use Notes as part of a clearinghouse for buyers and manufacturers 
that will allow retail stores to order goods from suppliers in the Far East, 
said IS manager Steve Roessingh.

Version 3.1 of Notes will ship about 30 days after Lotus delivers Notes on 
Solaris 1.1 from Sun Microsystems, Inc. in January. Lotus' first Unix 
implementation was originally due in this quarter but has been delayed 
slightly due to testing.
    
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