Lotusphere 2011: 100 percent IBM and loving it
February 6 2011
Note: I wrote this earlier today, and was planning to post it first thing Monday morning. However, with the upcoming IBM Social Business Jam starting Tuesday, and after reading Alan Lepofsky's remarkably-similar observations earlier today (see, we really are the same person), I thought it was worthwhile getting these thoughts into the conversation sooner. --Ed
Several years ago, I remember answering a question at the Lotusphere "Ask the Developers" session which basically went something like "you seem to be becoming more like IBM" as if it was a bad thing. After I gave a few factual statements about how being part of IBM was helping the former Lotus subsidiary run our business more effectively and do more for customers, John Paganetti grabbed the microphone and asserted, "We wouldn't be here today if it weren't for IBM!"
That was a key moment for me, and perhaps for attendees, to understand that Lotus was part of IBM and there was no going back.
Fast forward to 2011, IBM's centennial year, and there is wide recognition within the product teams that build and manage Lotus software, along with the other software divisions, that the IBM brand is the strongest foot we can put forward to customers. Tivoli software, for example, has started to call products "IBM Security ..." and "IBM Service Delivery...". It doesn't change what the products do or what markets they serve. Instead they leverage the #2 most-valuable brand in the world, and its brand promise of solutions for a smarter planet.
For too long, I allowed myself to be stuck in that moment at Lotusphere years ago, wanting to take advantage of what we then called "Uncle Lou's deep pockets" but yet fiercely asserting the independent spirit that Lotus stood for. After Lotusphere 2011, I now realize that the best way for us to collectively be successful is to lead with the IBM story.
What happened this year to shed any vestiges of past thinking? Four things that show that IBM as a company gets this space more than ever, and that when we tell an IBM story, we will get more of the vast 400,000-person IBM army, and the entire marketplace, to march in this direction:
- The opening general session, whatever its flaws, featured two components that signaled IBM strength more than ever. First, a long list of customer successes. That might not have been important or even interesting to everyone in the room, but when the competition is out whispering that you don't want to be the last customer using something, it's pretty important to highlight in fact that tons of customers are using it. Further, when I went to the press conference after the opening session, a reporter with Forbes highlighted the themes of the customers in his question. The 200 CIOs sitting up front cared to hear they were in good company. So that worked.
- The second bit in the OGS that signaled IBM strength was the presence of Laurence Guihard-Joly, VP Enterprise Services -- the first time that IBM Global Technology Services ever participated in a Lotusphere keynote, and one of the first times that we worked across divisional lines to offer a great cloud solution to customers. Why does that matter? Now Laurence has an organization full of people who want to do something new and right for the market with Domino -- it's the amplified effect of working together. The result? Over 200 responses to the Lotusphere offer around Domino applications in the cloud came in the first 24 hours.
- In the Tuesday business keynote, IBM SVP of corporate marketing Jon Iwata participated in Lotusphere for the first time. Iwata's presence alone was a huge internal signal at IBM that this social business stuff matters. Iwata showed that he understood the importance of the technologies and solutions being discussed at conference in shaping IBM's future market awareness and opportunities. A super-smart guy, and the comments about him being at Lotusphere that I read all over Twitter and the blogs were incredibly positive.
- The closing session at Lotusphere featured Watson, the showpiece of an incredible amount of IBM research and technology. And you loved it :-) Nobody asked me after the closing session "why was there so much blue up there?" or "what did Watson have to do with social business?" or "what Lotus technology does Watson use?"
In fact, Julian Robichaux nailed it:
However, in a "social business" world, that kind of technology is exactly what we need -- not only for analysis of social data, but for things like the medical industry where you are running tests and making diagnoses based on people rather than raw numbers. ... [When Julian tweeted about Watson and got a reply, he said] And it's a fantastic bit of social interaction by the IBM team. They're online, they're listening, and they're responding. Money where their mouth is.
It's also the kind of thing that eventually encourages me to write a several hundred word blog entry about IBM Watson, rather than a short mention that would otherwise be buried in a final conference wrapup entry. Just one word: Hello.
We build Lotus software and solutions in the IBM Collaboration Solutions division, but what we stand for now is the clearest it has ever been -- Social business. It might sound like hype or over-simplification to you, but it resonates and it works. Over and over and over last week, both those in Orlando and those who analyze and report on us took this buzzphrase and amplified it -- connected to IBM as a leader -- a hundred times over. People who might not pay attention when they hear the word "Lotus" pay attention when they hear "IBM is providing the unified communications solution to manage Super Bowl XLV security".
I'll always bleed yellow around Lotus Notes, but I'm never going to hesitate to lead blue. Heading into IBM's second century, the IBM brand promise will make us all more successful, opening new opportunities and extending the value of existing investments.
That is what I want to be part of in 2011 and beyond -- and I hope you do, too.
Post a Comment
- 2
Roy Rumaner | 2/6/2011 3:05:54 PM
Bleed yellow and lead blue. That should be the LotusKnows replacement campaign slogan.
- 3
Julian Woodward http://blog.woowar.com | 2/6/2011 3:09:50 PM
@1 - "piratical"?! ;-)
- 4
Mark Myers http://www.stickfight.co.uk | 2/6/2011 3:27:48 PM
@3 - typo or freudian slip, who can tell
- 5
firefightergeek http://www.thenorth.com/apblog | 2/6/2011 3:57:43 PM
As long as a branding change isn't used as a way to move the product away from it's core features - which to me are the core value of the product - I'm ok with reducing the emphasis on Lotus and increasing the emphasis on IBM.
- 6
David (The Notes Guy in Seattle) http:/blog.thenotesguyinseattle.com | 2/6/2011 4:00:58 PM
It finally hit me on Wednesday while in the middle of a conversation I was having with Lotus General Manager Bob Picciano. IBM is really the brand. I could easily talk to people in Seattle (or anywhere) about the IBM brand. And I could easily sell IBM products without the stigma often applied to Lotus ("Lotus, what is that?" or "Oh, I remember that, is it still around?")
Once upon a time Coca Cola and McDonalds were the two most widely recognized brands in the world. A slightly different metric than "the most valuable brands". Whatever. That IBM brand is in that kind of league is great. That Lotus software can leverage that branding is even better.
I look forward to witnessing the influence of the IBM army of nearly half a million people to make IBM Social Business Software an overwhelming success in Seattle and everywhere else on this smarter planet.
Silly question, but will we see a commercial about IBM social business on TV this afternoon? Perhaps mention of how IBM is making it safer for the people involved or watching? Safer for the law enforcement as well as the civilians?
That reminds me, why didn't we hear how IBM Lotus Notes was an integral part of the operations combating the Gulf oil spill?
- 7
sean cull http://www.seancull.co.uk | 2/6/2011 4:05:13 PM
@5 +1
- 8
Lisa Duke http://www.simplified-tech.com | 2/6/2011 4:56:06 PM
Ed, I agree. Many of us are emotionally attached to the Lotus brand, but it brings as many negative preconceived notions as positive when you go out to sell, so I think the tradeoff to an IBM name is fine.
I think there are a lot of "mini IBM" partners who are run by ex-IBMers, who lead with hardware, and who pull in software skills as needed. For them, the wide IBM message works.
For those of us who are more on the collab/social/brand-formerly-known-as-Lotus side, it's harder to take advantage of the broad message, since we are more the "master of one" vs. "jack of all trades" type partner. If we market ourselves as social/collab experts, it's hard to also be IBM exclusive, (which we would prefer to be) as the market expects us to sell competing social products as well if we are marketing ourselves as social experts.
Do you see the future of the Lotus partners as hiring and acquiring someone with every skill set and becoming mini-IBMs, or moving toward being collab/social experts and therefore having to sell whatever is the best fit, even if it's not IBM?
I am guessing the answer will be LotusLive, and I will say I am excited by the opportunity there. Just wondering what IBM wants us to do. It's always easier to go with the tide than swim against it.
- 9
Jyotiprakash Mohanty | 2/7/2011 12:36:47 AM
Ed, don't you think there should be a link to Notes/Domino { { Link } } under IBM social collaboration platform section in IBM Social Collaboration site { { Link } }?
At the bottom of IBM Social Business Jam site there is a link to IBM Social Collaboration site.
All the links refer to Australian sites except LotusLive under IBM social collaboration platform section.
- 10
spam | 2/7/2011 1:31:20 AM
Spam comment removed
- 11
Mike Robinson http://www.invcs.com | 2/7/2011 5:32:55 AM
Leave it to John to condense everything that needs to be said into a one liner...
One thing,I was thinking about the other day, as we're approaching near 20 years of Lotus inside IBM, I would bet a fortune that Notes would be where groove is today had Lotus been acquired by MS.
- 12
Pete McPhedran | 2/7/2011 10:05:23 AM
Ed,
Loretta Golby and I were talking with Catherine Lord at Canada Night about this. We essentially echoed everything said in your post and the comments above.
As a looong time Notes user, since beta versions, and a Lotus customer and Partner before IBM partner, I really think it's time to move to the IBM brand and focus on the products, not the names.
I am sure that it's already too late to rename Lotusphere 2012, unless that's already happened, but I think IBM Social Collaboration Summit has a nice ring to it.
That's my $0.0199 CDN
--Pete
- 13
Tim L | 2/7/2011 10:08:08 AM
@8, I agree with you about the "negative preconceived notions" concerning the Lotus brand, but you have to ask yourself why this is. This certainly wasn't the case when IBM first bought Lotus, and everything seemed pretty good for a few years up until R5. After the "superhuman software" year, when Lotus was still a very cool brand, it was like someone at IBM flipped a switch. The following year at Lotusphere (2001, I think) you could tell something was very different. All IBM seemed interested in was plundering the Lotus client base and shoehorning in their other technologies. Over the next few years, there seemed to be a serious lack of investment in Lotus and the products quickly lost their edge and started looking old fashioned. This combined with some particularly vicious Microsoft marketing led to the Lotus brand becoming a bit of a joke. Although IBM has done much to try recover from this situation in recent years, the damage seems to be irrevocable.
So, from a marketing point of view, what do you do when you have a damaged brand? Rebrand, move on and try to leave the negative associations behind you. I was a Notes admin/dev for 12 years and bled yellow as much as everyone else. When I lost my job in 2005, there just weren't any Notes jobs out there and I regrettably had to move on to different technologies. I miss the "good old days" but I've come to the opinion that it's time for the Lotus brand to quietly be retired.
- 16
Erik Brooks | 2/7/2011 10:45:00 AM
@13 - Somebody did flip a switch. It was called IBM Workplace. And NSFDB2. A 5 year "experiment" where some higher-ups at IBM thought that Notes was "just email" and could be shoehorned into an RDBMS and J2EE world.
It bombed. They got somewhat close to decent RADD functionality with what would later become XPages, but Notes' number-one differentiating point -- the NSF storage format -- could not be replicated (no pun intended) with an RDBMS. Not in a way that performed, anyway.
So they dropped Workplace, launched a big-time "catch up" effort of development and community involvement, started a bit of actual marketing, moved XPages on top of NSF and Domino (which simultaneously made it even *better* than what was offered in Workplace) and here we are with some damn awesome technology.
Unfortunately 5 years of letting a brand name be dragged through the mud takes years to repair, and even then it would be years longer to try to get it to become a brand as recognizable as MS/IBM/Google/Apple. So why not transition to leverage the IBM name instead?
Sounds like a win-win to me, now that IBM seems to understand what the true purpose of Lotus, Notes, and Domino was all about.
- 17
Ian Scott | 2/7/2011 11:17:38 AM
I have been stressing IBM software for a while now so I guess I have been ahead of the curve. IBM is one of the most recognisable brands on the planet and is viewed very credibly. This is good news.
- 18
Joe Litton http://www.joelitton.net/ | 2/7/2011 11:37:50 AM
I love the Lotus name and I love yellow.
Ditch the Lotus name. We can still love yellow - and I plan to BLIND folks with yellow at LS12!
I've been working with IBM/Lotus products since R3 and making my living primarily in this space for 15 years. Among geeks, we can debate pros/cons of various technologies. Geeks and customers may have religious preferences. What the business (customer) should care about is what makes the most sense to the bottom line.
What matters is giving our customers solutions that are intuitive and fun and that can be used as TOOLS to get a job done, rather than as impediments to getting the job done.
I am convinced more than ever (especially after sessions from Mat Newman, Mark Myers, and others) that the IBM collaboration tools are the least expensive way to provide the best benefit. I've been internally referring to "IBM" this-and-that when talking about "Lotus" solutions for at least 2-3 years - for the reasons others have mentioned above.
It is time to move forward.
- 19
GarryL | 2/7/2011 5:39:57 PM
Wow.
Quite a turnaround considering the passion felt for the brand. I guess the difference now from 2002/2003 onwards push to Workplace debacle is that people now feel that Notes/Domino now has a direction and purpose within IBM rather than them trying to kill it off and shove some big iron down their throats. You really have to give credit for the work down over the last few years to stabilise the situation.
I do realise that IBM have still got us to the gates of WebSphere, albeit on a longer and more painful journey that it need have been. I also have to say that, now we're here, that there are now pretty cool and innovative products on show and it actually is good company to be in.
As many have said there isn't anything in the market with the flexibility and tried-and-tested history of the NSF format. I just hope that, whatever they have planned, that you will still be able to take Domino and Notes and run that on their own without needing the big stack behind it, if that's all you want. The combination of NSF & XPages with all the built-on domino goodies is certainly a serious development environment in its own right.
It's pretty amazing that through all of the latest development fads through the years, the internal squeezing from IBM and the competitive pressures from the outside that Notes is still here at all, never mind embarking on a new path. I think that is a testament to both the product, and especially the community around it. Go social? We've always been there - we were just waiting for others to catch up.
Interesting times ahead, methinks.
- 20
John D. | 2/7/2011 5:57:30 PM
Ed,
It's great that the 200 CIOs in the front row were relieved that they were in good company, but did they have serious doubts? I think that line comes under the heading of "preaching to the choir". You had a great message at LS and I look forward to the new things coming out, but the message needs to reach people outside the yellow bubble. I've seen a couple Smarter Planet commercials, but can't say I've every heard Lotus or Notes mentioned in any of them. Microsoft is on it's heels in more ways than one, now is the time to get the message out to people who want good products and save money while getting them.
Other than that the only issue I have right now is customer support - or lack there of for LotusLive.
- 21
Lisa Duke http://www.simplified-tech.com | 2/7/2011 7:51:59 PM
Ed, good points in your response to me. My imaginary mountain is now a molehill.
- 23
Carlos Casas http://lotusrocks.tumblr.com | 2/7/2011 9:48:46 PM
@8--
“Many of us are emotionally attached to the Lotus brand, but it brings as many negative preconceived notions as positive when you go out to sell, so I think the tradeoff to an IBM name is fine.”
---I find this is true as well. There’s a difference in living in the bubble and trying to sell the bubble to many non-IBM accounts. I’ve always led with the IBM broader message and it has been successful for my sales team because it’s a brand more organizations are familiar with and trust.
“I think there are a lot of "mini IBM" partners who are run by ex-IBMers, who lead with hardware, and who pull in software skills as needed. For them, the wide IBM message works.”
---I worked for one of these large partners. They are strong, growing, and focus on what is selling as low-hanging fruit. I can tell you today, their strategy is no longer in Lotus. It’s a little sad as their Lotus team is pretty deep in yellow but try selling that to a sales force who’s sales plan is very aggressive without tolerance for a 6,9,12 month runway for Software. Just my 2 cents.
“Do you see the future of the Lotus partners as hiring and acquiring someone with every skill set and becoming mini-IBMs, or moving toward being collab/social experts and therefore having to sell whatever is the best fit, even if it's not IBM?”
---We had a software partner that leveraged us for Lotus services. When SVP came into play, they bought a services organization and are now authorized across all brands. They are giants. The model seems to be going towards skilled, large partners. You’re in this to make money so sell what makes the most sense for your customer. I’m sure you knew the answer to this though :)
“I am guessing the answer will be LotusLive, and I will say I am excited by the opportunity there. Just wondering what IBM wants us to do. It's always easier to go with the tide than swim against it.”
---LL is a great opportunity for us partners however it is a little flawed in it’s hybrid model and we’ve lost deals because of it. I’ve talked with some PM’s about this in detail and I encourage you to get enabled quickly here.
- 24
Stanislav Marszalek | 2/8/2011 10:20:38 AM
Whatever brand name is, it needs to be advertised properly and that is not working with Lotus Notes. Whenever we try to sell it, we have to evolve tremendous effort to explain a customer, what it is good for, because he has never heard about it. There is no advertisement in IT magazines, no product’s reviews, no press conferences, not talking about commercials on TV. I’ve seen recently ads for Smarter Software on one portal, but nobody was able to explain me which product it is a how to buy it. Is that brand ads really works somewhere?
xPages add very powerful features to Lotus Notes but on the other side, we as developer, are entering completely new realm of internet based application and here the competition is immense. So we need to be differentiate by the platform and Lotus Notes is very competitive here, but without strong marketing, it will be very hard. And that marketing can be done only by IBM and I think that it doesn’t always mean a huge investment but smarter ones. I have no problem if Lotus will be renamed to IBM, as far as it brings proper marketing campaign.
- 26
Jim Reilly | 2/9/2011 9:42:47 AM
Ed,
Let me begin by saying I'm a big fan of yours. I believe you've done some very good things for Lotus Notes.
There is this perception that Lotus Notes is this ancient messaging platform. I must say that IBM does very little to combat this perception. And it really depress me and angers me...after all, I rely on this software to support my family.
Why doesn't IBM spend more time educating the masses that Lotus Notes is an amazing RAD environment where you can create extremely powerful custom applications for either the client, the web, or both? You think, at the very least, we'd hear that at Lotusphere (as attendees)...Instead, all I'm hearing last week is "cloud" this and "Lotus Live" that, and "Connections" this, and "WebSphere Portal" that...And then there were vendors trying to convince me that the right direction is to move to "the cloud" and abandon the Notes client??? Why would I want to do that? We have over 100 custom apps built for the client...and many are mission critical (such as Order Entry). Have we forgotten how amazing replication is? What do these vendors/business partners know that I don't? I heard so much last week about Lotus Live...IBM does realize that this sort of marketing push at a Lotusphere is an affront to the people who manage on-site Lotus Notes Domino platforms (which is probably over 1/2 of the attendees - the other half being IBMers). Lotus Notes is Lotus Notes...Connections is something completely different. Websphere Portal is something completely different. They may have their place but maybe they don't at my company. And when the marketing push is all about "Social Business" that leverages all of the above, it can put some of us in really awkward positions. Now management thinks that Connections and Portal is built on the same architecture as Notes and therefore we should be able to pick it up.
What am I missing Ed? I absolutely want to stay relevant. Coming back from Lotusphere I should feel juiced up and ready to rock and roll! But instead, I feel deflated and full of anxiety. Am I just not being enough of a visionary?
- 27
David Marko | 2/10/2011 10:48:19 AM
I can only say 'yes, yes, yes' to Jim Reilly's post just above. Yes, the xPages are certainly a huge progress comparing to old Domino webQueryOpen/WebQuerySave approach. But trying to become the web platform development environment ... there is now a big competition here that exists for years with many applications that exists already. I mean all ASP, PHP, Ruby On Rails, Django and whatever is available for rapid web development for years now. And most of these technologies are available for free, btw. I really cry seeing how IBM is leaving Lotus Notes client(standard form/view base apps) as platform, that was dificult to compete. And it seems that nobody knows WHY!! Lotusphere was almost all about social software, Lotus Live, Connections, this is what we can see in adverts now, but its completely different technology. (websphere, db2, tivoli etc.) Its not about Lotus Notes at all.
Moving/creating Lotus Notes apps for web browser using xPages means, that we have to compete with ASP, PHP etc. (as mentioned earlier) and it will be much more difficult to be competitive. I can see a very sad story is comming here ... we are full of anxiety here as well.
- 29
David Racicot | 3/3/2011 4:19:56 PM
Hi. Changing the product names again is not a solution to getting more customers. I think better marketing of the existing Lotus brand is better (I am going to resist posting a marketing slogan here). Why alienate the people on board already? Is marketing lazy or afraid or at a loss as to how to market Lotus? Eventually people will realize that you just called a heart a spade. Certainly use "IBM" but do not drop Lotus. Lotus is good.
its an semi serious joke in the lotus lot I deal with, that you never mention lotus outside the yellow bubble, and many of us, me included talk about "IBM group ware stack" when talking to new none lotus customers, as the market stands in the uk the lotus brand is so firmly fixed to the rubbish MS talk about it, that even talking about it damages your credibility, in a no-sql conference a couple of weeks back i had to start talking about "IBM'S NSF Database" as no one would listen if i tried to talk about "lotus notes". so for all piratical purposes, the more IBM branding the better and to hell with pride