Wired.com: Developers at WWDC Looking Forward to iPhone 3G Platform

June 10 2008

Maybe I'm being a bit of a masochist this morning (can't wait to see what google hits are sent this way by my use of that word...)....

Others had more strategic reasons for being disappointed with the iPhone's enteprise support.

"They're missing 50 percent of the e-mail population," complained John Beck, a product manager in IBM's Lotus division, referring to users of Notes/Domino e-mail servers. While iPhone 2.0 supports Microsoft Exchange mail servers, it lacks any kind of direct connection with Notes.

"The Exchange integration is deep," Beck noted, stating that the iPhone SDK would permit IBM to integrate Notes with the iPhone to some extent, but not as completely as Apple has done with Exchange.
I wanted to pick up a couple of things from the comments on yesterday's group gripe.

First, there was an assertion made around comment 47 that IBM must not have fully explored the SDK, since the SDK is great and does everything.  Well, it doesn't.  See comments 48 and 51 for why John Beck says what he says in the Wired blog entry.

Second, I've taken a huge amount of flack online and offline for suggesting that people contact Apple about this.  I want to be really clear -- this is not an attempt to brush off IBM's responsibility.  I wrote an internal memo today, highlighting the blog entries, the petition, and other feedback.  We at IBM have a responsibility to pursue integration with the iPhone, and have been doing so for six months.  We felt like Domino Web Access would be a good first step.  Some of you have said no, though I point out that many many others have said "ok for now".  We also said that we would do more when we were able to do so.  That meant the SDK.  

The SDK didn't do it.  Now we have to work with Apple to figure out both the technical and the market solution, and that is where I need your help.  As a product/platform type of vendor ourselves, we certainly know the power of hearing from a customer versus from an ISV.  The customer's voice is almost always stronger than that of partners trying to build solutions, especially in a space where the platform vendor may already be maxed out doing something with a different ISV.

Interestingly, one customer I spoke with in the past couple of weeks did in fact have a conversation with Apple on this topic, and was told some very favorable things from Apple's field people.  It seems to me that there is intent and interest on both sides of this to do the right thing, but ultimately, it takes two to tango.  If you haven't communicated with Apple, you need to do that... and then report back here, if you can.  IBM has heard you already, though you should feel free to continue to voice your concerns.  Apple, on the other hand, hasn't said anything about Notes/Domino integration, period.

There's been a lot of speculation as to whether Apple has an exclusive deal or whether they just believed that Exchange == e-mail or whatever.  I honestly don't know any of that.  I know that John Beck and others have been working with Apple for many months.  It probably is a mistake for me to even blog about it -- Apple's culture is notorious about being tight-lipped -- but our market has succeeded by being open.  I'm trying my best to share what I can, what I know, and yet not want to slam the laptop closed out of frustration.

Link: Wired.com: Developers at WWDC Looking Forward to iPhone 3G Platform >

Ed Brill Chicago, IL USA Category:  Lotus  Add/View Comments [35]

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  1. 1  Turtle http://www.weightlessdog.com/shell.nsf | 6/10/2008 11:01:59 AM

    Integration with Domino would somewhat, but not completely, relieve my aversion to the iPhone. As long as AT&T is the sole US carrier, ain't never gonna be one on my hip, and my Berry 8800 talks to Domino just fine.

  1. 2  Nathan T. Freeman http://nathan.lotus911.com | 6/10/2008 11:33:30 AM

    { Link }

  1. 3  Richard Schwartz http://www.rhs.com/poweroftheschwartz | 6/10/2008 11:34:44 AM

    I'll add to Turtle: as long as there's just one US carrier, and as long as there's no voice dialing, it can continue to be the sexiest piece of technology that I'm not at all interested in.

  1. 4  JNK http://jnkwps.no-ip.org | 6/10/2008 12:36:25 PM

    I do believe that the discussion about iPhone vs Exchange vs Domino is over-exaggerated and looks like for me today as a tempest into a tea post

    { Link }

  1. 5  Mark Dowling http://cork2toronto.blogspot.com | 6/10/2008 1:08:16 PM

    You know, maybe renaming DWA back to iNotes wasn't the cleverest idea.

    After all, it would be a good name to use for Notes-on-iPhone, wouldn't it?

  1. 6  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 6/10/2008 1:09:57 PM

    Mark, I think that was the point -- our first support for iPhone, which seems to have been lost in the tempest, is iNotes -- DWA -- "ultralite" mode shipping in 8.0.2. iNotes on iPhone in August (or so)

  1. 7  Eric Eskam  | 6/10/2008 1:47:39 PM

    I asked in the other post - does Lotus have an equivalent to ActiveSync?

    I think it is getting missed that Apple licensed a Microsoft protocol, and integrated the protocol into the native iPhone Apps. Microsoft didn't do it, Apple did because they had something from MS to license.

    If Lotus has the equivalent to ActiveSync, then Apple should be able to do the same. If not, I think that's the core issue, not the SDK. I agree with Ed, the SDK is a red herring - the issue is integrating the native iPhone apps (Mail, Calendar, Address Book) with Domino, not the other way around.

  1. 8  Nicolas ADMENT  | 6/10/2008 2:03:08 PM

    BlackBerry Connect for iPhone would be a good solution. BlackBerry push capabilities are superior for current battery life.

  1. 9  Jon Walkup  | 6/10/2008 2:14:25 PM

    Not to pile on here, but I really think IBM has been behind the ball on this one. When you say "We at IBM have a responsibility to pursue integration with the iPhone, and have been doing so for six months.", I see another opportunity missed. Admittedly, there was no obvious way to extend Notes/domino to iPhone other than IMAP upon its release in summer of 07, but why was IBM not making enquiries then? The kind of relationship that customers of both companies hope for is one where IBM can go to Apple as soon as the product is out and say "how can we support this, now and down the road". Perhaps it would have been a website with whitepapers from IBM folks about how they configured domino IMAP to work with iPhone at first, then some presence when Apple launched iPhone 2.0 in January, and certainly a roadmap for where they are heading in the future. It seemed to me that the way that iPhone support "happened" at IBM is that one of the developers working on the "lite" interface for DWA (in 8.0.1) bought an iPhone and wanted to see if he could make it work, then when the reality of iPhone was becoming evident, it was latched onto as a "strategy". Honestly, I think as IBM customers we expect their management to be more forward-thinking and less reactionary.

  1. 10  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 6/10/2008 2:25:19 PM

    why does everyone think IBM *hasn't* been working on this for many moons? Just because there's no final public result?

  1. 11  Alan Bell http://www.dominux.co.uk | 6/10/2008 2:55:09 PM

    @10 well there does not appear to be an interim public result either. Mail and Calendar are not the only reasons to use Domino. An iPhone interface to a discussion database would be cool. Then you could point out that email is just something old people use :-)

  1. 12  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 6/10/2008 3:03:14 PM

    One interim public result is Domino Web Access "ultralite" supported on 8.0.2 (it was originally planned for 8.5 only).

  1. 13  Mark Hughes  | 6/10/2008 4:46:00 PM

    Just a thought but a Quickr app would be very cool, also Connections

  1. 14  Mark Hughes  | 6/10/2008 4:46:31 PM

    Native, SDK app that is

  1. 15  Bill Buchan http://www.billbuchan.com | 6/10/2008 4:51:54 PM

    Is there a 'feedback' page for IBM where we can officially submit feedback requests in order that IBM actually recognise our enhancement requests ?

    Given that IdeaJam isnt an IBM site (although used as a defacto-standard by the Notes community and some development teams), your description of the discussion on your blog seems to indicate that we should place this feedback elsewhere.

    Where should we put it ?

    ---* Bill

  1. 16  Lance Spellman  | 6/10/2008 6:03:13 PM

    I'm sorry, something about this just doesn't pass the sniff test. If IBM were involved early and heavily with Apple, I don't see how Apple would have had a keynote about "enterprise" without once using the words IBM or Lotus Notes, as in, "in the future we plan to address functionality with Lotus Notes."

    The alternatives are equally bad. Either IBM was late to the game or a non-participant. Or, Apple thought Notes was irrelevant to the current enterprise discussion and thus didn't bother to engage with IBM in any meaningful way, or the IBM/Apple relationship went sour.

    I don't really like the sound of any of those explanations. In one way or another, they all reflect badly on the state of affairs.

    As a BP who had to go into a SWAT mode meeting with IBM and a customer to save an account TODAY, it sure didn't help the discussion.

  1. 17  Jon Walkup  | 6/10/2008 6:40:07 PM

    Honestly, I would guess that a) IBM was slow to realize that the iPhone would be something their customers (or potential customers) would want to see connected to Notes/Domino and b) Apple was looking for the most efficient way to counter the press spin that iPhone was not "enterprise caliber". Certainly it was easier for Apple to stick to only having to integrate with one platform, and it is easier for them to say they have "checked off" enterprise as one of the things people wanted for iPhone 2.0, even when they know that there are some enterprise customers who will not have the same integration as Exchange customers will.

    However, there is still a remarkable lack of "here's how you can use your iPhone with our products" from IBM. How about a whitepaper on how to code your domino apps to work well with Safari on iPhone? How about demonstrating support for Safari in products like Connections and Quickr? How about a roadmap that shows where iPhone fits in IBM/Lotus' strategy?

    I am glad to see that we will get DWA support in 8.0.2, that is a good thing, and I certainly hope that Ed's hint dropping means that there is more in the works at IBM, but I'm not sure why some general ideas about direction aren't public. My experience with the Notes/Domino community is that many of us are more than happy to go to the mat for the latest cool thing that IBM comes out with, but when we get hit with the same questions over and over again, questions that IBM hasn't answered themselves, it gets old, fast.

  1. 18  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 6/10/2008 7:11:15 PM

    Jon, the answer to that is in the post itself. We can't unilaterally tell you what the general direction will be here, because it isn't as simple as "we'll build a Traveler interface via Apple's SDK. We *wanted* that to be the answer but it is not technically possible. Nathan Freeman has done a pretty good job of explaining why in comments on the earlier thread as well as on his own blog. Thus, ibm has been discussing plan "b" approaches with Apple, and neither party has a public finished final answer.

    Lance, I'm sorry that after however many years you would think I'm bullsh*ting here. Instead I'll go back to where I started the day. Who has contacted apple and received any kind of response? You can beat me up all you want, it takes two to tango. If you think I'm full of it, then Apple should be able to validate that for you. Instead, I expect they'll thank you for the input, or possibly tell you what they told one Lotus customer under NDA a couple weeks ago.

  1. 19  Geoff Ward  | 6/10/2008 7:19:29 PM

    @11 agree, and would add chat and enabling disconnected mode. So I suspect the work going on is to align nsf and SQLite. What is also important is the remote wipe.

  1. 20  Todd Fortwengler  | 6/10/2008 8:50:10 PM

    I don't particularly care WHO is at fault. As a Notes user, I would like the option to run a Notes Client on iPhone. If I could, I'd buy one, and I know MANY other Notes users that would do the same. It's that simple.

    Thanks Ed for giving us a place for discussion.

    I've signed the Petition - hope someone at Apple that gives a hoot knows its there.

    Keep fighting the good fight.

  1. 21  Peter Wilson  | 6/10/2008 9:36:54 PM

    Can Sam (IBM CEO) give Steve a call?

  1. 22  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 6/11/2008 12:52:18 AM

    @21 I have recently suggested that the timing would be right for such a call.

  1. 23  Sean Jennings  | 6/11/2008 5:23:42 AM

    @21 & @22 would definitely be a good move;- given Steve's occasional emailing of joe public after they log a suggestion or complaint via the Apple web-site he appears to like the personal touch.

  1. 24  Henning Heinz  | 6/11/2008 5:55:29 AM

    Well, maybe Apple just did this for a good Fake Steve story.

    It is not so bad that there is nothing for Domino but it is bad that there seems to be no official IBM statement when customers can expect something to happen.

    You already have a message to tell with iNotes Light coming earlier in 8.0.2, the screenshots look promising. It is not that bad if you combine that with a vague roadmap. If there is no roadmap then why not just fake one. Microsoft does it all the time and it works. If IBM Lotus Domino would really fully embrace open standards then IBM would be able to point back at Apple playing a proprietary Microsoft only game.

    Apart from the iPhone discussion I think it is a pity that Apple seems to have completely forgotten where they have been not so long ago.

  1. 25  Kevin http://www.theglobalmind.com | 6/11/2008 11:12:07 AM

    Well looking at the responses posted on the Wired blog tell some of the story. Of yet no supporting comments for Lotus, only jeers & laughs.

    I think really what disappoints & frustrates folks in this group is that just once it would be nice for Lotus to be tied to a major release event like this, ahead of MSFT. Instead, MSFT gets top billing, and whenever iNotes on iPhone is released you'll bet that IBM is the only one talking about it.

    We'd better see some kind of notice up on the iPhone page. If not, then it's pretty clear that Apple could care less. They have their bed made with MSFT and that's how it is for now.

    Regardless of whether or not iPhone is any good compared to CrackBerry...well...I don't think it matters at the moment. The news is enough to influence decision makers.

    In the end there was clearly a misstep here on IBM's part, even if Apple would have had to do the coding. Doesn't matter. MSFT got the call made, and got the code in, and now they're on stage and Lotus isn't.

    Oh and had it been the other way around, Steve's comments could have said that they polled all these folks and that Domino was on the list of things they wanted. You can bet that those shops they polled who are Domino customers stated they wanted Domino. However, the Exchange shops won this one.

  1. 26  Ethan Bearman http://www.ethanbearman.com | 6/11/2008 3:38:23 PM

    Let me start with WOW. Unbelievable how IBM comes in a distant second place, again. First it is the complete marketing failures of the AS/400, which should be a market leader. Now it is the utter marketing failures of Lotus.

    I am a consultant that works with a wide range of companies and convincing anyone to become a NEW user of either the Power Systems i or Lotus Notes/Domino is darn near impossible. ALL of the press is Microsoft Exchange and with the Power Systems, I have clients left and right who are getting ready to abandon System i for p because they don't think/feel IBM is truly committed anymore to the 400 (gee, how many names can a platform have in a few years).

    Applications make a platform successful, Lotus is MIA for the iPhone. And the iPhone seems to have 'Enterprise' apps now (soon) for corporations.

    Echoing earlier comments, WHEN will IBM beat MSFT to the punch in the SMB world?!?

  1. 27  Ethan Bearman http://www.ethanbearman.com | 6/11/2008 3:39:29 PM

    Sorry for my rant, but by golly I was really looking forward to the fruition of the January press release about Notes on the iPhone...

  1. 28  David Bell  | 6/11/2008 4:45:22 PM

    @25 - your comment suggested a lot of negative comments, in fact there were 3.

  1. 29  bv  | 6/11/2008 7:52:22 PM

    First, Ed Brill, I don't hold you responsible for this. Second, I do hold IBM as a company responsible for undermining its own ability to compete.

    In January 07 everyone suspected the iPhone would be the magic "convergence device", the PC, or WWW of today. By summer people stood in line to get and shortly after it was crowned invention of the year.

    IBM not being on board by iPhone 1.0 was a neato opportunity lost, oh well. Not being on board by iPhone 2.0 ...

    IBM is quickly becoming the GM of its industry. A company so large that its momentum has been enough make bank for shareholders and execs for so long that nobody has bothered to shovel some coal in the boiler. GM's quickly learning that getting a large business back to competitive speed isn't so easy. Does IBM's board realize IBM isn't throwing up much of a wake now days?

    Frankly the only person who could call Apple without a brush off from apple execs busy rolling in opportunity, would be CEO Samuel Palmisano.

    Sure IBM will survive and Notes/Domino is just one of many products. But if IBM's top executives are not going to fight for industry leadership, in an industry they have umpteen million seats in, well just what exactly is their job?

    Perhaps Carl Ichan should forget Yahoo and start rattling the IBM board for some results. Perhaps Lotus Notes, DB2, and the like would be better off if they were spun off and sold to someone like Microsoft.

    Frankly Ed, you'd probably get better benefits and all of us notes geeks would dodge a COBOL like fate. ;)

  1. 30  Rob  | 6/11/2008 9:06:57 PM

    Time to deal with devil I think. If Notes cannot/won't be integrated with iPhone, is it possible for IBM to (cough) license ActiveSync from Microsoft so that a Domino server can be made to appear to an iPhone as a (cough) Exchange Server -- minus all the horrors that this entails? Maybe a 3rd party opportunity here?

  1. 31  Neil Wainwright http://www.nexonia.com | 6/11/2008 9:25:08 PM

    Hi Ed,

    We go pretty far back. :-) I'm at my hotel room in SF where I'm attending WWDC. If there is anything I can do to help, I will. My opinion is that Apple loves elegance...simplicity and elegance. My personal opinion is that IBM should give Apple an elegant protocol and they'll work to implement it. I'm sure they understand that Notes = 50% of the enterprise, but overall they value elegance. That's Steve Job's imprint on the company, and I agree with it. They're doing a huge amount of work with far less resources than MSFT...and I believe it's their focus on simplicity and elegance. They do the hard work to make things simple. I hope IBM can give them something simple and elegant to implement...and they will. Anything complex and it'll "crater" at some level in their approval process if not at the outset. They also have MSFT to keep engaged on the desktop apps and ActiveSynch side...so it's a bit of a dance. Anyways, my thoughts only. Anything I can do to help, I will. You have my neil@nexonia.com e-mail.

    ...Neil

  1. 32  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 6/11/2008 10:50:55 PM

    @29 are you kidding me? Software group is one of the most profitable parts of IBM. The hyperbole may feel good, but this is a practical matter.

    @31 Neil, thanks. Some good stuff happening at WWDC, will ping you via mail if I can get the right vector to take you up on that.

  1. 33  Sean Jennings  | 6/12/2008 4:57:15 AM

    Hey all, seems Apple has been developing some way to push notifications to background applications...

    { Link }

  1. 34  Kevin  | 6/12/2008 7:50:01 AM

    @28 - Well my comments indicated that of what was posted there were several negatives and until you posted, there weren't any supporting comments.

    Whether appropriate or not, truth is the negatives seem to always be the first ones to show up and it just goes from there.

    I am sure the same folks would have declared "who cares" if Domino support was the top item on the docket. That's just how it is with some people.

  1. 35  bv  | 6/12/2008 4:09:45 PM

    @32 The hyperbole did feel good.

    But iPhone 2.0 and Snow Leopard have unthinkably become a selling point for our competitors. Thats a tough pill to swallow.

    So yes, secretly many of us would love to imagine a IBM exec boiled in oil each time a lime light opportunity like iPhone integration is missed.