What is it?
Now described as "an integral part of the IBM Workplace family",
the Lotus Domino server can either be used for e-mail and
enterprise scheduling, as a custom application server, or both.
Domino competes with Novell's Groupwise and with Microsoft's
Exchange. IBM and Microsoft have analysts permanently arguing over
which has the better total cost of ownership. The most recent
release, Domino 7.0, is claimed to support more users per server,
and to reduce CPU usage by 25%.
Exchange users can migrate to Domino while continuing to use
Microsoft Outlook. IBM claims to have brought over 1,500
Exchange-using organisations in 2004. Unlike Exchange, Domino also
comes with a built-in programming platform and tools for custom
application development. These are now open standards-based, in
common with IBM's other development products. Thousands of
third-party solutions are available for Domino users.
Where did it originate?
Lotus Notes appeared in 1989 as a collaboration and workflow
product, and was hailed from the outset, although for several years
nobody knew quite what it was.
Thousands of niche applications were developed, from
conferencing and project management, to enterprise information
systems and field workforce management.
The focus shifted to collaborative messaging when Lotus cc:mail
was migrated to Notes, bringing a large user base with it. IBM took
Lotus over in 1995, and later divided the product into Domino
server and Notes client.
What is it for?
From their relatively simple beginnings as client and server,
Notes and Domino have evolved into a portfolio of products based on
messaging and collaboration.
Confusingly for those who have been following the products over
the years, there are Domino rather than Notes clients for web mail
and web access. There are Lotus products for mobile users, web
conferencing, document and web content management, learning
management, workflow and enterprise application integration.
What makes it special?
The latest release of the Domino Designer application
development software introduced web services design and built-in
support for Web Services Description Language (WSDL). Applications
can be integrated with J2EE and Microsoft .net environments.
Lotus applications can now be DB2-enabled, and use SQL to access
data in DB2 applications.
How difficult is it to master?
While Domino Designer includes templates and other features to
help novice designers, they will also need HTML, Javascript,
XML/XSL and Cascading Style Sheets. These and other required skills
are covered in five days of classroom training, which also provide
an introduction to web services security. Similarly, administering,
deploying and managing Notes/Domino environments are each covered
in five days of training.
Where is it used?
In 2005 IBM claimed 20 million licences and 60,000 customer
organisations, ranging from academic to public sector and
commercial users.
What systems does it run on?
Linux, Windows, IBM's i5/OS and z/OS. among others.
What is coming up?
The Hannover release of Notes/Domino, previewed last summer and
due later this year, introduces support for composite applications,
which combine components from third party applications with Lotus
applications.
Rates of pay
Salaries for Notes/Domino developers and administrators start at
£25,000.
Training
A good starting place when looking for Notes/Domino training is
IBM's
Lotus homepage.