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My Blackberry Enterprise Server Push Utility for the Lotus Notes Client, allows you to create Jobs for individual Channel, Message, and Browser Content Pushes, as well as allows you to delete Pushed Channel Icons from defined recipient devices.
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Time Tracker
The idea is simple. At the start of your day - upon completion of your first task - create an entry highlighting what you did and whether you feel it was an efficient or inefficient use of your time. Based on several requests, you can also select the priority, apply categories, or even align your time against a project.
For Lotus Notes Client v8.0 and above, you can use the Time Tracker Widget to make this process even easier!
Zephyr
My Configuration-based Rich Text Mail Merge and Emailing Utility, Zephyr allows you to create rich, data-driven emails to support automated workflow - all via Microsoft Word Mail Merge-like architecture. Dear <firstname> allows you to personalize each email message not only to the individual recipient, but also to the individual application workflow event!
xCopy
xCopy is a simple configurable xCopy client for the Lotus Notes client. By creating and defining xCopy Profiles, you can batch process your file backup or remote upload jobs. With the addition of the xCopy sidebar widget, you can easily kick-off these jobs, and modify both the xCopy Profiles and xCopy itself.
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OpenNTF is devoted to enabling groups of individuals all over the world to collaborate on IBM Lotus Notes/Domino applications and release them as open source.
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Yes, we *do* need a Lotus App Store...!
11/03/2009 10:10:54 AM by Chris Toohey
I've mentioned this in the past, and apparently I'm not alone in my thinking that IBM Lotus customers need a consumer-facing, click-and-install App Store.
I hinted to it in The Future of Content Delivery - where one of my favorite authors keynotes Balticon, discussing how the landscape of the publishing world has changed. I even hinted to it in The Numbers Game - where I talk about getting into the App Store arena by developing mobile device applications (specifically on the iPhone/Touch platform).
I even start calling Zune users - who find that they don't have immediate access to tons of applications after purchasing a new device vs. that of the competition (which does have an app store) - Zune shops in What can we learn from the Zune HD/Zune Marketplace 4.0 Launch?. I thought that was a pretty big hint...
And then I just come out and say it in Say it with me: App Stores define the product!:
... So where's the Lotus App Store?
You may say it's OpenNTF. For our community, I think that's as close a fit to anything that's out there and available today. But while the solutions available on the OpenNTF catalog are some of the better applications developed for our particular platform... I don't think it's enough.
We need a simple, low-cost, consumer-focused application store - where a user of a product from the Lotus product portfolio can browse through consumer-priced applications, plug-ins, add-ons, and such. The result: you'll not only empower the user to do more with their technology investment, but you'll give them ideas on how they can better use the product.
You'll also drive vendor participation and innovation - as this is absolutely an untapped revenue stream that will breed a new level of competition.
So where do we start?
That post got some pretty interesting feedback - most of it saying that we need more of a complete product catalog that IT can easily use and not a consumer-facing "click-and-add" App Store.
So, my question is - why can't we have both?
Don't think there's a need for an individual, single-user Lotus Notes Client-based application (read: consumer-end application)? The people who are actively using Time Tracker might disagree.
With the current cost of Lotus Domino Designer, anyone can get busy creating applications for the enterprise or for the individual consumer.
Think about it: if IBM were to create an App Store and mirrored the vendor/developer/consumer structure of the Apple App Store, how many new developers would you have flocking to the platform? With all of those new developers, how many killer apps do you think would be available to enterprise or individual/consumer users?
And with all of those killer apps just waiting to be downloaded as a low-cost solution to customer problems, just how many Notes shops would become even more dependant on Lotus technologies to run their day-to-day operations?
It's a win-win-win solution: IBM wins in customer retention and could easily pick up new seats by showcasing how easy it is to add new applications to the platform, as well as how viable and lively the solution is based on App Store submissions and customer usage/downloads, the developers get paid for their contributions, and the consumer - our customer - gets their problems addressed, and can thus work smarter!
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At first thought I would say that OpenNTF would be the perfect fit. But thinking about it more I say maybe not so much, as the Open in OpenNTF to many means free and doesn't really translate well into "pay for" apps. I do agree however on the theory behind the idea, that it will drive more consumers, developers and customer retention.
Not to mention, since we're now Eclipse based, there are many shops out there that thrive on making eclipse plug-ins and could toss their expertise into the smelting pot of applications.
I think this is a good idea but wonder how it would be deployed and supported, especially with the current trend in corporate IT to remove all but the basic of permissions to customize your workstation. Me personally... I would really like to see something like this come out of IBM or some other business partner and think it could certainly get traction and be successful.
Others have expressed similar feedback. Are you familiar with the Lotus Greenhouse (http://greenhouse.lotus.com) and the new xPages-based IBM Lotus and WebSphere Portal Business Solutions Catalog (http://greenhouse.lotus.com/catalog)? It's actively being developed by IBM and many are excited to see it take shape and what direction it may take.
there's a plug-in for that :-)
Lotus911 also tried it.
IT does not have the money. There lies the other problem. The one searching is not the one buying. And if that did work, the IBM catalog would be making everyone money.
The problem as some see it, I think, is selling a Notes app for $5 when it could get $500 or 5,000 is perhaps the drawback.
As is the lack of home users on Notes. A few hundred people, maybe a few thousand? not enough to support every one and their app.
Would it be useful? Yes no question.
I posed a similar question to staff yesterday and we agree, in the future(2-5 years) this may be the way.
Also click and install is not so simple. Sidebar widgets have issues, and then there are acl settings, etc.
But I'm all for it, if the yellowverse can commit to one site.
While IBM has ideas about building it, it is missing the goal of an app store. Maybe you are volunteering to get in now and help build what was already announced
AppCentrist
http://planetlotus.org/5aee98
Chris:
I have been writing downloadable one-click automated installers for Lotus Foundations since day one - and, have a similar metholody in place for general Domino apps.
Works like a champ, too. And, easily customizable to ANY domino application (single or multi database, ACLs, Roles, etc.)
Cheers
Robert Baehr
The Unofficial Poster Child for Lotus Foundations, Lotus Notes, and Domino
We don't need an app store. As much as we would like it, database systems are not a consumer orientated item. Even when we purchase commercial systems, there is generally an amount of customization that goes on. What would be of greater value are small apps that can be useful to small business owners/IT staff that can be tried out and picked apart to see how they are put together.
A lot of the invoices we get from our suppliers have been generated from the Invoice template that comes with Excel. At one time we used the Purchase Order Template that can with Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet. I've looked at the order entry template that came with Approach. Where are the Notes versions of these?
And if you think XPages are the way to go, forget it. Why would I turn the power available in the Eclipse Client into a Browser work alike?
There are two sticking points for me in all of the advancements on the back-end and with XPages.
1. The basic data entry and display widgets in the notes client have not improved.
2. Printer output/control is woefully lacking.
Now I know, that these items are not on the top of the agenda when LoLa is on, but in these smaller companies it makes a difference, and if Lotus want the adoption from smaller entities, they need to provide options.
Why do people's IQ points drop by 50 when this topic comes up? It amazes me.
So, I would approach this from the client technology side first. There are probably a few problems with a "free-for-all", consumer-driven Notes app market - and most, if not all of these problems center around security. The two main areas are this:
1) admins are NOT going to like the idea of their end-users downloading and using any ol' app from the wild in their Notes clients; and in fact, many orgs actually prevent the end users from adding modifying the app mix on their clients at all.
2) the average end user, to this day, still doesn't understand the security model (and how it protects them - until it does), and they will get all pissy - either about having to sign the apps, or about getting all the ECL stuff when they attempt to use these apps the first time.
So, I think before the idea of consumer-driven apps for Notes can truly take off, you have to address these problems. I have had an idea around how to solve this, and have discussed it with others in the past. Before it was too early in the curve for the idea to get traction; maybe now, with more consumer understanding, it could actually work. Here's the idea.
I think it would be a good idea to create something like a "Sandbox" zone in a Notes client, where you can actually load unsigned or less-secure applications. These applications would only be allowed to operate within the constructs of the Sandbox, and access would be pretty severely restricted - and granted on a "need" basis, similar to the ECL model (I think - there may be an even better way to handle it, but I'd have to noodle on it; the idea would center on something like a "sandbox broker" that provides content/functionality to Sandbox apps on a per-app basis, and would be configured).
The idea of the Sandbox would be that the Admins could trust it, knowing that apps put in there are (relatively) safe. They could still lock down the rest of the client, and the end user would still have the ability to make Notes more productive (i.e., more "theirs").
The end users would like it because it would do just that - make Notes more personalized, more "theirs". They could find and load apps that help them do their jobs better, without needing to get IT/Admin involved. They simply get the app and use it. If they don't like it, nuke it. Easy-peasy.
What do the rest of you think?
--Rock
I'm with Nathan on this in that I don't believe we need a consumer-focused app store for Lotus. IMHO an SMB-focused app store with lots of free stuff (e.g., the old nifty-fifty concept), and some higher-grade commercial stuff that can be bought with a few clicks on a low per-seat basis.
@Rich - why do you think you're with me when you say that?
Because your reply says "We don't need an app store".
At least the reply I thought was your reply says that ;-)
My reply says that otherwise intelligent people in the Lotus community suddenly lose 50 IQ points when this subject comes up.
Everyone looks at the question from the wrong angle. What is the value TO THE USER if there's an AppStore?
I expressed some of my thoughts about end users and app stores in the Salesforce.com world on my blog. The cloud partially exists and flourishes because of the IT people that control the desktops.
I think we are looking at the App Store from either just one angle or not enough angles. Ok, more blog writing to do
Thank you Chris M. I guess you got my email ;-).
@Nathan: the indentation in the separators here make them look to me more like a footer for the previous comment, rather than a header for the following comment. Does that mean my IQ has gone down 50 points? ;-)
As far as value to the user goes, IMHO before one can address that one has to address something even more fundamental. Every business plan needs to begin by answering the question: who is the customer? Every other point in the plan depends on the answer to that. E.g.: What does the customer need? How does the customer know/learn that he needs it? How will the customer know/learn where he can get what he needs? What else can we show the customer that he needs while he's looking for what he thinks he needs? How much will the customer pay to get something that he needs? And how many customers do we need to be willing to pay for what they need in order for the business to be profitable?)
Here there is clearly disagreement as to who the customer is, and everything else diverges from there. That's not a matter of people losing IQ points. That's a matter of very different perspectives and goals being projected by different people onto the same app store concept.
@Rich - you say tomato, and I say tomato...
@Nathan - I say raspberry.
OK - let's see if I can do this all in a single response...
For those of you who think that Lotus Notes is not a consumer product, I have a single question: who uses Lotus Notes? Sure, IT supports Lotus Notes - as they do any technology in the enterprise - but they are not the intended users. Remember, all of these bells and whistles should help your users work smarter. Thus, the true customer here is the end user, or - here we go - the consumer.
And look at your average consumer product: if the platform can't do what the consumer wants it to do, the expectation is that they'll be able to easily add on that feature functionality - even if they need to pay for it - all to address their immediate needs.
Isn't that why we added sidebar widget support into the Lotus Notes client? When I first show off the sidebar widgets, I get a "meh, that's nice - but not worth upgrading this quarter...". When I show them the ability to quickly add feature functionality - even something as simple as FedEx or UPS tracking - without modifying multiple application designs, I get customers begging for the platform upgrade.
And it's because they understand that - supported by IT - they can get approved, tested, and functional problem-solving add-ons to address their needs.
OK - let's take a step back.
The Apple App Store might not be a fair comparison - I'll give you that. The majority of iPhone and iPod Touch users use those devices for personal use, and not for business use - unlike something like Lotus Notes which is used almost exclusively for the enterprise.
Did you know that Research in Motion - y'know, they have those Blackberry devices - has an App Store?
Do all Blackberry users that purchase from RIM's App Store fill out an RCI? Do they need 18 sign-offs, the blood of a virgin lamb, and an official sanction from their local IT representative before they install VM+ so they can record voice notes directly to mp3?
Sure, IT could lock things down via policy. They could even facilitate the purchase and installation of any 3rd-party software on the device. They could even - imagine this - support their technology investment and understand that the base functionality may need to be extended to address their customer's day-to-day needs.
Y'know... lock that down via something like a policy or something - like you can with Blackberry devices.
Has anyone that's saying that this isn't a good idea - or that IT should be looking at a product catalog - ever deploy a Sidebar Widget Catalog and allow their users to select which approved widgets they want to install?
So... what's the big disconnect here?
I think the biggest disconnect here is simply that those of you who can't see the potential of a Lotus Notes Client App Store are just too focused on whole-enterprise solutions (vs. individual applications).
I think there there is some merit in this idea. Perhaps not for all applications but certainly for some. Larger applications (read higher priced) may require license key generation which will likely vary between vendors. But for smaller apps it could be useful especially for developers who want to code an app but don't want to give it away via OpenNTF.
@Nathan: you don't actually say why you think the people's IQ drops? You seem to be an otherwise intelligent person. Where you referring to yourself?
@Ethann - does that seem likely? I could speculate on why IQs seem to drop, but it would just be guesswork. It's just something I notice consistently.
The math is pretty straightforward here. When you look at platforms that DO have integrated application distribution channels, and the per-capita value they generate -- it seems pure absurdity that a platform with somewhere around 100 million active seats doesn't have an integrated channel. Run the numbers and think about 1) how that compares to Lotus's existing business; and 2) what percentage success would be needed to at least make the venture profitable.
It's pretty black and white.
two things not mentioned:
1) having an app store will create a new application model for the end user that far too few BPs or sites like OpenNTF.org address. It will cause more development of end-user content and applications
2) an app store ONLY works if it is on the home page of the notes client when it first starts. Sure, you probably need policies for the larger notes installs and a way to proxy the store, but the default should be open and on.
Before the iPhone App store - mobile devices got an application store via the network provider, not the device maker. Apple changed that and RIM, Palm, and Android have followed suit. The app store model changes the ballgame. Period.
Wow, my IQ points dropped by fifty but I can still write!
At the end you have to convince IBM. Without them an app store probably would not work.
a similar appstore would at least map the landscape of available Notes applications. thisis nowadays such a jungle. for example: a search or comparison of applications to publish websites is a lot of work. i guess customers want to compare stuff and read honest reviews before they buy something and spare the time of searching...
Wayne, I totally agree with your reaction. never in a lifetime will I understand why there is this push away from the full notes client to a limited webized world. Yes there is a need to get access to data via a browser, especially when the user comes from the outside of the company, typically in extranet features that via Notes can be made affordable to small businesses. But just throwing away the amazing capabilities of the Notes client is, at least to me, a strategic error and sheer nonsense. Notes is a business application, not a games/gadget platform and can deliver phenomenal productivity enhancements to small companies - I have been in this market for more than 25 years and since Notes 1, so I can relate to live experiences - if it reaches them. And reaching them means solving down to earth issues that other systems they are accustomed to solve today - like having page footers and headers that can be configured easily....But this has not changed since V3... As far as I am concerned, the main competitor of Lotus Notes applications is the most used database system in the world : Excel. And we still do not have simple import/export capabilities with it after 20 years and 8.51 releases.... And definitely printer output is a big MUNUS (not even a besoic print using or 'print lines x to z from form') , however using Syphony we can make things better now. Coming back to the main subject, An App-Store ? Why not, but don't forget. Our applications make business processes easier - and thus must come with some training, consulting, integration - how do you do that over 100 or 1000 miles ? However it would be better than nothing at all and raise awareness about Notes, its existence, its community. I'm so sick of hearing the same question : Notes ? that's an old system, will it be phased out soon ? But for that it needs marketing, marketing, marketing which I have not yet seen coming from IBM (coming with success would be a better way to phrase it). Still, I have not yet found a platform offering so many advantages at such prices and such stability - hell I don't even remember what a migration was before Notes and have no idea of what it was to update software on customer workstations.....
Chris,
Great discussion, I am sorry that I am joining it so late. Well.. we went ahead and decided to give it a try.
We recent created an eCommerce solution for a client and it was a simple matter to turn it into an App Store (http://www.LotusAppStore.com) The site has features such as ratings, reviews, serial number generation, credit card processing, and payments to vendors via PayPal.
It also generates a subscriber customized weekly newsletter that includes new product listings, reviews, and product news.
We realize that it’s going to take a while to get going but we are going to hang in there (like all Domino developers).
If anyone has any suggestions on how to get the word out please let us know.
BTW: We will be posting our eCommerce system on OpenNTF in the next few days.
Thanks.