Comment: Full tilt ahead!

The Lotus community recharged its collective battery last week at Lotusphere in Orlando, Fla., where a new version of Notes/Domino, new Activity Explorer capabilities for Workplace and new Designer tools for both Workplace and Domino were on display.

For people that live and breathe Notes and Domino, Lotusphere sets the tone for the whole year. Unfortunately, the last couple of years have been a bit edgy. The presence of Notes progenitor Ray Ozzie at this year's conference went a long way toward soothing some bad feelings that recent Workplace-heavy Lotuspheres may have generated. This year, IBM seemed aware that Lotus was not a mere 'legacy.' Too, more than a few Lotus hearties have now judged the Workplace incorporation plan -- don't say that word 'migration' -- somewhat acceptable.

Workplace Designer will be a key product, as it gives Lotus developers a means to do their magic and link to J2EE, if they want to. Meanwhile, for those whose hands are full with Domino, thank you, group leader Ambuj Goyal's keynote pledge to battle Microsoft was something of a balm. Clearly, there is an opportunity to slow down and even displace Exchange, and that can only happen with a vibrant Domino Notes, which 7.0 could well be.

Yes, some people bolted for the exits in recent years. This Lotusphere seemed to affirm the wisdom of the people that stood by the platform. They are excited and working full tilt. As always, SearchDomino.com is here to help with that work. Keep in touch.