[Via Ed Brill]
… I find that in a lot of organizations where there is pressure to consider migration to Exchange/Outlook, the pressure stems from an end-user issue. That end-user is often on a back-level version of Notes, and probably has never even seen Notes 6.x, or 6.5 with the integrated, no adidtional-charge instant messaging. They might, however, have seen a later version of Outlook, through a new home PC purchase, a neighbor, or whatever. I know, I know, you’ll tell me that is why IBM should be in the consumer market…not going there. But Mr. Lovig’s comment is accurate — users who see the latest bells and whistles tend to be pretty darn happy with Notes 6…The company, which has 2,600 Notes users, is saving about $1 million a year by standardizing on one e-mail system, Nelson says. Cost reductions stem from support staff savings, decreased downtime and other factors, she says.
Sure there is a lot of pressure from the end-user in many companies. Aren’t these the people who are actually making money for the company ? I am not saying that the end user needs to be involved in every discussion / decision with regards to IT, but when it comes to very important productivity apps such as email they should be heared. What you will find out in these type of discussions is that they like ourlook 2003, because no matter how you look at it, it is the better interface.
Besides the fact that a lot of users may know Outlook 2003 form their home PC, companies should (and are) evaluating their messaging environment as a whole and look at TCO as well as productivity improvement. I will do a posting on Exchange vs Notes TCO in the coming weeks and point to the most relevant productivity related stuff.
