Just like preparations for the Christmas holiday season seem to come earlier every year (at least among retailers), the influence of Lotusphere on the IBM Lotus faithful gets bigger and earlier each year. The eyes of most Notes/Domino users will be on Orlando, Florida, in January, mainly to see how real the long-promised Hannover (now known as "Notes 8") is. The Lotusphere extravaganza promises thrills, chills and lots of news - if demos of portal-ready collaboration objects are the kind of thing that send thrilling chills down your spine.

At the moment, IBM really doesn't have much to say, because it is holding the big announcements for Lotusphere. In fact, it didn't have much to say for most of the fall either, given the pressure to have lots to say in Orlando. This concentration of effort has gotten worse since IBM decided to drop Lotusphere Europe several years ago. This focus on one big yearly event is hurting the Lotus product line in two ways.

First, IBM saves up its important news until Lotusphere, creating a marketing news vacuum for at least 25% of the year. Second, IBM seems to figure that all users will make the pilgrimage to Orlando, or at least closely follow the announcements there.

I spoke with a customer who did not go to Lotusphere and, consequently, knew nothing about the new features in Sametime 7.5. IBM knew it was considering alternatives, but did not make an effort to inform the client about the new version. The client regretted going with another vendor when he or she finally heard about it, but by then it was too late.

Microsoft - IBM Lotus's main competitor - is not constrained by the need to have a single "big bang" event with a fixed date. Microsoft uses this advantage effectively, staging announcements and launches when it suits the company. Lotus's role in supporting remote collaboration makes its attachment to this real-world meeting all the more curious. The dozens of streamed presentations on the Internet belie the focus on a fixed event at a fixed place and time.

IBM would be better off not relying on a single event to inform and excite its users. Users would also benefit from a steady stream of announcements and the opportunity to get more information closer to home.

Also, it would mean I would have to go to Disney World less often - a definite benefit as far as I am concerned.

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That announcements are pent up prior to Lotusphere indicates deeper issues.

1) Lotusphere is an annual high stakes marketing gamble for the Lotus division. If attendance dips and the event goes into the red, it hits the division's marketing budget in a big way. That didn't used to be the case when the overall marketing spend for Lotus was much higher. Too much emphasis is being placed on this one roll of the dice. Compared to the size of the installed base globally, attendance is very poor indeed, and representation from outside North America is shockingly low. IBM needs to spend more on software and partner marketing full stop. At least 5 times more. It has difficulty with that as it has always been primarily a sales, service delivery and development shop for large enterprises. To IBM, software is a set of toolkits for the enterprise. Toolkits don't make for great news.

2) Communication with Lotus customers and prospects other than through this big bang event to the entirely converted, is very spotty throughout the year, especially outside North America. IBM needs to pay more attention to one to one marketing, and ensure its messages are heard. That doesn't require a different level of spend, but it does require a different view of the customer.

3) Maybe there aren't enough announcements throughout the year and why is that? Are there too few acquisitions in collaborative software? Is there too little investment in development? IBM has made huge strides in its own use of collaborative technologies (see alphaworks) but it is taking too long for these innovations to become part of the marketed portfolio.

Lotusphere is an incredible event for the Lotus aficionado and should continue. The larger picture of how IBM delivers collaborative value to companies of every size and communicates that value needs to be addressed

I totally agree. IBM's lack of communication with its customers about update and patches is a bad business habit that will cost them some customers.
Sametime Unyte Share (free) and BlueHouse are extremely helpful programs. Unfortunately, not many people know about these products.

Kevin,

http://www.virtela.com