Misconceptions in the Lotus Foundations Start launch propoganda
Tags :Lotus Foundations
Now that it is official (as noted by Stuart in CollaborationMatters.com today), IBM officially announced Lotus Foundations Start 1.0 in a press release. There are a few items we need to clear up (one disclaimer, I am part of a reseller and they are selling units fast)
Let's start here:
Whether you need to set up an office network, connect branch offices, protect your data, or provide remote access, e-mail, and collaboration capabilities to your employees, Lotus Foundations Start can help
You will only be connecting branch offices if they wish to hit a single server at a central location or if you only want to connect the underlying Linux software. Lotus will not be connecting in this first release as a hub and spoke server topology. They way they generate the certifiers prohibits it from being done properly. Since the server run heavily on proper DNS, you cannot cross certify the same O name since version 5 of Domino. This stops them from working together as expected. So picture a single server or major cross certification going on.
Provides the reliability and security you deserve with a small footprint Linux-based server, while being extremely easy to use.
If you all remember, I posted pictures of the normal server. It is equal to a 4U server in a rack if you laid it sideways. It comes as a tower. Now, you can buy an applianceware version which can go on whatever server you wish. The default small server edition is truly small. I carry it with me in my luggage now to have a full portable server. But that will only support a handful of users. Most of you will want the applicanceware.
Facilitates the creation and sharing of information, e-mail, and calendars using IBM Lotus Notes and Domino software.
Beware of which license you get. While this is true, email and calendaring, what about other applications? Some of the smaller ones comes with Messaging Express, so those are not licensed to run apps.
Saying all of this, I think Foundations has a large ability to dominate in the SMB market with some tuning for future releases. They are already selling units, as I mentioned. So with the help of Lotus in working to adjust these and a few other issues, this solution is the way to go
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On Tuesday, May 27th, 2008 by Chris Miller
