Project Vulcan - say goodbye to the Notes client? #ibmexperience
Tags :Project Vulcan Domino Notes Next browser DOLS Project Northstar
I have pondered this entry for some time. Edited a few drafts. Created new entries. Hesitated. However, after seeing yet more demos of Project Vulcan by IBM Lotus at NLLUG this past week, it hit me. The demo I just stood watching at the IBM sponsor booth did a fine job of hiding all of the browser toolbars, menu items and other indicators. Note the keyword is browser for all the demos. Never a Lotus Notes client of any form.
Back in August for IamLUG, I watched Ed do a live demo of Vulcan I saw him use a browser. Not a new fangled client. Now as I think back about other demos, screenshots and sneak peeks, I never saw a client. It just doesn't exist in the plans for Project Vulcan at this time.
Stop being such a Notes client tree hugger already
I am not claiming the client is always the best solution. But I know that applications would need to be rewritten or surfaced properly in XPages. A massive undertaking. The Vulcan interface, workflow and design is made for the web browser. Not any Notes client as we know today. We would be looking at a total manipulation of the client coding, installation and more to get that type of behavior locally. That is not in the current plans of what Lotus is trying to reach with Project Vulcan and Project Northstar. The collapse of social streams into the client is a logical next step.
holy crap, they could expand this locally if they went back towards DOLS
DOLS still appears in things like Quickr, but would need a lot of effort to get it up to par with a widescale deployment. There are issues with renames, security, synchronization and more. While I can see how Project Vulcan can open new doors, it does seem to have a hole when it comes to offline and local type work if no local client appears.
From the demos, Project Vulcan appears Facebook-ish in a way. The idea is in the stream, subscription and flow of information and data being brought to you. It goes beyond the enterprise mindset of go open a database. It changes to bring it to me. Yes, subscriptions have been part of the Notes client for some time. But not in this context and expansion. Finding sources and having information brought to you based on context is a desktop of the future for workers.
I am eager to see how Project Vulcan evolves and how Project Northstar shows companies how to bridge the social and enterprise realms. I certainly hope that a local client of some form is in the works for Project Vulcan from IBM Lotus, or a massive undertaking to move your existing investment in Lotus Notes and Domino will soon appear.
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On Wednesday, September 15th, 2010 by Chris Miller
