Some reasons to switch to Google Apps

IBM’s Lotus Notes has been a standard platform for many years among companies of all sizes.  However, many people, I believe, now think it has had its day.

But has it?  Companies have, for a while now, been working on compatible applications that allow Lotus Notes users to still use their favourite software while making use of newer technologies, in particular mobile phones and tablets.  A recent example of this is the Traveller App.

However, despite these latest innovations, the exodus to Google’s cloud system is still continuing.  The question is why?

Perhaps the following reasons can help.  Firstly, however successful Lotus Notes has been in the past and however successful new applications help users adapt to change, the software still has to be installed on a computer.  Moreover, any changes to technology will require updates to software.  Google Apps, in contrast, is cloud-based and cloud is the future.  Even IBM recognises that.

Secondly, while Lotus Notes offers great integrated software from mail to calendaring, information collected still has to be stored on a computer’s hard drive or on a company’s own server.  Google, on the other hand, stores information on its own servers that can be retrieved by anyone with permission to access it, and wherever they live, not just in the office.

Related to this is a simple fact, namely that I doubt very much it is easy to collaborate worldwide using Lotus Notes.  This is the whole point about cloud computing.  Even if it was possible with Lotus Notes, the cost of setting up global infrastructures would be enormous.