Can Lotus Notes keep up with change?

For many years since the PC became the standard equipment for any company looking to develop and grow, Lotus Notes became the standard application.

In all the succeeding years, Lotus Notes, I have to say, was way ahead of many other products on the market.  In fact, companies of all sizes, particularly larger businesses, including airlines, wouldn’t use anything else.

However, since the advent of Google, and more particularly cloud computing, despite trying hard to develop software such as Traveller, I don’t really think Lotus Notes is keeping up.

So, the question for me is: can Lotus Notes survive?  Personally, I don’t think so, but we shall see.

One of the major flaws with Lotus Notes is its inability to make use of cloud’s buzzword – collaboration.  The main idea behind cloud is for users to be able to collaborate with each other whether they are in the same building, a different part of the country, or even a different part of the world.

However, according to at least one expert, Lotus Notes fails this major test.

I have to say though that in a sense it isn’t IBM’s fault.  Prior to the development of cloud, collaboration was never part of the agenda of business.  In fact, I believe in the USA it was actively discouraged by governments of all colours.

Today, however, collaboration is important for all businesses.  I would even go as far as saying it could be the make or break of any business.

Google Apps for Business, on the other hand, is designed for collaboration.