Gregg Eldred

Thanks to @DavidLeedy for the tweet announcing the Lotus Technical Information and Education (LTIE) Community Meeting. I think that the 150+ participants found value in the meeting; it was well worth the time. The agenda was:

• Community updates - the latest news from the information development team
• Member spotlight - Mark Hughes from Hughes Connect
• Special Topic: A discussion about future opportunities for Notes/Domino professionals
• Speakers:
• Ed Brill, Director, Product Management, Lotus Notes and Domino, LotusLive Notes
• Arthur Fontaine, Program Director, Notes/Domino Application Development
• Description: Cloud. XPages. Eclipse. Composite Applications. Server Consolidation. Domain Monitor. Traveler. All these modern elements of Notes/Domino are driving changes in the career development of Notes/Domino professionals. We will discuss thoughts on how to best Optimize for these changing churrents and what you should be watching for in terms of future opportunities.

Beginning with a review of how and where to interact with LTIE, we were introduced to Mark Hughes, an excellent guest, explaining how and why he came to the Lotus Community and how he derives value from it (both participating and contributing). From there, Ed Brill and Arthur Fontaine segued into a topic borne of the past months discussion in the blogosphere. Basically, because of changing trends and dynamics in IT, Domino Administrators and Developers have to adjust if they want to remain relevant. The message to the attendees was "Lead not Follow."

For the Administrators, this means:

• Lead to lower costs. If you've upgraded to Domino 8.5.1, implement the new features, such as DAOS, ID Vault, and DDM, which are free with Domino and provide high value to the organization.
• Widgets. Create the catalog (free) and provide some value directly to the users.
• Focus on the users. Introduce webmail (iNotes), web accessible applications, mobile, and new/upgraded templates.
• Look at the cloud and appliances. Be prepared for the questions by providing answers for optimization of your environment and/or alternatives.

For the Developers, this means:

• Educate your organization on "Why Domino."
• Educate yourself on "Why Domino."
• XPages, Composite Applications, mobile solutions.
• Take some time and refresh those old, tired user interfaces.
• Extend your skills to other platforms/software. The example was Alloy for SAP.
• Prototype a solution that is in the design phase.
• Don't let a competing product do half of what Domino does well.
• Take advantage of the resources available to you; XPages blog, Solutions Catalog, OpenNTF

For everyone, speak the language of business, not just technology.

"Lead not Follow" requires that you leave your comfort zone and become more than just the "Notes Person." Take an active role in your career and the role that Notes and Domino perform in your organization, constantly show the value that is derived from the installed software by proving the business value. It was interesting to me that the conversation was more skewed toward the Application Developer to show that the Domino platform is an excellent one for development and is one that can interact with other business systems. Sure, the Administrator can implement some excellent features that bring immediate benefit to the organization, but there seems to be more on the plate of the developer. Of course, Admin or Dev, we are in this together.

The meeting replay will be posted here.

Comment posted by Keith Brooks07/27/2010 10:54:20 PM
Homepage: http://www.vanessabrooks.com

Not said specifically that I recall, but Websphere is a natural progression, especially for Admins. Don't be a dinosaur, learn it or at least understand how to work with it and you might just amaze yourself with what it can do.

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Comment posted by Ed Brill07/27/2010 11:06:43 PM
Homepage: http://www.edbrill.com

Thanks for posting this, Gregg. I thought the call was really useful, and am glad you understood so much of it.

I wouldn't sell the admin side short. Client/device strategy, cloud vs. other delivery, cost optimization, integrated services -- these are all big projects.

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Comment posted by Joyce Davis07/27/2010 11:28:01 PM
Homepage: http://www.lotus.com/ldd/lotustechinfo

Thanks for the review Gregg! And thanks for your active participation in the web chat during the meeting. I'm in the process of producing the replay now, and should have it uploaded and posted tomorrow.

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Comment posted by Gregg Eldred07/28/2010 10:48:03 PM
Homepage: http://www.ns-tech.com/blog/geldred.nsf

@Joyce: I'm going to keep a closer eye on the LTIE webinars. If the others are like this one, they are "not to be missed" events.

@Ed: Now that you mention it, you are right, those are big. Excellent response to the discussions in the blogosphere. Well thought out answers. Now, if we can only get more people to lead within their organizations . . . .

@Keith: I agree with your thoughts on Websphere.

Thanks for the comments.

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