Help a Lotus Virgin! 1

[grande]

I'm trying to decide what to buy for my business: Lotus Notes or Microsoft Outlook? Can you guys give me pros/cons/comments/horror stories?

Currently, we're using gmail. Unprofessional, I know.

Thanks in advance,

-------------------------
Just call me Captain Awesome.

 

[dwarfthrower]

What do you want to use it for?

Notes/Domino is a lot more far-reaching than outlook. Notes/Domino is a mail, database and web server all rolled into one - allowing you to build applications that can support practically every area of your business - delivered through either the notes client, web browser or mobile device.

Outlook is an email system.

Depends on what you want.

_{Never be afraid to share your dreams with the world.
There's nothing the world loves more than the taste of really sweet dreams.}

 

[grande]

Well, the web server and database would definitly come in handy...

-------------------------
Just call me Captain Awesome.

 

[pmonett]

Additionally, Outlook is a bug-ridden, spam- and virus-friendly pile of code, whereas Domino is a professional, secure application that can do a lot of things right out of the box.
Plus, there is no virus known that can read the Notes address list and send itself to all contacts.

Okay, vituperous bashing aside, having worked with Notes for ten years as a programmer and consultant, I feel that Notes/Domino is a truly marvelous application management system. Many management issues can be adequately handled by its workflow features, and there is no piece of paper that cannot be transformed into a full-fledged electronic process.
Unfortunately, the Notes interface suffers from one important drawback : it's not like Windows. It does not "work" like Windows, and people are more often than not put off by its quirks.
Check these forums for the number of threads asking to change the Notes screen to Outlook, or the people who comment that "this doesn't work like Outlook".
The bitter truth is that Notes is a vastly superior product, but Outlook is what people know and expect. Getting users to adapt to Notes is a marathon that can only be successful with compliant users and much training.
Switching to Outlook can probably be done at the drop of a hat, and your users will gear up to it faster. Of course, your mail will be unavailable due to viruses and worms of various sorts a lot more often, but hey, it's Outlook, right ?

Pascal.

 

[grande]

Hmm... I don't think I'll have that big a problem with people not understanding Lotus. It's for a small company, and we're all computer nerds. 5 use Linux, 4 more are on Macs, so they're used to stuff being "not windows."

-------------------------
Just call me Captain Awesome.

 

[pmonett]

If you're working with a bunch of nerds, then by all means go Notes.
I'm sure you'll appreciate the security a lot more than the absence of Outlook-likeness will irritate you.
On the other hand, unless you have some complex procedure in your production environment, I doubt you'll find much use for the workflow abilities of Notes.
By experience, I find that under 20 people, companies tend to automatically have a better communication structure than companies with 100+ people, so when a paper needs to be signed, most often it gets done quickly and without hassle.
Discounting the security aspect, Notes just for mail is actually a bit of a waste, in my humble opinion. But it'll work just as well.

Pascal.

 

[dwarfthrower]

Notes just for mail is a waste... but I'm sure a bunch of nerds would waste no time in finding some other uses for it. Given that it takes less than a day to build a reasonably functional contact manager and document library.

_{Never be afraid to share your dreams with the world.
There's nothing the world loves more than the taste of really sweet dreams.}