Lotus Notes vs GroupWise Debate

[AgTech]

We are currently running Netware & GroupWise as well as NT 4.0 in our office. We are upgrading to Win 2k shortly and are planning to migrate our file server from Netware to a new Win 2k box and reduce the dependance on the Netware environment (currently 4 machines use the Netware OS).

We are looking at two options: (but are open to others)

1. Keeping one box with Netware and run GroupWise mail server on an Win NT (or 2k) box (fresh mail server install)

2. Migrate all users to Lotus Domino/Notes

Has anyone had any experience with both GroupWise & Lotus? Interested in your experiences. We have had some database error troubles in GroupWise that have not been remedied by routine maintenance or rebuilds. We also heavily depend on the sharing of calendars and it seems Lotus may not support the same functionality.

In testing Lotus 5.0.10 we have found that utilizing Windows roaming profiles is not working with the Notes client. Also we have concerns about the amount os folder navigation (and typing) our users may have to do with Notes. In GroupWise their login via client and web are very simple as they are not exposed to the directory information we have seen in the Lotus environment. Are we missing an end-user feature that woudl make this cleaner for them?

Any input would be a great help.

 

[Stoker]

Hi,
I have never used Groupwise before but I will try and answer your questions regarding Lotus Notes.

First of all it is possible to use roaming profiles in Lotus Notes. When you install the client you must install the Data directory under a personal shared network drive. i.e. if your J: drive is your users personal drive then select that, but note all personal drives must be mapped to the same drive.

Next you must specify the path of the notes.ini file in the shortcut for every lotus notes desktop icon and startmenu option. Right click on the desktop/startmenu program icon and select properties, next in the target box you will have something similar to:

C:\lotus\notes\notes.exe

copy the notes.ini file from c:\lotus\notes
directory to your j drive under j:\lotus\notes\data

then change the target to

C:\lotus\notes\notes.exe j:\lotus\notes\data\notes.ini

this should sort out the roaming issue for you. Its been a while since I used roaming profiles, I hope it works for you but it should get you on the correct path.


As for your navigation issue, when you launch notes client you get a list of icons up the left of the screen. Click on the databases button then drag the workspace icon on to the left bar. Click on the workspace tab and you should will be able to bookmark databases for your users for easier navigation round the notes OS.


As for calenders there are new features that I have not looked at properly but you can setup group calenders by following these steps.

Open the users calendar then click on the group calendars option and add a new group and select the individuals. This should let you see busy times for everyone in the group.

If you cannot see other users calendar info you need to set the permissions on each users calendar to allow everyone to view there calendar info. to do this follow these instructions:

In notes client click Actions file menu option
then Tools, Preferences
Next click on Deligation tab then Calendar Delegation
Tick anyone can read my calendar and OK


Hope this info helps. Lotus notes is a good product but it takes a while to get used to it and all the features.

 

[AgTech]

Stoker,

Thank you for your advice. I will give your suggestions a go this week. At least I know it is possible. I had read that roaming wasn't supported until Release 6, but I am sure many workarounds are possible.

Thanks,
AgTech