Lotus seeks Exchange users

Packages help customers migrate to Domino.

By John Fontana
Network World, 07/10/00

CAMBRIDGE, MASS. - Trying to maintain the upper hand on rival Microsoft, Lotus is putting together a series of migration packages to help users move from Exchange to Domino.

It is no coincidence that Lotus Super.move Acceleration Packs will arrive just before Microsoft plans to release Exchange 2000, which should make its debut in the next few weeks.

Microsoft has integrated Exchange 2000 with Windows 2000, Active Directory and Office 2000 to create a platform for building collaborative applications. The platform is clearly aimed at attacking Lotus long-held advantage as a development platform provider with Notes and Domino.

The upgrade to Exchange 2000, however, is certain to be challenging for users because they must deploy Active Directory and Windows 2000 before they can make the move.

Earlier this year, the company announced its BlueJay initiative, which is designed to integrate Microsoft Outlook and Office closely with Domino R5. The idea is that enterprises committed to Microsoft on the front end can still run Lotus on the back end and enjoy all the features of Domino.

Now Lotus plans to make it easier for users to switch to Domino servers.

"Clearly Lotus is trying to grab the spotlight from Microsoft, which has a major release coming up," says Jim Kobielus, an analyst with The Burton Group in Midvale, Utah, and a columnist at Network World.

With the Super.move Acceleration Packs for Microsoft Exchange, Lotus is bundling existing tools with consulting services to help users migrate. The bundle includes the Exchange Migration Tools, which currently ship with Domino R5. It also includes a copy of Domino with 25 client access licenses and 25 Notes client licenses, computer-based training for administrators and end users, and books on Notes and Domino support and migration.

Lotus will offer three levels of Super.move. Level 1 includes five free phone-based incident reports. Level 2 adds four days of system administration training and 10 half-days of end-user training. At Level 3, Lotus bumps the end-user training to 20 half-days and adds seven days of on-site/off-site support from Lotus Professional Services.

"The bundle of software and services is useful because many organizations are still interested in migration, and it's a difficult area," says David Ferris, president of Ferris Research in San Francisco.

"Customers have to look at what it takes to upgrade to Exchange 2000, and what they want to do with collaboration and knowledge management," says Larry Zaykowski, a manager at Lotus. "Messaging and calendar migration is not difficult, but collaboration, knowledge management and workflow is where the value is."

Lotus plans to make the Super.move packs available this month. Pricing was not announced.