From a quick sweep of my blog reader it looks like everyone who attended Lotusphere 2007 is now resting and recovering somewhere. They'll be posting their impressions soon, no doubt. In the meantime, I thought I'd post some Lotusphere commentary and Impressions from what I've read in the press and on the blogs:
1) Bloggers and Lotusphere 2007
Bloggers by far provided more and better coverage than the mainstream media at Lotusphere 2007. Yes, professional journalists have more resources at their disposal, and lots and lots of training, and some have lots of experience. But as with CES a couple of weeks ago, the proof is out there that a bunch of dedicated geeks with specific, deep knowledge of particular topics can provide far better coverage of those topics than the mainstream media can.
Most of the blogger coverage I've ready was good, and some of it was exceptional. Ed Brill and others are already doing a fine job of encouraging Bloggers, and Lotus should definitely keep the encouragement coming, especially given the fact that mainstream media has not been kind to Lotus over the years.
2) WebSphere!
Many years ago, I used to joke that IBM sales had a specific type of Tourette's syndrome. Whenever anyone would ask a question about solutions to an IBM salesperson, it seemed like that person would blurt out "Websphere!" as the answer, no matter what the answer should be....
But since then, I see Websphere put into more places in the Lotus product line that make a lot of sense. What I've heard so far this year about integration between WAS, Portal, and Domino is all good. The message is getting much clearer. There's been a lot of thought, and obviously experience, put into in building out the current solutions offerings. As someone who used to build Notes and Domino apps and now works with WebSphere every day, I really like what I see. I think the current architecture will serve Lotus well for many years to come.
3)IBM and Web 2.0
While attending some CES events a couple of weeks ago here in Las Vegas, I had the chance to meet and catch up with a great crowd of well known bloggers. One thing bugged me - it was obvious that, even though IBM had a very good booth this year, Lotus and IBM were not really on their radar screens at all. In general, IBM and Lotus software is considered "Enterprise" software, which to most well-known bloggers is a keyword for something that's old and they don't need to know. In fact, for the last couple of years, I've been only IBMer joining the conversation at events such as the CESCamp and the PodTech Bloghaus (And I'm not there in any kind of official capacity). On the other hand, Microsoft, HP, Sun, Intel, Seagate, SAP, Newsweek, and The New York Times either had attendees there or sponsored some kind of event.
But it looks like impressions are changing. The Web 2.0 and Social Software announcements around Lotus Connections are introducing IBM messages into established Web 2.0 and Social Software audiences.
When I tell people that IBM has a prescience on Second Life, many are impressed, and Lotus Connections will hopefully spur them to take a deeper look at IBM as a Web 2.0 player. I use most of the technology that Connections will be based on here at IBM, and I can tell you that it's useful and quite impressive, given the massive scale of the IBM workforce. I think I'll have lots more to talk about with the event attendees at the next CES....Well done IBM!
