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The AppStore wars

AppStores are the hot kids on the block. Everybody has one selling personal applications. Would that fly with Lotus Notes that is rather perceived as an enterprise application (is it?). Let's hear what the robots have to say:

Definitely someone needs to wash their mouth for using foul language.

UPDATE: NO NO NO. I did not create this spot.

Posted by Stephan H Wissel on 29 June 2010 | Comments (9) | categories: IBM Notes Lotus Notes

Comments

posted by Peter Presnell on Tuesday 29 June 2010 AD:
It seems the robots are the hot kids on the block. I never saw them befor etoday and now two Notes related ones on the same day.
posted by Frank Paolino on Tuesday 29 June 2010 AD:
My favorite quote:

"My job is to keep the servers running"

"Can I just feed you into a wood chipper"

"Nobody cares if the servers are running if they don't help them get 'things' done."
posted by Patrick Picard on Tuesday 29 June 2010 AD:
as the english would say, absolutely brilliant!
posted by Tim Tripcony on Tuesday 29 June 2010 AD:
Given how over the top (albeit hilarious) that clip is, I can't help but be reminded of the time I heard a Christian attempt to convert an atheist via a combination of logic and fear:

"If you're right and I'm wrong, eventually we both die and vanish into nothingness... but if I'm right and you're wrong, you're going to Hell."

While I think that's a pathetic approach to evangelism, it's technically true.

So... if an App Store is a bad idea, but IBM embeds one into the product anyway, what are the consequences?

- some admins have to click one extra checkbox in a policy document to disable it
- IBM has wasted time that they could have spent fixing some bug or adding some feature, which will have to wait for another release cycle
- the reputation of Notes shifts from being an enterprise-targeted platform to a user-centric platform... wait, maybe that's not so awful, after all

Conversely, what are the consequences if an App Store is a good idea, but enough of us convince IBM not to bother?

- IBM misses out on billions of dollars of potential revenue; that's not hyperbole: that's the scope at stake here
- the developers that would have been attracted to the platform never arrive
- existing developers are denied a potential new revenue stream
- Notes remains primarily a tool that users are forced to use by their employer instead of one that they convince their employer to allow them to use
posted by Stephan H. Wissel on Tuesday 29 June 2010 AD:
@ Tim: Is is a standard dilemma. My earlier post about the TED talk fits nicely there: what are the cost of a false positive (we think it is a good idea and it is not) vs. a false negative (we think it is not a good idea, but it is). Genetically we are trimmed to opt for false positives (at least if you believe the sample of the noise in the grass in the TED talk in that post), which would make me double skeptical.

The Notes app shop question sits on top of a much larger question that Microsoft, Facebook and all the SaaS vendors are asking: can an appshop be successful beyond the realm of high-touch (literally) personal devices? Would a customer pay for a widget that does a small thing in the application that has the dominant posture (like your Salesforce CRM account).
We live in interesting times.
posted by Rob Novak on Wednesday 30 June 2010 AD:
The topic du jour (or de la semaine) of Notes App Stores is, in my opinion, a red herring. It won't work for enterprise products. They are for consumers. End users do not make decisions about application purchases or deployments.

In R5 the home screen had links to QuickPlace and Sametime websites. Later, that went away and was replaced with inward-facing links.

If IBM were to simply re-do the home screen with links to (or embed...Vulcan is HTML5) a combination of new media (professional how-to, ISV demo videos, basically a channel...) it would serve to further educate the Notes populace on its capabilities when combined with applications.

Having a store - or a catalog - isn't the point in the enterprise in 2010. Having the ability to walk around and browse the windows is. Demo versions, trials, and literature only go so far. I movie is worth ten thousand words when you're not the administrator who can install a demo.
posted by Nathan t freeman on Wednesday 30 June 2010 AD:
Sounds like the esteemed Mr Novak didn't watch the video.
posted by allison Cote on Wednesday 30 June 2010 AD:
this is perfect! so funny - there is always resistance to new ideas - I've talked to so many administrators just like this that can't imagine a different option! NotesAppStore.com is a great place for administrators to search all the GREAT Lotus Notes Apps available.
posted by Ben Poole on Wednesday 07 July 2010 AD:
Well that's five and a half minutes I'll never get back…