To consider Notes and Exchange to be the same -- in any form -- is ludicrous. When Microsoft claims, for example, that Exchange has a lower cost of ownership than Notes, you have to keep in mind that Exchange is primarily a messaging platform. The cost of ownership should be less, being that less can be or needs to be done in a pure Exchange vs. Notes environment. What would be interesting is if the comparisons actually compared equivalent product capabilities. If the above Microsoft add-on products were included in the Exchange equation and then compared with Notes and Domino.

Critical and Specific Comparisons
Let's compare some key aspects of the two solutions.

Internet server
Exchange is not a Web server. Domino is. This is a critical feature comparison. Customers must realize that to Web enable (either on an intranet, Internet, or extranet) any application in Exchange they must use other products -- including a Web server. This of course, is included in Domino.

Platforms and big iron
Exchange is an NT product designed to only run on NT. Outlook can run on Macintosh and Windows systems. Exchange has a POP3 server which can serve to POP3 clients. When Web-enabled, Exchange can serve Web clients. Domino, on the other hand, has full cross platform support. It's able to run on NT, many different flavors of UNIX, IBM big iron, and serve to Macintosh, Web clients, OS2, POP clients, and Windows clients. The critical note here is the fact that Domino can run on large UNIX systems. IBM has tested Domino on the OS390 system where it's capable of supporting upwards of 20,000 users on one box -- and it's stable.

Messaging integration
Both products are strong on the messaging front. They both have a number of aftermarket, as well as included, gateways for being accessed by SMTP, cc:Mail, MS Mail, Exchange, Notes Mail clients and others. I've heard a number of developers say if you want to just do email, then go with Exchange, otherwise go with Notes/Domino. I don't agree with this assessment. It's not that simple. Messaging implementations must take into account the needs and infrastructure they will be using. If a company has no NT servers it doesn't make sense for them to implement Exchange if they are only going to use email. Domino is a very good messaging platform as well. Be wary of this.

Administration
I touched on this above. Administration of Notes/Domino is much different than administration of Exchange. The Exchange administrator is not working with Web integration, Web applications, data access issues, and so forth. The Domino administrator is. The Domino administrator is administering applications, mail/messaging, security, Web access, Web mail, and more. The other thing to consider when discussing administration is that one Domino administrator could be supporting several thousand users on one high-end server. One Exchange administrator may require several NT servers to accomplish the same task, and, in turn spend more time administering them. Is this complex or what? [In fairness, many Domino systems are likely to be implemented on NT boxes with the same administrative complexity. -- DG]