I want to make it clear that these accusations have been directed at me, not at Lotus or IBM, and that I've solidly refuted each one. While the fact that the Journal has provided them unwarranted credibility is personally embarrassing to me, these innuendoes are irrelevant to my track record and executive responsibilities here at Lotus. It's also important to note that our parent company and its executives remain solidly behind Lotus and all of our collective efforts in meeting the corporation's Vision 2000 goals and objectives.

Finally, I want to assure you that we will continue to work with the Journal and the rest of the global media to get the word out clearly about our leadership in the market with R5 and the many other technologies, solutions and services that are allowing us to win in the marketplace.

Best regards,
Jeff Papows
President and CEO
Lotus Development Corp.

Random Thoughts
I've been thinking about this a lot since the story broke and I have some random observations that I'd like to share with DominoPower readers about this situation:

• Would the person who hasn't exaggerated on their resume please stand up? 'Nuff said.

• Jeff Papows has, in most ways within the industry, intentionally kept a comparatively low profile. He has avoided testifying in the Microsoft vs. DOJ trial as long as he could and has never been on the "Microsoft as an evil empire" tour with other companies. In fact, compared to Bill Gates, Scott McNealy or Larry Ellison, Jeff Papows is almost a hermit. His book on the Internet was well regarded and (at least it seemed tome) free of self-serving hyperbole. The term that I've heard most often about his leadership of Lotus has been "no nonsense". Perhaps that's one of the reasons that this all comes as such a surprise.

• Jeff Papows has no need to exaggerate his accomplishments. He's leading a billion dollar company that has the most successful product in its market and leads tens of thousands of employees. 99.999% of the people on the planet can't say that.

• Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Mr. Papows needs to realize that these revelations are a problem for the IBM and Domino community. IBM is engaged in a very real battle with Microsoft in the email, groupware and Web server businesses. Anyone with any experience at all in this industry knows that Microsoft is an incredibly fierce rival that will do anything to see its competitors fail. Lotus has tried to keep from getting dragged down into the numbers game with Microsoft about the number of seats being shipped and Lotus has had (again, in my opinion) a rational, fairly honest history of representing the facts plainly. When Mr. Papows exaggerates his accomplishments to win business, it damages the credibility of his product and his company and himself.

Next steps
Now that the story is out where do we go from here? Like most other people who make their living in the Domino community, I'm interested in the effect this is going to have on my company. No one I know of believes this is the end of Notes or of Lotus. When Ray Ozzie left Iris and the world continued to spin on its access, it proved that Notes and Domino have grown far, far beyond the ability of a single person to control their destiny single-handedly.